Emilio Carranza’s Last Flight

Few people have probably heard of the events that transpired on July 13, 1928 in Burlington County. Even fewer people would known that during the age of the great aviators, Mexico would have their own Lindbergh – a figure of great patriotism and a hero to the Mexican people. The residents around the area of … Read more

A Remarkable Indian

From “Salter’s History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties,” by Edwin Salter, E. Gardner & Son, Bayone, NJ 1890. The following is an additional well-authenticated account of that noted Indian character, INDIAN WILL, originally furnished to the Shore Press: Long, long years ago, when this section of country bordering on the Atlantic ocean was one continuous … Read more

The Rise and Fall of Harrisville

The fire came without warning. Sweeping through the area, it engulfed the mostly abandoned village. Flames licked through the mill like it was candy. Large wooden supports, now dried, weakened, and blackened, gave out and with a crash the roof caved in. The remaining buildings were soon gutted – the village itself totally destroyed. A … Read more

Ghosts of Old Jersey Fiddlers Still Haunt the Back Woods

Whenever I walk the Tallertown road, the ghosts rise up around me. There is, to begin with, the ghost of the town itself for in these days no one seems to be sure if the village, now only a scattering of weather black houses, was Tallertown or Tylertown. Up to now, or not long ago, … Read more

The True Story of Aserdaten

A bit of determination and hard work can sometimes pay off, especially for the ghost town hunter. Just today I had finished an article about the legend of Aserdaten, the forgotten town near the Eureka Gun Club in the Forked River Mountains. I had explored the area yesterday and, despite the success of finding Black’s … Read more

The Wells Mills Frog Farm

By Robert Blanda. It was back in 1968, that the Wells Mills Frog Farm first saw the light of day. Even the locals were unaware of the giant 10-, 20-pound, and even larger, frogs that were being dredged up at night, from a secret Wells Mills Road lake, for shipment the following morning to the … Read more

The Magical Land of La-Ha-Way

This paper, about the area that is mostly Great Adventure Six Flags today, was written for the July 27, 1916 Allentown Messenger by R. P. Dow, Secretary of the Brooklyn Entomological Society and member of the American Museum of Natural History. (Provided by, and reprinted with permission from John Fabiano, president of the Allentown-Upper Freehold … Read more

The Legend of Aserdaten

Seldom is there found such a persistent legend in New Jersey than the one concerning Aserdaten. Located at the intersection of two unnamed sand roads in the Forked River Mountains, its only remarkable feature is the desolation of the area. Henry Charlton Beck wrote extensively on the area in the book ‘Jersey Genesis’ but even … Read more

The Legend of the Jersey Devil

Stretching from Toms River in Ocean County, to Cape May lies a tract of forest that has captivated people since pre-colonial times. Some of the first permanent settlements in North America were in the Delaware River area. Dutch, Swedes, Portuguese, and English settlers all found the area a harsh but profitable area to settle. In … Read more