AT LAST! (Almost) EXPANSION UPDATE

Transcription

1 Volume 15,Issue 2 Newsletter of the Atlantic County Historical Society AT LAST! (Almost) EXPANSION UPDATE SUMMER 2017 As sung by Sid Parker I really, REALLY, REALLY am starting to dislike writing the above two words. I just want to say, Done! We re really done! I can truthfully say without equivocation or hesitation at this time that we re almost there. Of course, in the fall newsletter I wrote that we were approaching the finish line. In the winter newsletter it was Same Old, Same Old with pictures of only gradual progress. In the spring newsletter I said that the Empire State Building was built in 410 days and that we hit that mark on February 20. I also hinted that peace and quiet would soon prevail and that volunteers, members and visitors would return. Please don t shoot the messenger. We re NOT finished yet. Closer, yes, as the below pictures will attest. And, in a major exercise of executive decisiveness, our board has determined that we will open our doors on Wednesday, July 5th to the library only; the museum and the upstairs displays will not be thoroughly cleaned and rearranged for several months. There you have it...the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the ugly truth. Case dismissed. Norman Goos, Librarian: Where are our books?? Oh, yeah up in the auditorium! Ah finally, back on the shelves. INSIDE THIS EDITION Page 2 - Upcoming Events Page 3 - Member News Page 4 - Looking Back Through the Files Page 7 - Library Corner The elevator and its mechanical room going in. Almost ready! Atlantic Heritage 1

2 Events and Happenings Program Logistics RISLEY HOMESTEAD 8 Virginia Avenue (near 400 block of Shore Rd) Northfield, NJ NORTHFIELD CITY HALL Council Chambers 1600 Shore Rd. Northfield, NJ Thursday, September 14 th - 7:00 pm OCEAN CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY Maloney Hall 1735 Simpson Ave., Ste. #4 Ocean City, NJ Thursday, August 3 rd 7:30pm EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY 6647 West Jersey Ave. Egg Harbor Twp. NJ Saturday, September 30 th 8:00am 2:00pm Program Description The Risley Homestead is one of two 18th century houses in Atlantic County individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was home to many generations of Risley oystermen. The ACHS received the Homestead and its furnishings by bequest from Virginia Risley Stout in The Homestead is open for individual and small group guided tours. Contact ACHS for details. ATLANTIC COUNTY ROUNDTABLE A joint program by the organizations of the Atlantic County Roundtable will be held. The subject is small town hotels, inns, boarding houses, etc. of Atlantic County during the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Light refreshments will be served. Handicapped accessible, plenty of free parking. THE ROLE OF RAILROADS, FERRIES, AND TROLLEY LINES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OCEAN CITY ACHS s Tony Marino will be participating in the Library s Summer Lecture Series providing a slide presentation that covers the Shore Fast Line among other transportation topics, followed by a question and answer session. YE OLDE FLEA MARKET The ACHS is purchasing a spot at the EHT Historical Society annual event. We are urging our Board Members and Volunteers to contribute items for sale. Also, the Library will have a table selling our extra books and cookbook. All proceeds go to the ACHS. GREATE BAY COUNTRY CLUB Somers Point-Mays Landing Rd. Somers Point, NJ October 21st - 11:30am Reservation Required. Fee: $32. BOSCOV S DEPT. STORE 6725 Black Horse Pike Egg Harbor Twp. Tuesday, October 17 th 9am -10pm 2017 ACHS ANNUAL LUNCHEON Members and the general public are invited. Following the installation of the nominees to the governing Board, The Bringing History to Life Award will be presented. Members will vote on nominees to the Governing Board at this time. BOSCOV S FRIENDS & FAMILY DAY Tickets sell for $5 each. Boscov s will give 25% off each store purchase to the buyer; even on sale prices. Tickets may be purchased from any Program Committee Member ahead of time or from their table set up in Boscov s that day. The ACHS is recipient of the purchase price of each ticket. (Contact ACHS for Tickets) Need to Contact Us? Phone: (609) or ACHSinfo@comcast.net Visit our Facebook page or website Newsletter Editor, Layout & Graphics : Ellen Hyatt Contributors to this Issue: Sid & Pat Parker, Norman Goos, Sheryl Collins, Dale Lonkart, Diane Miller & Charlene Canale The Atlantic County Historical Society received an operating grant from the Atlantic County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs. Atlantic Heritage 2

