What's the story behind Howardsville, NJ?

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gerry3

New Member
Jun 18, 2003
4
0
Long Branch, NJ
Hello!

My name is Gerry Lingner, and for the past four years or so I have bee the volunteer Legal Monitor for the Nature Conservancy's Forked River Mountian preserve. I just found out about this site a few days ago from Renee (bach2yoga) and decided to sign up. It appears the great mystery surrounding Aserdaten, which I had been trying to find for a while, has been solved by Ben and others. I was wondering whether anyone knew about the other big ghost town near the FRM preserve, Howardsville, which is in Greenwood WMA and even has a paved road leading to it off of Rt. 72.

From wandering around, I can tell it was an old cranberry operation. The reservior is still pretty much intact at the N edge of town. The bogs themselves are is great disrepair; several of the dykes between bogs have completely disintegrated. There are a few foundations to the east of the bogs but no buildings left standing. The fields in the are are still open; I don't know if that's by chance or design (active management). Does anybody know when the bog ceased operation? Did it just go out of business or was it bought out by the state? An inquiring mind wants to know....

BTW, Howardsville is a great spot for frogs; the other night I heard Pine Barrens Tree Frog (lots), Fowler's Toad (lots), S. Leopard Frog (a few), Carpenter Frog (a few) and Green Frog (a couple).

Thanks for any and all assitance!!!
 
B

bach2yoga

Guest
Hey, Gerry!
Gerry saved me from getting wet too many times Saturday when I went canoeing. Once was enough for me!
Thanks again!
Nice to see you here. 8)
I see you put up an album, I have to get over there to look at it!

Renee
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,218
4,317
Pines; Bamber area
Gerry,

Have you ever read the book "Livin in the Barrens" by Jack Cervetto (deceased of Warren Grove)? Its a neat little book that Jack wrote about his life in Warren Grove. He goes into detail about Howardsville; who started it and what happened to it. Tis a lonely place isn't it? Did you know that is the very start of the Oswego River?

BTW, I live in Bamber. Do you know why the gate is now open to the big abandonded pit at the end ot the old wide mining road?

Bob
 
G

gerry3

New Member
Jun 18, 2003
4
0
Long Branch, NJ
Hi BobM!

Thanks for the tip on the book by Jack Cervetto. I see you can get a copy at the Ocean County Historical society in Toms River; I'll have to stop by there when I get a chance.

As far as the gate on the old mine road goes, well, gates in that area have a habit of being broken. There's a gate on Lacey Rd. that leads down to the power line and old Tuckerton RR bed that has been repeatedly destroyed. The mine road gate was closed off for a while by Mr. Parker (don't know his first name), who owns a gravel mine in the area and patrols the road on the weekends to keep ATVs and dirt bikes out. The berms and gate only work for a while, though; eventually the rats on wheels find a way in. In the words of Mike Dunphy, the TNC Fire Manager and Land Steward, "we have a management nightmare on our hands".

I thought Bamber changed its name to Cedar Crest. I personaly think Bamber is a much cooler name than Cedar Crest.
 
G

gerry3

New Member
Jun 18, 2003
4
0
Long Branch, NJ
Bruce-

I have no idea what the public / private status of the old RR bed is. In the FRM area, I know there is the Nature Conservancy preserve. This is broken into sections; if you check my photo gallery, there is a satellite map of this preserve with four outlined sections. TNC now owns the two sections to the left; the Leone family, who donated the land to the conservancy, still own the other two sections, which stretch out to Lacey Rd.. These two sections will be donated to TNC by 2007; the total preserve would then be about 3500 acres.

Most of the land to the east and including Forked River Mountain itself is owned by a gentleman named Brunetti. This tract is huge, >10,000 acres, and includes the road I mentioned in my previous post. Mr. Brunetti does have someone who comes around once in a while to check on the place. There are "Semi-wild" signs up along the road between the gate on Lacey Rd. and the old RR bed that include "no tresspassing" warnings. The gate is also repaired, sometimes months after being damaged. I know that the power company maintains the road to some extent, trimming back foliage every couple of years. About once a year, someone comes around and grades the bigger roads in the area. They could really use it about now after the winter and spring monsoon we've had.

I've personnaly never been hasseled driving around in the area. I've come across Lacey Township police officers who either just drive by or flag me down to ask directions :). There are NJ DEP Fish and Wildlife rangers who patrol Greenwood WMA, but I've never seen them outside of Greenwood proper. I don't normally see them much at all, but they were out and about a lot last year due to the drought and fire risk.
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,218
4,317
Pines; Bamber area
Railroad bed

The railroad bed is owned by Jersey Central Power and Light, but that may change in the near future to the NJ conservation foundation or forked river mountain coalition.

Bamber, I believe its named after the township (?) of Bamber in Merry Olde England. I believe that is where Chatsworth gets its name too.
 
B

BorderWalker

Scout
Jun 26, 2003
46
1
Middlesex, NJ
Railroad bed

BobM said:
Bamber, I believe its named after the township (?) of Bamber in Merry Olde England. I believe that is where Chatsworth gets its name too.
Click to expand...

I've come across a few references to the origin of the name of Bamber while doing research. One source states that when William Hurry purchased the area once known as Ferrago in 1859, he renamed it to Bamber after a great uncle on his mother's side. The uncle in question was an English captain, so perhaps that township is the family seat?

Oh, also, I'm new here. Nice to meet you all. :D

--Tom
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,218
4,317
Pines; Bamber area
Bamber

Hi Tom,

That does ring a bell. I remember reading something similar, and Hurry road is one of our roads in Bamber. I see Cedar Crest on some of the old maps too.

In the last century, there is some history that this was called Pioneer estates. You could purchase a houselot for $1.00 if you had them build the house and paid yearly dues to keep up the beach at the lake etc.

Tom, how did you become interested in this area being from Middlesex?

bob
 
B

BorderWalker

Scout
Jun 26, 2003
46
1
Middlesex, NJ
Bob,

My aunt used to own a house down in Forked River. Lacey used to be a second home for me as a kid. I still like going down there every now and then just to see how things are holding up. We've spoken before, actually, concerning TMH. (Never did find the cemetery, but I did come across three cellar holes in the area.)

--Tom
 
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