[29.74:N42j Historic Themes and Resou... NOV 2'o I1K1 ORIC THEMES AND RESOURC £LEMSOfc Clemson Universit within the 3 1604 019 773 722 NEW JERSEY COASTAL HERITAGE TRAI SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY and the DELAWARE BAY: Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/historicthemesreOOsebo HISTORIC THEMES AND RESOURCES within the NEW JERSEY COASTAL HERITAGE TRAIL SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY and the DELAWARE BAY: Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties by KIMBERLY R. SEBOLD and SARA AMY LEACH U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Cover photograph: View of Cedar Creek dock. Rutgers Collection, no date. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sebold, Kimberly R., 1966- Historic themes and resources within the New Jersey coastal heritage trail : southern New Jersey and the Delaware Bay : Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem counties / by Kimberly Sebold and Sara Amy Leach, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. Historic buildings-New Jersey-New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. 2. Historic buildings-New Jersey-Cape May County. 3. Historic buildings-New Jersey- Cumberland County. 4. Historic buildings-New Jersey-Salem County. 5. Cape May County (N.J.) -History, Local. 6. Cumberland County (N.J.) -History, Local. 7. Salem County (N.J.) -History, Local. I. Leach, Sara Amy. II. Title. F142.N48S42 1991 974.9'9-dc20 91-19261 CIP u CONTENTS Chapter Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Project Description, Physical Description, Methodology, Pre-History, Early White and Permanent Settlement 2. URBAN DEVELOPMENT 9 County Development, Residential Architecture Major Cities, Small Towns 3. MARITIME ACTIVITY 39 Whaling, Trade, Ship Building, Oystering, Caviar, Menhaden, Crabbing, Lighthouses 4. AGRICULTURE 57 Market Day/Fairs, Societies, Periodicals, Education, Crops, Farm Labor, Rural Residential Architecture, CCC Mosquito Control 5. INDUSTRY 77 Glassmaking, Canning, Iron Manufacture, Cedar Mining, Sandmining, Commerce 6. TRANSPORTATION 109 Ferry, Steamship, Railroad, Automobile/Truck, Airplane, Roads and Bridges 7. EDUCATION 129 Academies/Early Private Schools, Free Public Schools, Libraries 8. RELIGION 141 Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Meeting Houses and Churches 9. SOCIAL/CULTURAL 155 Seaside Resorts, Fraternal Organizations/Clubs, Amusement Parks, Municipal Parks 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 167 Future Documentation and Research APPENDIX I: Patterned Brick Houses 171 APPENDIX II: Stack Houses 175 APPENDIX III: Existing Documentation 177 National Register, HABS/HAER, Sanboms SOURCES CONSULTED 181 ill ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The documentation in this publication was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) as the first substantive historical investigation by the National Park Service (NPS) of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail (NJCHT). Work commenced during summer and fall 1990 at the request of NJCHT Project Director Janet Wolf, through the efforts of Robert J. Kapsch, chief of HABS/HAER, a division of the NPS. Project leader was Sara Amy Leach, HABS historian; Project Historian Kimberly Sebold (M.A., University of Delaware) conducted all substantive research. Large-format photographs were taken by David Ames (University of Delaware); the source of all other images is so identified. The NJCHT in its entirety falls under the geographic jurisdiction of the NPS-North Atlantic Regional Office, Gerald D. Patton, director. Special thanks go to: Richard King for introducing key contacts and supplying an extensive collection of New Jersey history; William Gehring and Edward Abbott, Jr., for performing personal tours and lending books, maps, historic newspapers and family papers from their personal collections; Dale Wettstein for sharing his vast collection of historic photographs; Charlie Loew, Mr. and Mrs. Lester McAllister, Meghan Wren, Mort Hughes, and Jamie Hand for furnishing books and advice; Alice Boggs and Curtis Harker for their assistance at the Salem County Historical Society; Robert Butcher, Somers Corson, Fola Bevan, Everett Turner, Mary Ellen Green, Clem Sutton, Shirley Bailey, Hope Hamlin, Bernie Senstrom, Mac Thomason, John Warner, Janice and Jeanette Burcham, Sally Watson, and Del Brandt for sharing their endless knowledge of the area; Michael Chiarappa (University of Pennsylvania) for sharing his knowledge and research on South Jersey's oyster industry, architecture and folklife; and Historian Patrick O'Brien, NPS-Denver Service Center, for his comments on methodology. The