Mizpah Sand Quarry

[passareg]

My grandfather Frank Passarelli did own the Sand Quary in the early fifties. My father Anthony worked there at some point. My mother told me that when I was about three years old (1953) I was butting in to a heated disagreement between my father and my grandfather. My father was told to get a yellow pump near a shed. He couldn't find it and the argument started. Problem was they both were color blind, each seeing different colors. I am told I was trying to tell my grandfather to go to he.. Good thing he couldn't understand me. My father did understand and started to laugh. That made my grandfather even more mad!

My grandfather Frank Passarelli was also the owner of the Mizpah Toy Factory and he made Pixy stuffed animals for may years. My grandfather lived in the middle house on Mill St near the intersection of RT 50 in Mays Landing. I had a great uncle Franl Passarelli who lived in Port Republic. He owned a sand quary near Port Republic.

 

[Spung-Man]

Passareg,

Many thanks for the post! Mizpah is one of those Pinelands Villages that is chock full of fascinating stories. Here's an old photograph of the sewing factory that I think originally came from Sherman Hartman, who grew up in Richland. If memory serves me well, his grandmother worked there.

Best of all, the structure still stands! I'm not sure if it was built in 1892 or 1895. According to Allen Meyers (1990: 136, Southern New Jersey Synagogues), "Pieces of clothing were sent from New York for the farmers to work on them in their own homes at night in Mizpah. Originally the factory made ladies wear."

Cheers,
Spung-Man

 

[qharb2000]

My grandfather Frank Passarelli did own the Sand Quary in the early fifties. My father Anthony worked there at some point. My mother told me that when I was about three years old (1953) I was butting in to a heated disagreement between my father and my grandfather. My father was told to get a yellow pump near a shed. He couldn't find it and the argument started. Problem was they both were color blind, each seeing different colors. I am told I was trying to tell my grandfather to go to he.. Good thing he couldn't understand me. My father did understand and started to laugh. That made my grandfather even more mad!

My grandfather Frank Passarelli was also the owner of the Mizpah Toy Factory and he made Pixy stuffed animals for may years. My grandfather lived in the middle house on Mill St near the intersection of RT 50 in Mays Landing. I had a great uncle Franl Passarelli who lived in Port Republic. He owned a sand quary near Port Republic.

Did your grandfathers toy factory also make toy phones and laughing boxes.....I lived on an old egg farm in Mizpah in the 80's. The remains of the factory were still standing at that point. We had a huge more or less chicken coup 2 stories and probably as long as a football field. It was filled with these old phones and laughing boxes....I always assumed it was used or rented for additional storage at some point for the toy factory. When we moved out there the stuff had been there for years.

 

[qharb2000]

The information you guys have posted here is great to the point that I had to sign in to tell you. I have been wondering for years about the foundations out there.... Everything I have read falls in line with what I found out there.....To the extent that the house we lived in had 100's of old liquor bottles that were used for moonshining. Two houses across the street from ours had a tunnel connecting the basements for the movement of liquor. We lived only a couple miles from the sandwash you are referencing here. I have always been interested in the history of that paticular area and the information here now gives me more things to research........Thank You!

 

[Teegate]

I am happy to see this site has helped you learn something new. That is what it is all about.

Welcome!

Guy

 

[John Mack]

I have enjoyed reading all of the above postings. I have an interest in the history of the Mizpah toy factory. As a small child, my family had a small bungalow in the woods not too far from one of the sand washes. We had many weekends enjoying the area. I was young, but I remember seeing the toy factory (which was obviously no longer in operation). I have always been interested in the history of the toy factory and I would like to know where was the factory located? Also, in what years was the toy factory operational?

 

[MizpahMan]

qharb2000... I think that egg farm was my grandparents' property. I do recall that when it was emptied out it was then rented for storage space to the toy factory. I have uncles who worked at that factory and my grandmother worked at that clothing factory pictured earlier in this thread. Was the egg farm bought from the Gullo family?