3 AN APPEALING SIGHT by Sid Parker For some folks, it s an awesome sunrise over a fog-shrouded meadow or perhaps storm clouds along the western horizon reflecting the oranges, pinks and purples of the setting sun. Or maybe it s a puppy and a kitten sleeping snuggled together or a 1-year old, hands full of cake and icing discovering the joys of a first birthday. For those of us active in the Society it would be the sight of our financial statement showing a healthy balance. For the last year and a half during our building expansion, although we have made some optional and originally-unplanned upgrades, we have encountered a number of serious and unexpected increases in expenses. As a result, and for those of you who can see the direction this is going, we are asking our friends and members to help us replenish our sadly depleted coffers during our annual appeal. We certainly know that not everyone can, or will, respond to our plea for help. We will survive far into the future, although with some immediate belt tightening, even if our appeal falls on fallow ground. We ll slowly rebuild the treasury for the future projects and improvements which will certainly arise. BUT, we would like to turn over to our successors a more rotund piggy bank than we are presently holding. So, please, help us FEED THE PIG! L-R: Candy, from Quilts of Valor, VHP Chair Sheryl Collins, Steve Jasiecki, Veterans Robert Ford & Harry Reinmuth, Crystal, Quilts of Valor and Tom Born. The Atlantic County Historical Society is pleased to welcome our new members: Daniel S. Harkins, Fleming Island, FL & Welcome Back! Gale Taylor, Richlands, NC AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU! DONATIONS: SPONSOR: $250 - $1000 Sid and Pat Parker PATRONS: $50 - $249 Carol Raph, Mary Beth Ortzman, Virginia VanAntwerpen Czrka for the Veterans Oral History Project IN MEMORIAM Laura M. Hager New Britain, PA On May 16th Sheryl Collins, Steve Jasiecki and Tom Born traveled to the Buena Senior Citizen Center to interview two Veterans who were presented with their Quilts of Valor following their interview. On May 22nd Helen Walsh, Patty Chappine and Steve Jasiecki met at the Round House in Egg Harbor City to interview three female WWII Veterans; Miariam Mueller, US Navy, Mary Emma Sartorius, US Marines, and Julia Lott, US Marines. All three women are approximately 93 years old and drove themselves through the pouring rain for their interviews! President: Sid Parker, Jr. Vice-President: Cindy Mason-Purdie Recording Secy: Barbara Perry-Silva Treasurer: Charlene Canale Asst. Treasurer: Pat Parker Financial Secretary: Ellen Hyatt Atlantic County Historical Society Governing Board Librarian: Rev. Norman Goos Assistant Librarian: Diane Miller Curator: Joan Frankel Asst. Curator: Kevin Little Historian: Diane Bassetti Chaplain: Rev. Norman Goos Trustees: Turiya Abdur-Raheem, Diane Bassetti, Skip Bellino, Ben Brenner, Sheryl Collins, Frank Ferry, Freda Heintz, James Mason,V, Mary Beth Ortzman, Donald Perry, Ruth Taylor, Will Rozell & Lynn Wood. Atlantic Heritage 3

4 Looking Back through the Files... Editor's Note: The United States entered World War I in April of On this 100 th anniversary year, we have chosen to transcribe an article which is housed in our Vertical file in a folder entitled Amatol. The Vertical File is a miscellaneous collection of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, memorabilia, articles, etc. which are organized in folders according to subject and filed alphabetically. This article was written by Mary Schroer, a 10 th grade student at Oakcrest High School in Mays Landing, on March 15, It explains the story of Amatol, one of two shell loading plants built in Atlantic County in 1918 to support the war effort. Locally, the better known is Bethlehem Loading Company near Mays Landing. This article has been shortened for space considerations. Comments in []s were added by the transcriber. In addition to the foot-noted sources, in her introduction, the author writes that she also consulted maps, and records in the Town Hall of Mullica Township and the Surrogate s Office in Mays Landing. She also hiked through sections of the site. JERSEY LANDMARKS SEARCH A Defense Brief for: AMATOL INTRODUCTION In this story or defense brief of AMATOL, I hope to capture some of the excitement and importance of this huge ammunition plant