In celebration of Juneteenth the City of Burlington Police Department would like to highlight some significant historical facts.
By 1790, Burlington County had the largest free Black population of any county in the state, according to the Library of Congress. “This can be attributed to its location in the Delaware Valley, known as the ‘cradle of emancipation,’ where slaves were freed on a large scale,” it said. “The sizeable presence and influence in the valley of Quakers, America’s first organized group to speak out against the evils of bondage, enabled this region to be the pacesetter regarding black emancipation.”
Once called Wheatley’s Burlington Pharmacy, this building was a Quaker-owned building used to harbor runaway slaves and the site of anti-slavery rallies. Located at 301 High St. in Burlington City, it is also the oldest pharmacy in continuous operation in the state. This historic pharmacy was built on the corner of High and East Union Streets in Burlington in 1731. The date is proudly incorporated into the side of the building along East Union Street. History reads that this building, owned by Quaker William J. Allinson, an ardent abolitionist, was a center of anti-slavery activity. Oral tradition states that Allinson hid slaves in tunnels under the pharmacy as part of the Underground Railroad. Slavery was denounced from the pharmacy doorsteps by poet John Greenleaf Whittier.
