A Visit to Hampton Furnace
by George Fleming
1974
Few maps of today chart the location of Hampton Furnace, once a thriving community for many years. Those of you who would wish to venture there should take the old Shamong Indian Trail now known as Stokes Road. Approaching Route 206 you bear right and travel South, coming to a gravel road on the left, just north of Atsion. This is the Hampton Furnace Road and easily traversed in dry weather, however the going can be a bit rough after heavy rains or snow.
Turning off Route 206 you are at once plunged into the serenity and stillness of pine and cedar which form a straight corridor door for over a mile. During this course you will pass the old Shamong Trail, as it crosses Hampton Furnace Road heading for Quaker Bridge. The Shamong Trail is rarely traversed in this section except by the most ardent of pine barrens enthusiasts.
Proceeding further you cross the bridge at Springer's Brook and then the road bears sharply to the left. A short distance further you bear to the right crossing the bridge at deep run. The road then remains straight again for approximately 1 mile through the pines. Deserted cranberry bogs are in profusion throughout the area. You cannot help but sense the peace and serenity here.
Within a short distance the road turns left and you are at once amazed at the change in terrain and surroundings. You enter a large clearing scattered with centuries old Sycamore trees and overgrown with tall wavy Indian grass. A strange feeling of antiquity takes hold of you. You feel as if you have taken a step into the past.
This was once the village of Hampton Furnace. The furnace was built in 1795 by Clayton Earl and Richard Stockton who purchased the land from Restore & Mary Shinn. This once sizable community has again been reclaimed by the mysterious pinelands.
Cellar holes and remnants of the cranberry workers homes are evident. These are of later construction, most likely after 1850. The mortar between the bog iron foundations shows where crushed slag was used in the mixture. The road in front of the cellar holes is also lined with crushed slag and cinder of furnace days.
Crossing the dam over the Batsto River, you see the large dried-up pond which, when in use, supplied the water power for the bellows of Hampton Furnace. To the right of the dam stood the furnace stack although no tangible reminders are in evidence other than huge slag banks extending down the Batsto River for some 200 feet.
Across the dam and to the right is the ruins of the Rider and Wilkerson cranberry sorting house which was destroyed by an arsonist's fire in 1973. A fine view of the area could be enjoyed from its upper stories before it's untimely destruction. To the rear of this building are abandoned grape arbors which have been a delight to the local deer population owing to the tracks and droppings there.
The road to the right leads a short distance to the Hampton Forge, with its tumble down dam. Forge slag littering the ground is noticeably contrasted to the slag found at the furnace site. To the left of the road is the forge pond created from the Roberts and Skit branches of the Batsto River. This pond provided water power for the forge hammers, but is now drained and reveals acres of marsh and Indian grass.
Brief comments of Hampton Furnace in Henry C Beck's books mention a cemetery of wooden tombstones and ruins of furnace worker's homes, but these could not be located in the 1930's, and their exact location still remains a mystery.
Throughout the area are scattered bits and pieces of bog iron, old glass and slag. That there was a thriving community here at one time there can be no doubt, but today everywhere you look is desolation.
Wagon axles, flat and round bar iron, kettles, skillets and hollow ware were made here until the iron industry closed around 1850 due to competition from Pennsylvania iron furnaces. The furnace community was replaced by the cranberry growers who prospered here for many years. Apparently one of the cranberry workers found a pig of iron in the area and kept it as a memento as the writer found one in the cellar hole of a worker's home here.
The furnace track is now part of the extensive Wharton State Forest, and perhaps in time will be developed for some purpose. For the moment, the area remains dormant, with its eerie yet beautiful stillness, so indicative of these marvelous pinelands.
