Town file
Pitman, New Jersey
Pitman, New Jersey (Gloucester County, New Jersey) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 143, "A Scary Story On A Quiet Street" (31 October 2019). In April 1984 Bruce Sharp, 63, and his wife Alice, 59, lived on a quiet street of six houses in Pitman, New Jersey, a small town in Gloucester County about twenty-five minutes from Philadelphia.
- Town
- Pitman
- County
- Gloucester County
- State
- New Jersey
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 143
- Approximate location
- 39.733, -75.130
Episode 143 / 31 October 2019 / 163 min / full
A Scary Story On A Quiet Street
"Pitman, New Jersey, in southwest New Jersey, about 25 minutes to Philadelphia; in Gloucester County." about 0:05:49
The case: Murder of Bruce and Alice Sharp (April 30th, 1984). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2019
- Population
- 8,886
- Median household income
- $73,500
- Median home value
- $178,300
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,200 a month
- Cost of living
- 103
- Religious
- about 49%
- Property crime
- ▲ a little over half
- Violent crime
- ▼ about one-third
History, in brief
- In 1871 the land was chosen to be set aside for a Methodist summer camp. about 0:09:48
- The New Jersey Conference Camp Meeting Association was chartered in 1872 and given authority over the land grant, then began planning campgrounds and church meetings. about 0:10:00
- An auditorium stood on a central meeting ground with twelve roads running out from it like spokes, with worshippers' tents lining each of the twelve rows before cottages replaced them. about 0:10:42
- By the 1880s there were about four hundred cottages and people began staying year-round rather than only in summer. about 0:13:02
- A public school was finally built in the 1880s. about 0:13:15
- In 1904 residents of Pitman Grove voted 122 to 35 for incorporation. about 0:13:15
- Dr Henry Carr and his relative George Washington Carr bought land that became the site of the Broadway Theater, and a lake and park named the Alcyon offered fishing, boating, a boardwalk, a bathhouse, a merry-go-round, bowling alleys, a casino and a roller skating rink. about 0:15:35
- In 1905 residents staged the Fall of Port Arthur, a naval battle, on the lake. about 0:15:56
- During the 1930s the park went downhill and in the 1940s it was taken over for tax liens and sold for $5,200 at public auction. about 0:16:11
The reviews read out
2 stars
"I do not like Pitman: it has a big heroin problem and an overstepping police force that focuses on petty things like overnight parking tickets instead of real criminals; it spent money on a police dog that does nothing, taxes are high, most people who live there will never leave, and if you want a good living environment, look elsewhere."about 0:19:40
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Berlin, New Jersey11 miles
- Chester, Pennsylvania15 miles
- Claymont, Delaware18 miles
- Wilmington, Delaware21 miles
- New Castle, Delaware24 miles
- Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania28 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.