History
Whitesbog History
In the mid 1800s James A. Fenwick purchased 490 acres of land to begin growing cranberries. Although not always an easy road, by the 1860s Fenwick’s efforts culminated in success and the cranberry boom began. Joseph J. White Fenwick’s son in law was also an up in coming cranberry farmer, and in 1882 when Fenwick died, White took control of the cranberry operation, although it would belong to Fenwicks widow until her death in 1911. At the same time, White began to acquire land adjacent to his Father in laws and farm them for cranberries as well. Elizabeth Coleman White, his eldest daughter, assisted him, beginning her career at Whitesbog in 1893. As a young, enterprising woman, Elizabeth became interested in growing blueberries in the land between cranberry bogs;
Oral History & Recordings
The History Of Whitesbog
In 1857, after having experienced considerable success growing cranberries at a small bog called "Skunk's Misery," James A. Fenwick, a New Jersey farmer, purchased 108 more acres of bog along Cranberry Run south of Hanover Furnace. Fenwick must have known this land would give rise to great numbers of cranberries, as the land had been a natural cranberry meadow
Joseph Josiah "J.J." White, son of Barclay and Rebecca Lamb White, was born on his father's farm, Sharon, in Springfield Township, Burlington County New Jersey on January 22, 1846. Barclay also owned pine and swamp land on the Wading River, about 25 miles from the family homestead. It was here where he attempted to cultivate the wild cranberries growing there.
Elizabeth Coleman White was born to Joseph J. White and Mary A. Fenwick White in New Lisbon, on October 5, 1871. She spend her early years in Springfield Township and Smithville. Around 1881, the family settled permanently in New Lisbon at Fenwick Manor where Elizabeth would live until 1923 when she built her home Suningive at Whitesbog.
Whitesbog Village in Browns Mills, NJ was the largest NJ cranberry farm in the early 1900s. Its founder J.J. White was a nationally recognized leader in the cranberry industry. Whitesbog, an important part of NJ history and blueberry & cranberry culture in the U.S. Is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Sites. It includes the Village and the surrounding 3,000 acres of cranberry bogs, blueberry fields, reservoirs, sugar sand roads and Pine Barren's forests.
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Whitesbog Preservation Trust is the caretaker of Whitesbog Historic Village, a small cranberry farming village founded in 1857
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Whitesbog Preservation Trust (501(c) (3) non profit) is the caretaker of Whitesbog Historic Village, a small cranberry farming village founded in 1857.
Whitesbog Preservation Trust
120 W. Whites Bog Road #34
Browns Mills, NJ 08015
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609.893.4646
whitesbogpreservationtrust@gmail.com
Open Daily: Sunrise – Sunset