Does anyone know the abandonment of Friendship Cranberry Farm?

[summerbug23]

Hi everyone: I am studying the wild animals around abandoned cranberry farms, including birds and frogs. There are some quite amazing species using the abandoned cranberry farms as their habitats. One big problem now I am facing is to figure out the history of those farms, the most important questing is when the farm was abandoned. I have one site located at Friendship (Friendship farm was once the biggest cranberry farm in the Pine Barrens), and I have been poking around trying to find out some information about that farm. Everybody told me that the site is pretty old, but no one knows when it was abandoned. Judging by the air-photos I could get, I think it was abandoned before 1930s, but I am not sure. Could anybody here help me? I don't need the exact year, as long as I could narrow it down to a decade, it is good enough for me! Thanks!

 

[Sue Gremlin]

This very forum has a lot of information. Here's one article posted by the administrator about the subject. Friendship was operating until about the late 1940s/early 1950s.

 

[summerbug23]

Thank you!

Thank you very much for the information! You don't know how much this will help me! :v: I will look around on this forum to see if I could find more information I need

 

[Teegate]

In the 1950’s a development company purchased the Friendship Bog property that was originally owned by Evans and Wills. They were going to built a very large housing development on both side of Carranza and Speedwell Friendship road. The north part of the property is just north of the Jersey Central RR, but south of Apple Pie Hill just about 100 feet on the west side of the road between those two locations. The survey evidence is still there in the woods. The southern end is the Tulpehocken creek. They named the development, or I should say their company, Friendship Forest Lakes Inc. While they were planning this development they rented the bogs on north side of Speedwell Friendship road to the Lee Brothers who obviously grew cranberries. In total the property consists of 2151.8588 acres. In 1982 after failing to develop the property they sold it to the DEP.

On that property line as I have mentioned before is one of the Atsion Tract stones that was placed there on 10/23/1856.

One of the members here knows the exact date the property was sold to the Friendship Forest Lake develoment company. If they see this they may come forward with it.

If you need any more specific info post back and we will see if we can help you.

Guy

 

[Teegate]

Just something you may find interesting.

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=3360


Guy

 

[Teegate]

Here are directions to add photo’s to your Photo Gallery that this site gives you. I quickly made this up, and I use a Mac, so the directions may not be perfect for you. I believe they are exactly the same, but I could be wrong.


Go to this link.

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/


Towards the top right just above the “Search” field click on “Upload Photos”. When the page opens look right above the green bar and you should see your screenname.

Below the green bar is the “Upload Photo” fields, and you click on a “Browse” button. Choose your photo when your directory come up. Once done, in the boxes below the “Browse” button you can name the photo and describe it. Or you can do that later. Now hit the “Upload/Submit” button.

Another window will come up and you hit the “Process” button. Your photo is now uploaded and it will show in the window. Click on the photo. Up will come the photo with a bunch of text below it. If you want to put the photo directly into your post, copy the “BB Code” text. Paste it into your post and the photo will show up in the post. If you just want the link in your post or an email, copy the “Direct Link” text.


Remember, only use the above link and not the Gallery link on the main page or Forum page. Your photo may disappear in the near future. So save the above link for now.


Guy

 

[summerbug23]

Thanks for the information and the instructions about how to upload pictures. The link to the "stone searching" is very amazing. Makes me feel the history is both so close and so far away!
I will start uploading pictures following your instruction. Thanks again!

Summerbug

 

[PinesExplr]

Air photos

.....Judging by the air-photos I could get, I think it was abandoned before 1930s, but I am not sure. .....

Summerbug,

I've been curious about the age of some abandon bogs near me, in some spots they are overgrown with very large cedars. Just wondering where you found old aerial photos?

Thks

here's the locale - if you look closely, you can see a large complex of dikes and bogs.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=39.821425,-74.829147&spn=0.008866,0.014806&t=k&z=16&om=1

 

[summerbug23]

Hi PinesExplr:

The age of abandoned cranberry bogs is really difficult to tell from the current airphoto, because even bogs abandoned at the same time could look very different, depending on the activity of beavors, water management after abandonment, etc. I am a student at Rutgers so I have access to the 1930 airphoto. Based on that I could tell whether those bogs were active at that time, or at least they looked kind of active. Otherwise there are some random airphotos online (you could google them), but not always available for the entire Pine Barrens. There are also airphotos available at Trenton USDA office (they took photos every 10 years). It's open to public, but we have to call in advance (like a month!) to go to check out. I have never done that. That's why it's still a big headache for me to find out the age of those bogs. The best way is to ask around to find people that could remember them. I am so happy to find this forum!

Best,
Summerbug

 

[Oriental]

Albert (Andy) Andrews, the last farmer to own Friendship, was forced to sell as a result of the "cranberry scare" of 1959. Just before Thanksgiving, the Secretary of Health announced that chemicals used in cranberry farming were cancer causing. The affair was way overblown (in fact the chemical was not even used in NJ bogs) but the damage was done. Many growers harvested all their berries and and sent them to market but never got paid for them due to the "scare". As a result, Andrews was forced to sell the bogs that had been in his wife's (Lydia Evans) family for nearly a century (perhaps longer). The bogs were certainly active until then and it has been said that the Lee family leased the bogs for a year or so after that.

Sorry for such a late reply (busy, busy, busy)

Rich