McKee City was the site of the former Atlantic City Race Course, and is home to numerous commercial businesses, including the Hamilton Mall, which opened in 1987.[7]
History
McKee City was founded by Colonel John McKee in 1884. It was originally a farming community, along with a sawmill, a schoolhouse, a general store, a community hall, and several farms near the former Pennsylvania-Reading Railroad (currently the site of the Black Horse Pike). Colonel McKee intended to build a 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) planned community where African Americans from the south could settle after the Civil War. A number of dormitory-type houses were built without frills like inside plumbing or heating.[8]
Leases were carefully designed to ensure that the tenants improved the land. The Colonel had great plans for this settlement, but he died before they could all be realized.[9]
Upon his death, Colonel McKee made a bequest of $2 million (equivalent to $70.4 million in 2023), to be administered by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia headed by Archbishop Patrick John Ryan, to be partly used "to build a Catholic church, rectory and convent in McKee City..."[10] However, the will was disputed by McKee's family, the funds were not distributed, and the facilities Colonel McKee envisioned were not built.
^Taylor, Grace (November 11, 2007). "McKee City". eht.com (Egg Harbor Township). Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
