Actually it was a Bog Iron furnace. Cannon balls were just one of the items cast there. They are supposed to have made certain munitions items for the War of 1812, water pipes for Philadelphia and household cast iron items too. The furnace went out of blast permanently sometime in the 1840s if I remember correctly, just like all Bog Iron Furnaces did. After that 2 paper mills were built, one of them on the foundations of the furnace. The ruins that stand over and next to the water are those of one of the paper mills. The ruins inside the fence behind the rent-a-john are those of the other paper mill.
The township historical society in Mays Landing has maps of the old village. Using it you can find other ruins, foundations and cellar holes.
There's a man who lives somewhere in Weymouth who wrote a book, detailing the complete history of Weymouth. I and my friends bought out the last copies that Palace Outfitters had. I know of no copies available anywhere, unfortunately. Batsto's copies of that book are also sold out. Unfortunately the man no longer answers his email. He had another book planned which was to contain most or all of the text of the Weymouth Diary, or Weymouth Time Books (I forget the exact title of the diaries). They are similar to the Martha Furnace Diary.
Barry
P.S.- I apologize if I already posted some of this earlier.