 

[thepazz]

Did your grandfathers toy factory also make toy phones and laughing boxes.....I lived on an old egg farm in Mizpah in the 80's. The remains of the factory were still standing at that point. We had a huge more or less chicken coup 2 stories and probably as long as a football field. It was filled with these old phones and laughing boxes....I always assumed it was used or rented for additional storage at some point for the toy factory. When we moved out there the stuff had been there for years.

My grandfather Frank Passarelli did own the Sand Quary in the early fifties. My father Anthony worked there at some point. My mother told me that when I was about three years old (1953) I was butting in to a heated disagreement between my father and my grandfather. My father was told to get a yellow pump near a shed. He couldn't find it and the argument started. Problem was they both were color blind, each seeing different colors. I am told I was trying to tell my grandfather to go to he.. Good thing he couldn't understand me. My father did understand and started to laugh. That made my grandfather even more mad!

My grandfather Frank Passarelli was also the owner of the Mizpah Toy Factory and he made Pixy stuffed animals for may years. My grandfather lived in the middle house on Mill St near the intersection of RT 50 in Mays Landing. I had a great uncle Franl Passarelli who lived in Port Republic. He owned a sand quary near Port Republic.

Actually Daniel Passarelli owned the Mizpah Sand and Gravel located in Mizpah. He leased it from the bankrupted, Atlantic Sand and Gravel. My grandfather grew up in Mizpah.

After the Mizpah plant he moved his operations to Port Elizabeth, renaming the company Millville Silica Sand and Gravel. My grandfather then sold that plant to Owens Illinois. He started another sand plant in Mays landing with his brother, taking back the name Mizpah sand and gravel. He then bought his brother out and moved the plant to Port Republic. Mining there for quite a few years, he then moved the operations to its final location in Bargintown.

He sold the business in 1972 to Barret Asphalt Company. My grandfather retired.

 

[Straitouttajersey]

Fascinating....never really researched it much but was told many times that my Great Grandfather named "Mizpah" somewhere around WW1. He would have been born sometime in the late 1800's. His name was Maurice Aaron and Mizpah was a Jewish term about being away for the war and then being back together--as he was a decorated WW1 vet.

I was further told that he had a General Store, complete with a piano player, during this time.

His son (George) is still alive and in his 80's now. I can find out more info if needed...so my question is... does this match up (with any of you guys with knowledge)--timelines?

 

[Spung-Man]

S-O-J,

According to Meyers (1990: 134–136, Southern New Jersey Synagogues: A Social History Highlighted by Stories of Jewish Life from the 1880’s - 1980), Isaac Aaron in 1893 became the second postmaster after Moses Lerman, and remained so until 1907. The town name was already in place by 1891 in a Plan of Town and Farms of the Mizpah Agricultural and Industrial Co. Meyers based this chapter on a telephone interview with Margaret Bromley Aaron, so it contains a lot of your family history. Aarons were the last of the original settlers to leave Mizpah to join the Carmel colony.

Aarons were the keepers of the synagogue, which burned down when Charlie Quick's still several miles away in Milmay started a fast-moving wildfire. Quick's place became a hunting club when I was a kid, but it too burned down and remains a field. For years it was a great place to skeet shoot.

If memory still serves me well your family ran the Mizpah Hotel too. If that's the case, one of your relatives dated Ole' Jenk Evens who farmed my land. He was quite the socializer, a "Dapper Dan." Kingfish, of barbecue fame, also owned the old hotel before it burned down, after he closed his speakeasy. There's even an old Mizpah Hotel beer bottle, if you are lucky enough to find one.

​

From "Save money by spending $1.00 a week for a Richland Garden Farm." Charles H. Geise,​

Gilbert & O'Callaghan, 703 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.​

Any guess for a date on the car in the photo above?

S-M

 

[Straitouttajersey]

You are definitely the historian...and your roots and ours do seem to cross...

Margaret Bromley was my Great Grandmother. I heard quite a bit of Mizpah history stories as a kid, but never soaked it up; I was a kid. I am beginning to take an interest in the history of the town now, near age 40.

Thanks for your knowledge....its impressive. And a pretty neat pic.

