Manumuskin,
Archie (Junior) and Antoinette are doing fine in retirement, and still live in town. I have fond memories as a wee lad buying penny candy there. That was my dad’s feed mill across the street where the deli now stands. Richland General Store, the last of its kind in the Pines, remains under good stewardship by an owner who really cares about preserving its rural character. The store began with the gravelling of US Route 40 around 1910. Although laid out in 1817, the straight road remained unimproved and was often impassible due to the numerous wetlands its course traversed.
With road upgrade the Pocatagea(?) family from Alabama opened a tiny store in the front room of a small farm cottage. This home with shop was sold to the Guideri family, who in turn sold it to the Amici family. The establishment expanded and became a general store trading as Henri Amici & Co. Amici’s jacked up the original cottage to the second floor, and combined three homes into the single building you see today. The family carried groceries, hardware, feed, hay, and poultry supplies. It became Rchland General Store in 1942, when it was purchased by Lincoln, Archie (Senior), and Joseph Mazzoli.
Under Mazzoli management the store had become a “mall,” with a barbershop, pool room, butcher-shop, grocery, feed store, clothing store, shoe shop, and ice-cream bar all under one roof. The butcher-shop and grocery store later moved next door to become the R&L Market. The Clothing store relocated to the Richland Hotel, as did the barber shop. The barber, Spudsy, gave me crew-cuts there as a kid. My last hair cut in the hotel was around 2002. R&L Market continued until 1980 when the owner of two Vineland supermarkets purchased R&L and closed it for good. It is now a municipally-owned parking lot. The ice cream parlor and pool hall moved down the street to Billy Banks' place, recently demolished.
The deli/post office was purchased by Buena Vista Township in 2005 as part of a Redevelopment scheme. A local resident continues to provide excellent fare there (esp. cheese-steaks & Reubens). However, unlike past operators who owned the land, the current occupants rent from the government. I am saddened to see the Richland I grew up in drift away, as local control is quietly eroded by outside forces. About half of the Village core is now in public hands, presumably being bundled to give away to some outside developer. Despite lip-service to the contrary one by one old structures in “historic” Richland are torn down, or are simply allowed to decay beyond salvage. We really need to have frank, open discussion as to the future of Pinelands Villages, and government’s role as an agent of change.
S-M
