Atsion: Old and Renewed

[Don Catts]

Thanks Guy, I wasn’t sure if a note next to each site was a good idea or not, but I didn’t have an open corner to list them. I was going to make it 60” x 36” and included the railroad layout but I haven’t got enough actuate information on the dimensions and location. I am working in Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Excel, so it will be easy to expand later. I plan to go to the Camden County Historical Society with my good friend “Dan the Railroad Man”, for more info, as Jerseyman suggested.

 

[Ben Ruset]

...And Harrisville 1877:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv12.1151

and Weymouth 1877:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv12.1109

And Nescochague Mills 1873:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv8.0677

Atco Glass Manufacturing Company 1886:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv21.1960

Winslow Glass Works 1890:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv25.2373-2374

H.B. Smith Machine Company's Works 1881:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv16.1544-1545

Mays Landing Water Power Co.:
http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HGSv6.0481

Holy crap this is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Tracker Jim]

Today, Atlantic County does not reach to where that map shows.

Yes Teegate, That part (which at one time was entirely within the Atsion estate) was set off to Burlington County on April 3, 1902. The old boundary was the Atsion River. After 1902 the boundary became a straight line beginning at the confluence of the Sleepy Creek and the Atsion, to the intersection of Sandy Causeway with the Atsion River.

 

[Tracker Jim]

I thought perhaps a directory of individuals who worked and resided at Atson would make a nice addition to this thread.
The following folks lived and worked in Atsion during the early Wharton years.

The population at Atsion during the year 1895 - 1896 was about 100.

 

[bobpbx]

The Pleasant Mills Paper Mill space heating provisions: "Rooms warmed by 1 1/4" wrought-iron steam pipes resting on iron".

There was a similar spec for heating at Atsion. I wonder how that worked.

 

[Teegate]

Yes Teegate, That part (which at one time was entirely within the Atsion estate) was set off to Burlington County on April 3, 1902. The old boundary was the Atsion River. After 1902 the boundary became a straight line beginning at the confluence of the Sleepy Creek and the Atsion, to the intersection of Sandy Causeway with the Atsion River.

You will find the monument for the old line at the canoe launch by the cotton mill. Here is the new three way corner.

Guy

 

[RednekF350]

That monument has seen a lot of fire in its lonely lifetime.

 

[Teegate]

Yes it has. When I went there with Jessica and my brother it was a nightmare of briers. But there was a nice fire a few years back and it may be easier to get to now.

 

[Jerseyman]

The Pleasant Mills Paper Mill space heating provisions: "Rooms warmed by 1 1/4" wrought-iron steam pipes resting on iron".

There was a similar spec for heating at Atsion. I wonder how that worked.

Bob:

The steam pipes ran directly out of the boiler, providing steam heat to the rooms. The pipes served the same purpose as radiators, except the owner did not incur the added expense of purchasing the cast-iron appliance. The "resting on iron" phrase indicates the pipes sat on iron saddles instead of wood, minimizing the risk of the wood in the room overheating and catching on fire.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Tracker Jim]

You will find the monument for the old line at the canoe launch by the cotton mill. Here is the new three way corner.

Guy

Teegate, How about the monument by the confluence with the Sleepy Creek. I believe it also is a three-way.

 

[RednekF350]

Teegate, How about the monument by the confluence with the Sleepy Creek. I believe it also is a three-way.

The Sleeper/Mullica monument is a corner to just Burlington and Atlantic counties. I have pics somewhere but Guy can find one faster I am sure.

 

[Teegate]

Teegate, How about the monument by the confluence with the Sleepy Creek. I believe it also is a three-way.

It is not a three way there. It is 1/4 Atlantic and 3/4 Burlington.

The county monument put there in 1935 by Winfield Eldridge is on the upland near the confluence.


My vehicle in 1978 by the monument. The last time I was there they had blocked vehicle access.

