The headlines said it all.
“A Dry Town Goes Wet,” “Pitman ends 100-year dry spell,” “The End of Dry Era” and so on.
And there seems to be no turning back, except for taking a look back. And that’s what Pitman’s 08071 magazine did.
On a recent evening visit, people were out and about along Broadway.
The two locations with the borough’s two liquor licenses are hard to miss. First, we followed the bright lights of Merryman’s Pub, which is the borough’s first restaurant to serve alcohol and offer a selection of beers, wines, and cocktails from Budweiser, a Stateside Dirty Martini, and even Champagne. Owners Bill Merryman and Vito Mannino not only opened their pub in the heart of downtown, but also in the historic location of Pitman’s first national bank, which was established in 1907.
“Enjoy a casual dining experience in Pitman’s first pub, offering your favorite flatbreads, burgers, and local brews,” the restaurant states on its website, adding “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.”
Just a few blocks away, we visited Martini’s on Broadway, which provides an “experience like no other with our delicious food, exceptional beer and drink menus and even better service,,” according to the restaurant’s website.
During and after a show at the Broadway Theatre, a patron doesn’t even have to travel outside the theater, which is attached to Martini’s on Broadway. They can enjoy the regular beer and/or wine on tap or try specialty cocktails such as The Hammonton – a blueberry vodka, fresh blueberries, lemon juice, St. Germain and a splash of Sprite or a Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno Margarita – Casamigos Spicy Tequila, muddled pineapple and jalapeno, lime juice, triple sec, orange juice, and agave nectar.
“Both [restaurants] are excelling and came through difficult times,” said former Councilman Matthew Weng, who had served when the council sold its first liquor license to Merryman’s Pub.
He served on council for two terms from January 2018 to December 2023. Since 2024, Weng has served as a Gloucester County commissioner.
The move and discussion about whether or not to change the dry town status goes back about 15 years or more.
The council held a non-binding referendum to get a feel from the public on how they felt about selling or not selling liquor licenses. At the time, it was a resounding “no” from the public who voted in the non-binding referendum.
From that time on, Weng explained it was kind of like “an incremental process” that led to eventually selling liquor licenses in town.
First there was an ordinance to allow BYOB (Bring Your Own Beverage) and then two breweries moved into town following a state law that allowed microbreweries to sell their beer for consumption on the premises.
In 2016, Kelly Green Brewing Co. was the first to sell beer in Pitman.
“These steps I believe changed a lot of opinions,” Weng said.
That year, the council went out to the public again with a non-binding referendum and this time, it was a resounding “yes” for the sale of a liquor license.
Pitman, with a population of just under 9,000 people, sold its first liquor license to Merryman’s Pub in 2018 and in 2021, it sold its second liquor license to Martini’s on Broadway.
From his time on council, Weng said he hasn’t heard and is unaware of any issues since the sale of the liquor licenses.
He acknowledged those people with initial and reasonable fears that the liquor license sales would change the character of the town. Those fears, Weng said, “are not worn out.”
In 2018, a resident stated in council minutes discussing an ordinance with respect to the provision of alcohol on public property, “We’ve had 100 years of tradition as a dry town, and it has worked. Pitman is good, and it doesn’t need alcohol … our downtown is growing, and it’s growing without alcohol.”
While Shari Hulitt, who was serving as chair of the Economic Development Committee (EDC) at the time, stated EDC supported the ordinance.
“The brewery industry is a $350 billion dollar industry,” she said. “People are drinking beer, and people are going outside of our community to participate in fundraisers that are outside of this community.”
Pitman had been a dry town since Gloucester County Methodist ministers purchased land for their annual summer camp meeting in Mantua Township, according to history about the borough on its website. The Association built a large auditorium in the center of the Grove. The first Pitman Grove Camp Meeting was held in August 1871 and grew each year. By 1890 the area of Pitman Grove had become well established and included graveled walkways, stores, restaurants, and over 400 permanent homes.
In the early 1900s many residents felt the community had grown large enough to be its own town and petitioned for it. On May 24, 1905, Governor Edward C. Stokes signed the bill authorizing the incorporation of Pitman Borough. The word “Grove” had been inextricably dropped.
To preserve the Grove’s uniqueness, the borough adopted a historic district ordinance.
Pitman Grove and the Pitman Grove Auditorium were entered in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on July 20, 1976, and in the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1977.
Ironically, the Temperance Fountain on Broadway in Pitman – which stands as a historical emblem of the town’s deep-rooted connection to the temperance movement and its Methodist origins – sits across from Merryman’s Pub, Debra Higbee relayed.
Higbee is a former councilwoman and serves as vice chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, and serves with the Pitman Historical Museum.
Erected by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), the fountain was part of a broader initiative to promote abstinence from alcohol by providing accessible sources of clean drinking water, according to an Uptown Pitman social media post. This initiative aimed to offer a wholesome alternative to saloons, aligning with the WCTU’s mission to encourage sobriety.
The Temperance Fountain continues to serve as a tangible reminder of Pitman’s heritage, embodying the town’s evolution from a religious camp meeting site to a modern community that respects its past.
This year the Pitman Garden Club planted gorgeous flowers in the Fountain that brighten and beautify the Uptown shopping district.
