National Park Service Historic Themes and Resources within the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route Southern New Jersey and the Delaware Bay: Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties

The documentation in this publication was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) as the first substantive historical investigation by the National Park Service (NPS) of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail (NJCHT). Work commenced during summer and fall 1990 at the request of NJCHT Project Director Janet Wolf, through the efforts of Robert J. Kapsch, chief of HABS/HAER, a division of the NPS. Project leader was Sara Amy Leach, HABS historian; Project Historian Kimberly Sebold (M.A., University of Delaware) conducted all substantive research. Large-format photographs were taken by David Ames (University of Delaware); the source of all other images is so identified. The NJCHT in its entirety falls under the geographic jurisdiction of the NPS-North Atlantic Regional Office, Gerald D. Patton, director.

Special thanks go to: Richard King for introducing key contacts and supplying an extensive collection of New Jersey history; William Gehring and Edward Abbott, Jr., for performing personal tours and lending books, maps, historic newspapers and family papers from their personal collections; Dale Wettstein for sharing his vast collection of historic photographs; Charlie Loew, Mr. and Mrs. Lester McAllister, Meghan Wren, Mort Hughes, and Jamie Hand for furnishing books and advice; Alice Boggs and Curtis Harker for their assistance at the Salem County Historical Society; Robert Butcher, Somers Corson, Fola Bevan, Everett Turner, Mary Ellen Green, Clem Sutton, Shirley Bailey, Hope Hamlin, Bernie Senstrom, Mac Thomason, John Warner, Janice and Jeanette Burcham, Sally Watson, and Del Brandt for sharing their endless knowledge of the area; Michael Chiarappa (University of Pennsylvania) for sharing his knowledge and research on South Jersey's oyster industry, architecture and folklife; and Historian Patrick O'Brien, NPS-Denver Service Center, for his comments on methodology.

The institutional repositories and their staffs that provided material and assistance include: the Office of New Jersey Heritage; Rutgers University, Special Collections and Archives; University of Delaware, Special Collections; National Agricultural Library, U.S. Department of Agriculture; State Library and Archives, Trenton; Salem County Historical Society; Cape May County Historical Society; Millville Historical Society; Cumberland County Historical Society; Bridgeton Public Library; Cedarville Public Library; Cumberland County Library; and Wheaton Village and Museum Library.