Interesting read on a cold weekend

Our neighbor, Ron Darby was kind enough to forward us a brief history of Stafford township. Which lead me to look around, I found some really cool stuff on our town and L.B.I..
I hope you like this as much as I did, enjoy.

Book published in 1914, providing a history of L.B.I


http://www.archive.org/details/lureoflongbeach00some


History of Stafford from Stafford Township historical commission

Europeans lived in what is now Stafford Township before 1700.  One of the first settled areas was along Barnegat Bay about where the Mallard Island Yacht Club now stands (where Margo’s once stood). Incorporated in 1749 from Shrewsbury Township in Monmouth County, Stafford Township is named after Staffordshire in England and was the first government to be formed in what would become Ocean County in 1850.

From about 1830, “Manahawkin” was identified as a Lenape word meaning “Land of Good Corn.”  More recent scholarship suggests that “Manahawkin” may mean something more like “fertile land sloping into the water.”  Other variations on the origin of this name range from a derivation of the Hawkins family to the sound of the honking of migrating geese.  The spelling has gone through many variations including among others: Manahohacky,” “Manahoching” and “Manahawken.” In fact, one Toms River observer in the 1870’s criticized the people of our town for not even knowing how to spell the name of their own town. 

Stafford Township has an interesting role in New Jersey and national history including a rich history of colonial industry, 19thcentury bog iron industry, the birth of the United States Lifesaving Service, the post-Civil War railroad boom, cranberry industry, tourism, and the military and cultural legacy of the New Jersey Civil War (1775-1783).

The first European settlers created saw mills and grist mills and developed the Cedar industry to build houses, boats and even ocean going vessels. The small farms and villages developed in relationship to the water and eventually established the charcoal and bog iron industries.  The effective use of anthracite coal and iron ore elsewhere in the 1830’s doomed the local industries and led to long-term economic hardship.  The glass and fishing industries were among the few prosperous sectors in the local economy

Manahawkin was the center of intense conflict during the New Jersey Civil War during the American War of Independence (1775-1783).  Local loyalists battled the small patriot militia in a personal and bloody conflict.  Under the leadership of Reuben Fitz Randolph, Company Five of the Second Monmouth militia battled the Loyalists under the leadership of notorious Captain John Bacon.  This conflict included the Manahawkin Skirmish of December 3, 1781 that involved the death of one patriot and the wounding of another.  New Stafford Township may be the site of the last recorded land encounter of the American War of Independence (December 27, 1782 at Cedar Bridge Tavern).

Dr. William Newell (NJ governor 1857-1860) is considered the father of the United States Life Saving Service (1872-1915) and thereby the United States Coast Guard.  In 1839, Dr. Newell was living with his uncle (Dr. Hankins) in Manahawkin when he witnessed the death of unfortunate ship-wreck victims within sight of the beach.  While still in Manahawkin, Newell experimented with life saving techniques involving getting a rope or line to the ship foundering on the sandbar and rescuing the victims.  This technique became the Beach Apparatus Drill (B.A.D.) that is responsible for saving over 176,000 lives from 1871 to 1915.  In 1848 as a freshman congressman with his friend Abraham Lincoln, Newell was able to pass the first appropriation to create the unmanned life saving stations along the Atlantic seaboard. The 1854 sinking of the Powhatten of Long Beach Island motivated the Federal government to create paid “keepers” at the houses of refuge along the coast.  In 1871, the US Life Saving Service was formed that included staffing these stations from October to May of each year.  

Stafford Township has one of the three New Jersey 1904 monuments to the “unknown from the sea” testifying to the many victims of ship wrecks along the Atlantic Coast. Our cemeteries in Manahawkin contain the unmarked graves of hundreds of unfortunate, often immigrant victims of ship wrecks within shouting distance of our beaches.

Stafford Township has a place in the history of the development of the cranberry industry.  Nathaniel Holmes Bishop III (1837-1902) developed successful cranberry plantations in Stafford Township during the 19thCentury.  Bishop is remembered as a world traveler and author who became the benefactor of the Ocean County Library System. His book Four Months in a Sneakbox contains the authoritative history of the Barnegat Bay Sneakbox, one of only three indigenous New Jersey boats.  His cranberry bogs at Stafford Forge were featured in national magazines of the late 19thcentury.  Oxycocus Road is named after his plantation that existed at the headwaters of the Manahawkin Lake.

In 1871, the Tuckerton Railroad connected Manahawkin to the post-Civil War railroad boom.  Civil War and Indian War hero, Brigadier General William Grier came to Manahawkin as the spokesperson for the Stafford Land Company that developed much of what is now the old section of Manahawkin.  On July 4, 1872, the Stafford Land Company actually chartered a special train to bring over 1,500 people to Manahawkin to participate in a land auction for over 500 acres. 

