-
By John Calu and Dave Hart: With time running out, three intrepid summer adventurers, Kelly Martin, Geoffrey Martin, and Danny Windsor find themselves drawn into the epicenter of controversy as Mayor Dillard C. Webb, coping with unpopular beach closings, riots and demonstrations, must do battle with power mongers and political mercenaries in order to solve this Riddle in the Sand. This is a work of fiction. -
By Kenneth W. Able, PhD.: Station 119 is the story of the mission of the men and women who work at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station. It is also the story of the station itself. While the station now may play a role in saving the planet, it began with a mission of saving lives. This is the fascinating history of a remote former Coast Guard station near Little Egg Inlet on the Jersey Shore and its reincarnation as a marine research facility. The station is now staffed by scientists and students studying the environment in the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR), near Long Beach Island. -
By Ces Mowthorpe: The story of the sky sailors - the men who pioneered a mode of air transport that today is virtually forgotten. During the first two decades of aviation pioneering (c.1890-1910), airshipmen greatly outnumbered aeroplane pioneers. But the great innovations in heavier-than-air aircraft, the advent of two world wars, and the bad publicity brought about by a few horrific airship disasters, Hindenburg and Shenandoah to mention two, changed the picture completely. -
By John Bailey Lloyd: Travel back to Edwardian Beach Haven. You will discover the origins of Barnegat Light House and learn about the fortitude of the men of the U.S. Lifesaving Service. Hurricanes and nor’easters have created “new inlets” and caused the disappearance of Tucker’s Island. You’ll travel the first automobile highways to the Shore—or take the train to one of the grand old hotels and you will find out the origin of that enduring phrase, “Six Miles At Sea”. -
By John Bailey Lloyd: The companion books by John Bailey Lloyd—Eighteen Miles of History, Six Miles At Sea, and Two Centuries of History—contain hundreds of photographs, illustrations and maps of the Island’s past. Here in large postcards are selections of 22 of the most compelling photographs from those books. Within these images you will find a unique shore resort that is wider, more innocent, less developed and perhaps more romantic—the perfect Long Beach Island of collective memory. -
By Karen F. Rilley, Andrew Coulis, & Peter H. Stemmer: Our country's first national reserve, the Pine Barrens, harbors a wonderful secret unknown to most outsiders. This 1.1-million-acre treasure trove of pitch pine and sugar sand is home to many rare species and almost 17 trillion gallons of the purest water on earth. It was in this forest that men like Leland Champion logged trees and built sawmills. It was along these waterways that craftsmen like Gary Giberson made prized decoys. And it was in these woods that Stanley Switlik built a tower from which Amelia Earhart jumped, testing his parachute so it could be used in World War II. These woods yielded inventors whose products we enjoy today. They include cultivated blueberries, cranberry sauce, and Welch's grape juice. It was here that Bob Buchanan reached for the mooring lines as the Hindenburg ended its final, fatal voyage. It was here in Buzby's General Store that John McPhee penned his classic book. -
By Margaret Thomas Buchholz: During World War I, before women had the right to vote in America, a young Josephine Lehman Thomas answered the patriotic call from Washington, D.C. and became one of the pioneering ''government girls”. leaving her home in Michigan for adventure in the nation's capital. Through explored diaries and letters, her daughter, Margaret Thomas Buchholz, gives us an amazing chronicle of a trailblazing woman. Josephine worked for legendary journalist Lowell Thomas and traveled the world until the Great Depression dropped her and her new family, struggling to get by, on an island off the coast of New Jersey. This fascinating personal history reveals the optimism of the early 20th Century, the emerging professional woman, the thrill of travel and a sense of success, followed by the crash of the economy, losing everything, and ultimately happiness in a simple life by the sea. -
By Victoria O’Donnell & Christopher Ippolito: Jackson Township was named after the legendary "Old Hickory," Pres. Andrew Jackson. For many years, the township was largely recognized by its small villages. Each of these villages had similar features--a church, general store, tavern, mill, and iconic one-room schoolhouse--which nurtured the small community and formed the foundation of modern Jackson. Mills, small farms, and horse breeding in the 19th century transitioned to cranberry bogs and chicken farms in the first half of the 20th century. As transportation became more advanced after World War II, people began to travel outside of town for work, and the once-thriving villages of industry disappeared. Today, Jackson Township, covering 100.4 square miles, is the largest municipality in Ocean County and the third largest in the state of New Jersey. -
By Linda Barth: Many Americans are familiar with Thomas Edison's "invention factory" in Menlo Park, where he patented the phonograph, the light bulb and more than one thousand other items. New Jerseyans brought sound and music to movies and built the very first drive-in theater. In addition to the first cultivated blueberry, tasty treats like ice cream cones and M&Ms are also Jersey natives. Iconic aspects of American life, like the batting cage, catcher's mask and even professional baseball itself, started in New Jersey. Life would be a lot harder without the vacuum cleaner, plastic and Band-Aids, and many important advances in medicine and surgery were also developed here. Join author Linda Barth as she explores groundbreaking, useful, fun and even silly inventions and their New Jersey roots.