Digging New Jersey’s Past
Archaeology. The word conjures up images of Indiana Jones, lost Mayan temples hidden in the jungles of Central America, and treasure beyond compare. Seldom do we think of New Jersey when it comes to...
Author: Ben Ruset
Batsto and the Bloomaries
BATSTO AND THE BLOOMARIES, BY CARMITA DE SALMA JONES The silence that pervades South Jersey is musical to one upon whose sympathetic imagination the past plays keenly. It seems to echo the humming of...
A Canal Through the Pines (Part 2)
I set out yesterday to explore the Southern part of the canal through the pines, running from Mount Misery Brook to Bisphams Mill Creek. The day was heavy and ominous, the beginnings of the...
A Canal Through the Pines (Part 1)
Henry Charlton Beck’s Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey and More Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey are the books that inspired me to explore the Pine Barrens. The copies that I own are...
An Adventure Through the Pines
It was a hot July afternoon in 1997 when I pulled onto a Pine Barrens dirt road for the first time. Armed with a copy of “The Pine Barrens” by John McPhee, a map...
An Introduction to the New Jersey Pine Barrens
The New Jersey Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands, is a heavily forested area covering 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²) of coastal plain across southern and central New Jersey. The name “pine barrens”...
Wandering Around South Jersey
Wandering Around South Jersey is the first book by author Ryan Stowinsky, which chronicles some of the lesser known, out of the way places in South Jersey. I tore through the one hundred seven...
The Battle of Chestnut Neck
New Jersey is often called the “crossroads of the revolution” and indeed it was. Being located between New York City and Philadelphia, both rebel and British troops crossed the state several times. Several notable...
A Listing of the Forges and Furnaces of South Jersey
The following is a list of iron forges and furnaces located in Southern New Jersey prior to the 20th Century. Most of this list came from the excellent book “Early Forges and Furnaces of...
Towers of Fire: Iron Production in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
The production of iron is perhaps the most famous of the Pine Barrens industries. Fortunes were made and lost nearly overnight, and entire towns and communities would grow, thrive, and ultimately die based on...