and town being built in a few short months, the importance of the work accomplished there, the need for speed and ammunition during World War I, the shell loaded there, the reaction of the local residents and the effect on the surrounding area. One may wonder how could such a huge and important site and town become a wilderness in such a short span of time exactly fifty years March 1918 to March 1968 AtlAntic county takes Front rank Among leaders in WAr industry small city Will be built Along the pleasant mills road news concerns property situated Along Two railroads and white horse pike and extends back to mullica river complete surprise to All but Agents And WAr department huge Army shell plant For jersey village 2 The above were just a few of the headlines in the Atlantic County Record, published in Mays Landing, during the early part of March They tell just a bit of the excitement in 1918, when the nucleus of a great $11,000,000 shell-loading plant was to be located near Elwood. Amatol became a thriving town practically overnight. When the residents of Elwood awoke on Sunday morning [March 3, 1918], they were amazed to find 50 freight cars of Ordnance Department U.S.A. on the siding, and many heavy trucks riding through the hitherto quiet streets. Within a few days, there were at least 1,000 people. It expanded beyond anyone s imagination in this rural area. Where [and what] is AMATOL? It was an ammunition loading plant and town a few miles north of Elwood. It consisted of 6,000 acres, reaching from the Reading and Pennsylvania Railroads and the White Horse Pike, the northerly line crossed these at a point 3 ¼ miles from Hammonton, extending down the county road to Elwood. It ran back to the Mullica River. The Pleasant Mills Road out of Elwood ran through the easterly portion. In only 9 months, Amatol grew out of dense pine and oak forests and some swampland into an ammunition plant which turned out ammunition of many types including large shells and drop bombs; and also a town capable of housing over 10,000 people, with the many needed buildings for administration, auxiliary operation, recreation, etc. 3 A complete town sprang up, telephone and telegraph systems, central heating stations and steam-electric stations, theater, churches, YMCA, stores, a school, and even hospital facilities. Construction of the plant began on March 4, 1918; loading operations began on July 31, The first shells were loaded on August 3, 1918; these were 75 m/m and drop bombs. 1 Atlantic County Takes Front Rank Among Leaders in War Industry, Atlantic County Record, Mays Landing, NJ, March 9, Huge Army Shell Plant for Jersey Village, Atlantic County Record, Mays Landing, NJ, March 14, Hammel, Victor F., Construction and Operation of a Shell Loading Plant and the Town of Amatol, New Jersey, 1918, p. 6 Atlantic Heritage 4

5 Looking Back through the Files...continued Trinitrotoluol [TNT)], which was the destructive ammunition used during World War I, was urgently needed. The plant at Amatol was the largest of its type in the country. It provided for the loading of shell of all sizes from 75 m/m to 10-inch drop bombs, depth bombs, rifle grenades, hand grenades and boosters. 4 This plant was designed to load more than 25% of the shell required by the Ordnance Department. It produced over 9,000,000 rounds of ammunition of various types. The operations of the plant consisted of loading, assembling and packing fixed ammunition. The shell was loaded with TNT, or TNT and ammonium nitrate, the cartridge cases were filled with smokeless powder and the booster, which finally detonates the main charge, is placed in the nose of the shell. There were 642 buildings of all classes, and the plant layout was planned so that if an explosion occurred in one building, all the other buildings could continue work. All hazardous operations were carried on in two or three duplicate buildings.. Amatol was the main charge pressed into the shell. It contained 80% of ammonium nitrate and 20% of TNT. Because of the great demand for war needs, it was necessary to load amatol rather than straight TNT...This mix had as high [an] explosive power as TNT, but it absorbed moisture and would deteriorate. Shells loaded with straight TNT would last indefinitely, at least 25 years; whereas the condition of shell loaded with amatol would be uncertain after perhaps five years. 