Johnson Park

Johnson Park in the pretty Cooper Grant neighborhood of downtown Camden has been beautifully restored by Rutgers University. Johnson Park is named for Eldridge Johnson who was the founder of the Victor Talking machine in Camden — at one time the world’s most important producer of Victrolas and Gramophones. (It later merged with RCA). At the center of the park is the imposing neo-​classical Cooper Library and reflecting pool which is now part of Rutgers University. Do you know the beloved statue by Albert Laessle of «Billy the Goat» in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia? Well, his bro «The Dancing Goat» is in this park. But the must-​see here is without doubt the statue of Peter Pan by Sir George Frampton. There are five sculptures of Peter Pan in the world by Sir George Frampton — each one slightly different. The world-​famous one is in Kensington Gardens in London. This work of art in Camden is the only Frampton Peter Pan sculpture in the United States. It’s cool … like Peter Pan was!