Ong's Hat

Arguably the most "famous" of the Pine Barrens ghost towns, this town is what caused the late Henry Charlton Beck to begin exploring the wilderness of the Pine Barrens.

Little fact is known about this town, except that it seems to have hosted a tavern and perhaps a dance hall in the early 18th Century.

Most stories regarding the name of the town recall a tale of a man - Jacob Ong - who owned a particularly nice hat. At some point in time he or his dance partner throw the hat up in the air and it gets lodged in a tree, never to come down.  A more probably explanation of the name would be that, like many other taverns in the day, a simple sign would be put out front to "name" the establishment and that the sign for the tavern perhaps was a hat.