5 Shells loaded with amatol were shellacked to help exclude moisture. Straight TNT was loaded whenever the supply was adequate. The shell was complete when it left the plant, except for the placing of the fuse, which was done on the battlefront When the Ordnance Department entered into a contract with the Atlantic Loading Company to produce more than 25% of shell needed, it was necessary to locate a large tract of suitable land. Originally a site was picked near Whitings in Burlington County [Whiting, Ocean County?]. Camp Dix was on the same watershed, and this was overlooked until camp commanders protested in February In searching for a new site, the huge tract of land near Elwood, which was owned by Daniel B. Frazier of Philadelphia, was mentioned to Governor Edge. Mr. Frazier was contacted, and all negotiations for the tract were kept in strict confidence until Saturday, March 2 nd. Only a few officials from the War Department and Mr. Frazier, who worked to secure this industry for Atlantic County, knew of the coming industry. Mr. Frazier was president of the Atlantic City Suburban and Realty Co., and Mr. William N. Mattix of Mays Landing, who had charge of securing the options on any other nearby land, was secretary of this company. Equipment and material for construction of the plant were already on the sidings at Whitings [sic], and it took only a few hours to send it on the way to Elwood. Late Saturday evening, the trains began arriving in Elwood. In an interview with Mr. Harry E. Kehler, who was Postmaster at that time in Elwood, I learned: The first news of the coming plant was on Saturday, when plant officials were looking for rooms, and by evening the trains came pouring in. We weren t ready for such a large development. The post office was too small, and we didn t have extra help. Later, there was a sub-station post office at Amatol that worked through the Hammonton post office, but it could not handle money orders. On Friday nights, which was pay day, we were swamped with money orders to go to all parts of the United States and some even to foreign countries. We put the money in large mail sacks. Workers came from all over, but there was never any trouble. On Friday nights, we worked until all the money orders were sent out. 6 The Atlantic Loading Company believed in organization, construction and production in quick-step time. 7 Within 24 hours after the site was selected and surveyed, clearing the land for the plant was started. [Another large shell loading plant was located in Atlantic County.] Bethlehem Loading Company was built near Mays Landing or Belcoville [short for Bethlehem Loading Co.] starting in February 1918, and loading shells by October When the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, construction work was suspended. About 90% of construction had been completed, and shell loading continued for several months. However, in March of 1919, the United States Government took title to Amatol for a permanent U.S. Arsenal. The deed was recorded on March 14, 1919, in the County Clerk s Office in Mays Landing. Left: Aerial view of Amatol. Right: Workers Dormitory From the Image Collection of the Atlantic County Historical Society. 4 Ibid., p Ibid., p Harry E. Kehler, Postmaster in Hammel, Victor F., note 3, p. 120 Continued on page 6 Atlantic Heritage 5

6 Looking Back through the Files...continued It was the intention of the government to establish a permanent arsenal at Amatol. Equipment and supplies from Bethlehem Loading Company at Mays Landing were transferred to Amatol. [Plans appear to have changed, however.] In an interview with Mr. William A. Blair, I learned: When the War was over, Captain Carr was left in charge of Amatol, and had the job of dismantling and disposing of property. He was there about three years. Later, some of the land was sold to the Speedway. The only remaining building is the main administration building, which is now the home of Troop A, New Jersey State Police, and is known as the Hammonton Barracks. 8 [On November 8, 1996, the New Jersey State Police opened Troop A Headquarters, serving all of South Jersey, on Route 54 in Buena Vista. 9 ] When you speak to older residents of this area, you find many of them worked at Amatol, and many came from other sections of the country to work and live at Amatol, and remained here after Amatol was dismantled. For more information on Atlantic County s involvement in WWI, be sure to visit the rotating ACHS exhibit now at the Atlantic County Courthouse in Mays Landing. 