However, that is not the corner as most people may think. The actually corner is much much harder to find. In the mid to late 1950s there was a stone at the edge of the river marking the closest spot to the river where the line meets. However, after multiple tries I finally found what turned out to be a concrete monument there. It looks like a stone but it isn't. There is a possibility that what was thought to be a stone in the 1950s was in fact this monument.

With that all said, there may actually be a monument right in the middle of the river at the exact spot where the lines meet. I say this because of a conversation I once had with a member of PBX who has since moved away. He told me that while canoeing down the Mullica on a very very dry summer it was sticking up out of the water. I am uncertain if he had the correct location or not but it would be interesting to know. Something for me to do sometime in the future.

Guy

 

[Tracker Jim]

That would make more sense considering the Camden Co. is several miles to the NW. The monument by the Sleepy Cr./Atsion marks where the Atlantic/Burlington line diverges from the Atsion River.

 

[Tracker Jim]

Thanks Teegate - very interesting. It's the monument by your jeep that I'm thinking of.

 

[ecampbell]

This one Guy?

 

[Teegate]

Yes Ed, that is monument number 60.

A little history that I recently learned. Back around the time the state was surveying Lebanon (early 1930s) it was discovered that over the years someone had surveyed the Burlington county line incorrectly from the Bullock area all the way up past Whitesbog. The line was off around 3o feet at route 70 and as much as 50 feet at Whitesbog. I have numerous surveys that mentioned the error and the correction.

Now I am making an assumption here and I have no proof of this. I believe because this error was discovered around this time it was decided that Burlington County was not properly marked. So in 1934/1935 Winfield Eldridge was hired to survey the complete county. I have that survey map and it is quite interesting. He placed those monuments every few thousand feet or so along the complete county where possible, and many of them are still around.

Guy

 

[Tracker Jim]

I really appreciate the background on this monument - Thank you! The area around there is very special to me. Although I've explored throughout most of the Pines over the course of 20 years, the area around that monument is where my soul calls home. Thank you.

 

[Teegate]

I really appreciate the background on this monument - Thank you! The area around there is very special to me. Although I've explored throughout most of the Pines over the course of 20 years, the area around that monument is where my soul calls home. Thank you.

Then there are at least two other monuments to visit near there. One is where the county line crosses the road from Atsion to Wescoat Bogs and can be viewed right from your car if the vegetation is clear.

 

[Teegate]

I thought perhaps a directory of individuals who worked and resided at Atson would make a nice addition to this thread.
The following folks lived and worked in Atsion during the early Wharton years.

The population at Atsion during the year 1895 - 1896 was about 100.

If you acquire the 1936 edition of Beck's Forgotten Towns you can see a photo of #28 David Kell. He is holding a weight and standing by the large shed that once stood next to the cranberry warehouse at Hampton Park (Hampton Furnace). That weight is now in the possession of the daughter of Daryl Goodrich who's family owned it before the state took it by eminent domain.

 

[Tracker Jim]

I'm sure some of you have heard the dramatic story of a daring robbery that took place by Atsion. It was on October 5, 1916 that Andrew Jackson Rider, "The Cranberry King of New Jersey", also a founding member and first president of his namesake, Rider College, along with his daughter, brother, and a man named John Rigby, were returning to his Hampton Park cranberry bogs from Hammonton where he had withdrawn four thousand dollars cash to meet his payroll. The following I will quote from Arthur D. Pierce in his book "Family Empire in Jersey Iron" pg. 179 which has one of the best recounts of what transpired that fateful day... "As they approached yet another cranberry dam" (Deep Run), "the Rider party caught sight of a group of people crowding the road ahead. There seemed to be five men and three women. Later the "Women" turned out to be men in women's clothing...." I would hate to spoil the story, and recommend picking up this book. Not only does he do a great job with this story, because his focus is on the Richards enterprises, I find the content in general to be more thorough.

...Well this may spoil it anyway... This is from the Saturday, October 7th 1916 edition of Hammonton's Newspaper the "South Jersey Republican"...