People and places · Chatsworth
The Buzbys' store: Chatsworth's post office and gathering place
Documented community history · Present building access unverified
The modest store at the center of Chatsworth connected families, seasonal workers, mail, supplies and news. Four members of the Buzby family helped keep those connections alive across most of the twentieth century.
Who kept the store
The building dates to about 1865, when Chatsworth was still a railroad and cranberry settlement. Willis Jefferson Buzby bought it in 1897. The National Register nomination, pages 10–13, describes his wife Myrtle Buzby caring for the Ruspoli family's child during the village's brief resort period. The store became her other important workplace: when the post office moved there in 1914, she served as postmistress. Willis succeeded her after her death. A resident could collect mail, buy kerosene or staples, and exchange news in one place.
The family names need care. Willis Jefferson was the first Buzby proprietor. His son Willis Jonathan “Jack” Buzby later ran the store with his wife Katie (Katherine Ritzendollar) Buzby. The nomination says Jack made weekly trips to Philadelphia for stock. Naming only “Willis and Katherine Buzby” would mistakenly make Katie the elder Willis's wife; she belonged to the next generation. National Register nomination, pages 12–13.
Credit, work and a town's lines of communication
The nomination calls the store a social center and records that it extended credit, including debts that were never repaid. By 1921 it sold gasoline, and it had one of Chatsworth's first telephones. Those details show how a country store filled gaps in a small settlement's infrastructure. After farm shifts, migrant agricultural workers stopped there; hunting clubs also used it, and it became a deer weigh station. The source does not name the workers or tell their stories in their own words. Their presence matters because it shows that the store served people beyond the families who appear in local ownership records. National Register nomination, pages 11–13.
When aviator Emilio Carranza crashed in the Pine Barrens in 1928, his body was taken to the store's garage. Reporters used the store telephone to send news outward. The building thus became a link between a remote crash scene and an international story. The nearby Chatsworth resort is another chapter in the family's history, but daily retail, mail and credit sustained this place long after the resort disappeared. National Register nomination, page 12.
What survives, and how to encounter it
Jack and Katie retired in 1966. Later owners continued the business; it closed in 1990 and reopened after restoration in 1999. The New Jersey historic places list records its National Register listing on March 25, 2004. Those past reopening dates do not establish that the building is open now. Its listed address identifies a historic property, not visitor parking or permission to enter. Check current owner or local historical society information before planning an interior visit, and respect private property.
For a public starting point, use the Chatsworth locality on the field map to understand the village setting. The Woodland Township Historical Society has information about local history and the White Horse Inn museum room; check its current event access. The Buzby store is presented here as a documented story, not a confirmed tour stop.
Sources and research limits
- Buzby's General Store National Register nomination (2004), pages 1 and 10–14 — Address, family succession, post office, retail, Carranza and preservation history. It is a researched nomination whose notes include a 1992 interview with Katie Buzby; that interview was not directly inspected here.
- New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, Burlington County register list — National Register listing date.
- Woodland Township Historical Society — Local-history contact and current event information.
No current opening hours or owner permission for the store were verified. The nomination's account of migrant workers identifies a group of customers but provides neither their names nor first-person testimony.