8 William A. Blair, County Clerk. State Legislature in accessed May 26, 2017 MAPS CAN BE MESMERIZING, IF WE READ THEM CAREFULLY, cont d. from pg 7. inspector for the City of Ventnor and he has seen the remains of the bulk-heading for both the dry inlets and bridges in the back yards of inspector houses for on Jackson the City Avenue of Ventnor and on and Fredericksburg he has seen the Avenue. remains If of you the can bulk-heading recall the bay for behind both Ventnor the dry inlets today, and picture bridges yourself in the going back south yards of under houses the on Dorset Jackson Avenue Avenue Bridge. and Instead on Fredericksburg of turning right Avenue. to go If out you the can Mile recall Stretch the bay (a man-made behind Ventnor canal), today, picture picture going yourself going south under the Dorset Avenue Bridge. Instead of turning right to go out the Mile Stretch (a man-made canal), picture going straight ahead into the 4 or 5 block long large cove that ends at about Newark Ave. This waterway originally continued as a mediumsized creek all the way to Fredericksburg Avenue and then turned left to the ocean to form the lower dry inlet. It was filled in to build up the area called Ventnor Gardens. The southern part of Absecon Island, Margate and Longport, was also called Lakes Beach in the early 1800s. Now let s make our final move to Longport, all the way to the tip. The early 1800s maps show this as a double inlet as well, the northern one called New Inlet and the Southern one called Old Inlet. Overall, it was always known as Great Egg Harbor Inlet from the late 1600s. The island between the two inlets was called Seward s Island on the older maps. Of course, today s Ocean City was called Peck s Beach all the way to Corson s Inlet. I have not found any extra inlets on that island. Originally Longport was about 12 blocks longer than it is today but a storm washed it away, along with Seward s Island. The sand from Longport s lower end and Seward s Island end up filling in the lower Old Inlet and leaving the Longport-Ocean City Inlet at today s width. Storms still change the channel and sandbar locations to the dismay of all the boaters that use this doorway to the sea. Maps! One person may give them a quick glance and see very little of interest. Another person may look deeper and see a lot of history unfolding before their eyes. Yet another person might look deeper still and picture themselves in days of old involved in a great adventure filled with Lenape Indians, smugglers with the names of Somers and Steelman, battling soldiers with names like Westcott and Leeds, and even maybe some pirates. Maps! Come in browse through our collection and allow your mind to run wild a bit. It may be the beginning of a field trip you ll just be compelled to take. Best wishes for a great summer, Norm Goos, Librarian PS: The source of my mental wanderings was a book of maps published by Princeton University Library in 2014 entitled Nova Caesarea: A Cartographic Record of the Garden State Including the First Maps, Wall Maps & County Atlases as well as Past & Current th Anniversary of the Naming of New Jersey. It s a beautiful oversized coffee table book that is a great conversation starter. The quality of the 100 to 300 year old maps is outstanding. We have a copy at the historical society library for you to peruse. There is also a copy at the Mays Landing branch of the Atlantic County Library. New personal copies are available through Amazon at a cost $89.26 with free shipping to Prime Members. Figure 1: The Book of Maps Quoted Atlantic Heritage 6

7 Library Corner Norman Goos, Librarian ~ Asst. Librarian, Diane Miller MAPS CAN BE MESMERIZING, IF WE READ THEM CAREFULLY Maps! Have you ever considered taking an hour and studying the details of an old map of the Atlantic County area to see something new? Sometimes a mental adventure can be just as enjoyable as a physical trip. Add your imagination to the map s details and there s no telling where the door might lead, what land you might visit: Middle Earth, Narnia or even the world of Harry Potter, all without leaving Atlantic County. It s often the way folks start planning to write a novel. Most of us reading this have grown up on or near the beach. The rest of us have at least visited the beach as children and teens. It s a familiar and pleasant sight. As we adults now often stand at the water s edge at our favorite sunning spot and look up and down the silver and blue expanse of sand and waves, it s natural to assume that our beaches have always looked the same. This conclusion, however, would be in error. I was raised in a family house in lower Atlantic City on