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The Pine Barrens cover a huge area (1.1 million
acres),
as you can see from this map from the old pressplus site.  Also,
known as "The Pinelands", the unique environment has had and will continue to
have a major effect on the culture of South Jersey.
Early settlement in "West
Jersey" (as it was called) took place in the areas outside of the
pine barrens.
The early settlements were On
the Cape May peninsula and along the Delaware Bay, with a small area on
The Great Egg Harbor River (Somers Point & Mays Landing).
The vast and unique natural
resources found in the Pinelands, led to early industrial development.
The Iron &
Glass industries were a natural.
| Matthew J. Dowling, Staff Writer at The Press, The
Pinelands at the PressPlus site has a great introduction to the Bog
Iron industry with a terrific map
of many of the early furnace and forge sites. (Unfortunately The Press has
decided to remove free access to these files.) |
The end of the Bog Iron industry came about as
settlement moved west. At Pittsburgh there was easy access to Iron ore and
anthracite coal, so a much better quality of iron was achieved at a reasonable price.
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Some of the destruction to the land caused
by the Bog Iron Industry, led to the ideal conditions for the cultivation
of cranberries and then the blueberry. The former site of the Hanover Iron
Furnace, became a productive cranberry farm under Col. James A. Fenwick.
Elizabeth C. White then led the successful effort to cultivate &
domesticate the blueberry. For more information read:
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The current industries in the Pinelands include;
Red
Gold' cranberry harvesting Photos, by John King (link temporarily lost
- I am looking)
History
of Cranberry Harvesting
Historic Whitesbog
Village
Edwin B.
Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
Plants
of the New Jersey Pinelands (Pine Barrens) fantastic pictures
Pinelands
Recreation Guide
Bass
River State Forest
Life
in the Pinelands
Barnegat Bay
Kayak and Sail, Inc.
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