The land’s riches were known well before the land was officially protected. In the late 1800s, Joseph Wharton of Penn’s Wharton School of Business bought 100,000 acres of Pine Barrens land for the purpose of transporting its bounty of clean water to Philadelphia. But the New Jersey legislature put a stop to his canal and reservoir pipeline. During the American Revolution, sphagnum moss from the Pine Barrens often replaced cloth bandages for its sanitary and absorbent qualities. Several fruitful industries were born in the region, too, that managed (fortunately) not to destroy it, including charcoal-making, glass-making, woodcutting, and cabinetry. Historical records indicate one cabinetmaker in nearby Speedwell, NJ, designed and built the writing desk where Thomas Jefferson composed the Declaration of Independence.
But all who realized the Barrens’ bounty did not respect it; open land was considered tractable land and wasteful if not bought and settled. In the 1920s, new subscribers to a Philadelphia newspaper received housing lots in the Pine Barrens as free gifts, and during the Depression, deeds were given out as door prizes at movie theaters. At the time, the land cost five dollars per lot. Probably the most famous, and conspicuous “homeowner” to move in was the New Jesey Devil. Rumored to have a goat’s head, bat wings, hog hooves, and a forked tail, the legendary creature is said to have been spotted by enough people in the early 1900s that schools and businesses closed out of fear, and the Philadelphia Zoo offered a $10,000 reward for a sample of its excrement.
All that to say, it’s not just trees you’re driving through on your way to Seaview, but a rich, historical (and folkloric) tapestry. The Pine Barrens is so much more than “a wasteland on the way to the shore”; it’s nature’s gift. Reserve your stay at Seaview Dolce today and visit the Pine Barrens on you way! Hikes through the reserves on marked trails will delight the most curious visitor.