Providence Avenue that included my maternal grandparents, Norman Aldoria Reeves and Frances Finelli Dolbey who were born in 1898 and 1900 respectively. They lived in Atlantic City almost all their lives. I recall some of the stories and descriptions they gave of the beach in their childhood years and these story-pictures were different from what I saw when I walked the beach in my teens. How different was the shore? Let s take a walking tour of our area beaches, starting with the lower end of Long Beach Island and walk south as far as the Ocean City beach of today. See the PS at the end of my article for the resource I ll be quoting. Let s start at what we today call Long Beach Island at the top right of the included map labeled Figure 1. The island was simply called Long Beach in the late 1700s, and it stretched down to the Little Egg Harbor Inlet located at what we call Holgate today. It s the inlet the British used when they attacked Chestnut Neck in October It was reported to be such a tough inlet to enter because of sand bars on the ocean side that pilots had to be stationed in the bay to go out and guide larger cargo ships in to safety. You can see this narrow inlet just to the right of the letter L in Little Egg Harbor Bay on the map. It was much wider in the 1700s. The inlet began to close up in the early 1800s and a new inlet began to open a few miles to the south labeled as New Inlet. The original inlet became known as Old Inlet. This too was treacherous to enter without guidance because of sandbars, rapid tides and changing wind directions. Figure 2: 1833 Thomas Gordon Map Between Old and New Inlets there was an island known as Tucker Island that contained an early hotel, several homes, and eventually a lighthouse. At one point, about 1880, this lower portion was laid out in streets with a housing development planned. The plan never came to fruition because Tucker Island washed away in a storm in the late 1800s, all but a marsh island by the same name. Today only New Inlet survives and we call it both Beach Haven Inlet and Little Egg Harbor Inlet. It s still a challenge to navigate in high winds. Now let s think about Brigantine Beach. Today, it s divided into two islands by Brigantine Inlet, also known not-so-lovingly as Wreck Inlet (I wonder why??). In the mid-1800s, Brigantine Inlet was much farther north as you will note on the included map at the spot marked Old Brigantine Inlet. This inlet eventually closed and the present Brigantine Inlet opened up. The northward end of the island is still called Little Beach and the southward part is called Brigantine Island. However, look carefully at the lowest part of this island on the map. You will note there is yet another inlet before you get to today s Absecon or Atlantic City Inlet. This extra inlet was called Quarters Inlet and a small island to its south was called Peter s Beach. This inlet eventually filled in and became part of Brigantine. Next we see Absecon Inlet, originally called Calm Inlet; it has stayed pretty much the same as it is today. The island that today holds Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport was originally called Absecum (sp) Beach, Farther Beach and Leeds Beach at various times up to It boasted of a high sand dune mountain range that ran from the north end of the island (the inlet area) to today s AC-Ventnor border. It was heavily forested with various types of trees and extensively used for cattle grazing. At the Atlantic City-Ventnor border at Jackson Avenue there was a small inlet called Dry Inlet that connected the ocean and the bay, filled only at high tide. There was another similar inlet at the Ventnor-Margate border at Fredericksburg Avenue but I ve never found that it was named. My grandmother recalled taking the train from Atlantic City to Longport about 1908 with her step-father and crossing two bridges that seemed big to her at the time. She was 95 when she related this story to me. My brother is a housing Continued on Page 6 Atlantic Heritage 7

8 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 164 Pleasantville, NJ Shore Road Post Office Box 301 Somers Point, New Jersey ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Our Mission: To collect and preserve historical materials exemplifying the events, places, and lifestyles of the people of Atlantic County and southern New Jersey. To encourage the study of history and genealogy. To provide historical and genealogical information to our membership and the general public. Atlantic Heritage 8