institutional repositories and their staffs that provided material and assistance include: the Office of New Jersey Heritage; Rutgers University, Special Collections and Archives; University of Delaware, Special Collections; National Agricultural Library, U.S. Department of Agriculture; State Library and Archives, Trenton; Salem County Historical Society; Cape May County Historical Society; Millville Historical Society; Cumberland County Historical Society; Bridgeton Public Library; Cedarville Public Library; Cumberland County Library; and Wheaton Village and Museum Library. IV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece. New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail and the three-county area of South Jersey studied by HABS in 1990. NPS-DSC. Figure 1. Generalized landform regions of New Jersey showing the Inner and Outer Coastal Plains. Geography . Figure 2. The Delaware Before Pennsylvania (late 17th century). Geography . Figure 3. "New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in 1685," detail of engraving by Nilcolaus Visscher. Library of Congress. Figure 4. The Cedar Plank House (HABS No. NJ-106), made of white cedar from nearby swamps prior to 1701, was moved from the Salem-Hancock Bridge Road to Hancock's Bridge; it was documented by HABS in the 1930s. HABS. Figure 5. Detail of South Jersey, Everts Illustrated Historical Atlas, 1876. Figure 6. Salem Municipal Building (1899)-with contrasting red brick, stone, and white trim-is exemplary Queen Anne styling. Figure 7. City of Salem. Atlas. 1875. Figure 8. View of West Broadway, Salem. Figure 9. William Sharp House (1862), on Market Street, has 19th-century cast-iron fencing found throughout Salem. Figure 10. Map of Bridgeton. Atlas. 1876. Figure 11. Jeremiah Buck House (HABS No. NJ-530), 297 E. Commerce St.--a formal, Georgian block with decorative glazing, shutters, dormers, and porches-was documented by HABS in the 1930s. HABS. Figure 12. Cumberland County Hospital (1899), a massive Georgian Revival building composition, is one the most formal in the area and currently unused. Figure 13. Bird's-eye view of Millville. Wettstein, 1886. Figure 14. View of High Street, Millville. Figure 15. Map of Hancock's Bridge. Atlas, 1876. Figure 16. Padgett Funeral Home (19th century) is characterized by its boxy lines, flat roof and Italianate detailing. Figure 17. Map of Greenwich. Atlas. 1876. Figure 18. This Heislerville house (19th century) has fine Victorian elements in its pointed Gothic windows, gables, and spindlework trim; a store was in the rear. Figure 19. Mauricetown, named for its Maurice River site, is composed of well-preserved 19th-century structures that deem it worthy of nomination to the National Register. Wettstein, 1950s. Figure 20. Ichabod Compton (1782-1833), a descendant of the founders of Mauricetown, as well as a waterman, farmer, and sawyer, lived in this house. Figure 21. Roadstown is the home of the Ware chairmaking family as well as several patterned brick houses. Figure 22. Map of Shiloh. Atlas. 1876. Figure 23. Map of Dennisville. U.S. Coast Survey, 1842. Figure 24. Diagram of schooner and sloop type vessels, identifying sails and rigging. Guidelines for Recording Historic Ships . Figure 25. Shipyard of F.L. Mulford, Millville. Atlas. 1876. Figure 26. Del Bay Shipyard, located in Leesburg, repaired and built schooners as well as other vessels, including World War II mine sweepers. Figure 27. Today WHIBCO Inc., a local sandrnining company, uses the Del Bay Shipyard facilities as its headquarters. Figure 28. Sailmaker Ed Cobb working in the sail loft of a building that is extant in Bivalve. Rutgers Collection, early 20th century. Figure 29. The CASHIER (ca. 1849), moored in Commercial Township, is believed to be the oldest commercial fishing boat in use in this country. Leach. Figure 30. Oyster growing areas in the Delaware River-Bay, showing seed beds and planting grounds. Undersail. early 20th century. Figure 31. Taking up oysters at Bivalve showing the iron rakes, oyster boat, and processing houses of Bivalve in the background. New Jersey: Life, early 20th century. VI Figure 32. Canning raw oysters at Port Norris. New Jersey: Life , early 20th century. Figure 33. Packing oysters in baskets at Port Norris. Wettstein, pre- 1904. Figure 34. Interior of shucking house showing workers in their cubicles and kettles filled with shucked oysters. Undersail, early 20th century. Figure 35. Shucking house on the Maurice River, where oysters are opened and prepared for shipping. Undersail. 1920s. Figure 36. Oyster-processing facilities at Bivalve (ca. 1904). Workers bunked upstairs, processing occurred below; the N.J. State Police - Marine Division, is the