Tourism has played an important role in the development of Stafford Township. The Pennsylvania Railroad connected to Long Beach Island through Manahawkin from 1886 to 1935.  In 1914, the first automobile bridge to Long Beach Island was built through Stafford Township.  The current bridge was constructed in 1957 and remains the only means of egress to Long Beach Island.  In 1930, a more direct car highway (S-40 now NJ72) was built directly through Stafford Township to Long Beach Island.  Starting in the 1930s, a few (less than 100) resort homes were constructed in Stafford to serve LBI. But in 1945, the Beach Haven West lagoon development began.  Eventually, this would become the largest lagoon development in New Jersey with over 3,600 homes.

After the opening of the Garden State Parkway in the 1950’s, Stafford Township became a bedroom community serving both the Philadelphia and New York Metropolitan urban areas.  Much of the suburban housing (5,500 units) has taken place in a subdivision west of the GSP called Ocean Acres. Up until the 1980s, this residential development tended to be moderately priced smaller homes, many of them ranch houses of less than 1,500 square feet.  Starting in the 1990s to the present, the development has targeted larger homes, with many ranging from 3,500 square feet to over 5,000 square feet.  In addition, the resort housing is rapidly being replaced with much more expensive homes.

The area west of Ocean Acres is home to a number of age restricted communities.  In addition, a significant number of seniors live within the mixed housing areas of the township.

Stafford Township is the home of legendary baseball great Roger “Doc” Cramer who is arguably the best baseball player who is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  In nearly 20 years of professional baseball, Doc Cramer set a standard of competitive excellence. 

National issues such as temperance, Americanism, and suffrage played out in the history of this rural community.  Many may be surprised to learn that Stafford Township once included African American slaves and indentured servants.  Adele Johnson was the very first woman to vote in Stafford Township on September 28, 1920.

Echoing the historic position, Stafford Township has become the regional center for both commercial and cultural for Southern Ocean County.  

Working with the local schools, township government, and the business community, the Stafford Township Historical Society is dedicated to collect, preserve, and interpret the history and culture of Stafford Township in order to make these resources available to the widest possible audience.  STHS preserves and passes on the knowledge of local heritage for future generations and acts as bridge between the new and the established members of the community.

The Stafford Township Historical Society owns three historic cemeteries, the historic Old Manahawkin Baptist Church (1758-1867), the Manahawkin Railroad Station (1872), CNJ Passenger Car (1922), and leases the Cavalry Cottage (c. 1740) and the Old Stone Store (1750-1832-1979) from Stafford Township. 

http://twp.stafford.nj.us/town-square/history-of-stafford-township/


Photos of the causeway over the last 100 years or so.

http://www.savetheshack.com/causeway.html

History of the shack by the causeway

http://www.savetheshack.com/

Check out the Island Gate video on our blog

http://www.realestateshows.com/show.php?mls=basic&id=114122 

One of our neighbors was kind enough to share a video he made of Island Gate back when it was under construction and was first opened.  Its really well done and I was fortunate enough to be able to post it on our blog. Just click on the link above or its permanantly on the right side of the site under Helpful Island Gate sites, the second line down called Island Gate Video.  Please take a look, you will be happy you did. 

PS If anyone has any cool photos of Island Gate at anytime of year please send them to me and I will post them on the blog

Groundhogs Day 2012

Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, 6 more weeks of winter  

At 7:25 a.m. this morning, amidst mostly cloudy skies, and temperatures in the low 30s, Groundhog Phil saw his shadow in the little town of Punxsutawney, Pa.

According to folklore, Phil’s sighting of his own shadow means there will be 6 more weeks of winter. Had Phil not seen his shadow, it would have meant “there will be an early spring.”

If Phil’s forecast is right, it signals a dramatic reversal from the mild weather pattern affecting much of the country. Many parts of the central and eastern U.S. have seen temperatures 20 to 30 degrees above normal in recent days. On February 1, just 19% of the Lower 48 had snow cover compared to 52% at this time last year.

Historic odds heavily favor a forecast for winter to last deep into March. Since the Groundhog’s first prediction in 1887, Phil has seen his shadow 99 times and failed to spot it just 16 times. There are 9 missing years in the record, but Phil has issued a forecast without exception.

What does that mean for Island Gate?  Just a quick financial update, as of today we haven’t touched our snow removal budget for 2012.  This is in sharp contrast to last year and the year before.  We have $14,000 budgeted for snow removal in 2012, if we don’t spend much money on snow removal  we will have quite a bit more financial flexibility than years where we spend more than our budgeted amount.  So keep your fingers crossed and hope that Phil is wrong this year and a warm winter turns into an early spring.