 

[Straitouttajersey]

Well I don't meet the requirements to private message and your email got rejected from 2 of my emails.....can you pm me a different email or send me one---maybe I can reply

---Edit--that sounded rude---didn't mean it to

 

[bobpbx]

Could that be a 1931 Ford Model A Standard Phaeton?

Getting closer!

 

[qharb2000]

S-O-J,

According to Meyers (1990: 134–136, Southern New Jersey Synagogues: A Social History Highlighted by Stories of Jewish Life from the 1880’s - 1980), Isaac Aaron in 1893 became the second postmaster after Moses Lerman, and remained so until 1907. The town name was already in place by 1891 in a Plan of Town and Farms of the Mizpah Agricultural and Industrial Co. Meyers based this chapter on a telephone interview with Margaret Bromley Aaron, so it contains a lot of your family history. Aarons were the last of the original settlers to leave Mizpah to join the Carmel colony.

Aarons were the keepers of the synagogue, which burned down when Charlie Quick's still several miles away in Milmay started a fast-moving wildfire. Quick's place became a hunting club when I was a kid, but it too burned down and remains a field. For years it was a great place to skeet shoot.

If memory still serves me well your family ran the Mizpah Hotel too. If that's the case, one of your relatives dated Ole' Jenk Evens who farmed my land. He was quite the socializer, a "Dapper Dan." Kingfish, of barbecue fame, also owned the old hotel before it burned down, after he closed his speakeasy. There's even an old Mizpah Hotel beer bottle, if you are lucky enough to find one.

View attachment 4499​

​

From "Save money by spending $1.00 a week for a Richland Garden Farm." Charles H. Geise,​

Gilbert & O'Callaghan, 703 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.​

Any guess for a date on the car in the photo above?

S-M

Is buena vista ave the main road that cuts through mizpah today

 

[qharb2000]

qharb2000... I think that egg farm was my grandparents' property. I do recall that when it was emptied out it was then rented for storage space to the toy factory. I have uncles who worked at that factory and my grandmother worked at that clothing factory pictured earlier in this thread. Was the egg farm bought from the Gullo family?

Yes found old boxes in attic with the hullo kids names on them

 

[qharb2000]

Yes found old boxes in attic with the hullo kids names on them

Sorry gullo

 

[qharb2000]

I have enjoyed reading all of the above postings. I have an interest in the history of the Mizpah toy factory. As a small child, my family had a small bungalow in the woods not too far from one of the sand washes. We had many weekends enjoying the area. I was young, but I remember seeing the toy factory (which was obviously no longer in operation). I have always been interested in the history of the toy factory and I would like to know where was the factory located? Also, in what years was the toy factory operational?

Not sure of operation of the factory but it was located at the intersection of railroad blvd and Jefferson ave....there is a small cinder block building that operated as a church just in front of where the toy factory was..... I believe it is a park now........more just a field of grass.....the building was partially collapsed when I lived there....I believe they finally demolished in the late 80s early nineties

 

[Straitouttajersey]

I actually used to patrol that area. Its Jefferson, but turns into Mizpah Road---but I forget at what point---at least that's the way it was 5 years ago.

 

[buckykattnj]

Is buena vista ave the main road that cuts through mizpah today

Buena Vista Ave is modern day Harding Hwy/US Route 40. I didn't realize the road kept the name into Hamilton Township. Does anyone know if the entire stretch of US40 between Mays Landing and Buena was called Buena Vista Ave? It was my understanding that roadway didn't extend that far before it was rebuilt as US40 in the 1920s.

BKNJ

 

[joe gigliotti]

Passareg,

Many thanks for the post! Mizpah is one of those Pinelands Villages that is chock full of fascinating stories. Here's an old photograph of the sewing factory that I think originally came from Sherman Hartman, who grew up in Richland. If memory serves me well, his grandmother worked there.

View attachment 1921

Best of all, the structure still stands! I'm not sure if it was built in 1892 or 1895. According to Allen Meyers (1990: 136, Southern New Jersey Synagogues), "Pieces of clothing were sent from New York for the farmers to work on them in their own homes at night in Mizpah. Originally the factory made ladies wear."

Cheers,
Spung-Man