THIRD BLOCK OF THE TOUR (Jersey Avenue to Washington Avenue) The east side of the block included: Hills' Drug Store, Western Union, M. Coffey Hairdresser, Reed's Steam Laundry Bradley Manahan, Bennett & Height's, and A.S. Gifford Sea Food.

HILLS' DRUG STORE

Daniel Hills, a direct descendent of Revolutionary War soldier, Samuel Griswold who fought at the battles of Stony Point and Yorktown, came to Spring Like Beach in 1890. That year he opened Hills' Drug Store on the southeast corner of Atlantic and First Avenues. (Sundae Times) In 1901, he built a new drug store on Third Avenue (Who's On Third) after the disastrous fire of 1900 wiped out the First Avenue business district. For a while there were two Hills' Drugs.

Hills' Pharmacy - The summer of 1933 from the collection of Kathleen Weeks

The Third Ave. store was open year round, but the store at the end of the lake operated only in the summer. Daniel Hills had apprenticed with Charles A. Bye, a Spring Lake pharmacist and the inventor of 3 in 1 oil. He was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. "Hills' Pharmacy with its cool and inviting porch" (Spring Lake Gazette, July 11, 1902) was a popular spot during the summer with Spring Lake residents and summer guests. Here they enjoyed the ice cream soda for which Hills had become famous. The store had a soda fountain, a prescription department, choice confections, druggists sundries, and a public telephone in 1902. In addition to being a successful businessman, Hills was also active in the government of Spring Lake. He was the tax collector for six years and in 1902 Daniel Hills became a Spring Lake councilman. He continued to serve as both a councilman and mayor until ill health forced him to resign in 1935. In the late 1950's, Hills' was purchased by Dale's Coffee Shop. It remains a coffee shop today as Who's On Third?.

REED'S STEAM LAUNDRY (LaSala Dry Cleaners) This was an old business established near the end of the 19th century. It was a two-story wood frame building which is what all the businesses were at that time. The driveway to the south of the building today, was originally the coal lot. There was a 100 horse power coal fed boiler used to clean the laundry. There had to be an engineer in attendance 24 hours a day to keep the boiler fed and regulated. Before bleach, whites had to be boiled to keep them white. The laundry for the hotels and the Bath and Tennis Club was done here as well as the laundry for some of the hotels in Avon, and private residences in the area. Two types of laundry were done here, wet wash and flat wash. Wet wash involved washing the laundry, spinning it dry, and delivering it damp in laundry bags to private homes in town where it would be ironed by the household staff or the lady of the house. Flat wash was washed, spun dry, and ironed before delivery.
Horses were kept to pull the delivery wagons. In the back the old red barn and the white building are part of the original laundry. The horses were stabled here and the boilers and heavy equipment were back there. There is still an old wood washing machine and an extractor (used to spin the clothes dry) in the barn.
Before the household washing machine, laundries were very busy places. During the summer months, when business was at its peak, women could be seen in the front window folding the laundry in time to the spirituals they sang as they worked.