Remnants of the 600-foot Cranberry Sorting & Packing Warehouse at Whitesbog. Of three original sections, only the firewall remains. The first section was built in 1890. Fires in 1961 and 1970 destroyed two other sections. Photo: J. Morton Galetto unless otherwise noted
The day was a mixture of balmy and cloud-cover-cool. Leaves had started to show fall colors and many shrubs bore brightly hued fruit. With our CU Maurice River entourage we ventured north for a little over an hour, from central Cumberland County, for a guided tour of Whitesbog Village in Browns Mills, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. CU calls these monthly ventures “Tuesdays on the Fly.” Often they are theme-based, with this year’s topic being southern New Jersey’s farm culture.
Travelling the heart of the Pinelands on Route 54 is always nostalgic for me, I suppose like the Blue Ridge Parkway may seem to a Virginian. Instead of hillsides painted in autumn colors we have flat vistas with pines and oaks, farm fields, blueberry fields, and cranberry bogs. It’s an acquired taste but it’s ours and it’s home.
The region is rich in natural history—from Batsto Village’s bog iron cannon balls, to the Wharton State Forest’s Batona trail, to Warren Grove’s pygmy pines, to Tuckerton’s decoys and a lot more. The Pine Barrens Reserve’s huge aquifer and unique flora and fauna are world-famous. And with the approach of Halloween let’s not forget Mother Leeds’ 13th child, the Jersey Devil. These are but a few quintessential Pine Barrens icons that connect us all as Pineys.
We arrived at Whitesbog in the morning, primarily a group of retired and inquisitive folks. Before our tour began we had some free time to try out Face-In-Hole boards designed for kids. Apparently big kids—like us, too. They were themed in part for Whitesbog’s Blueberry festival and their upcoming Halloween festivities. We tried out the rocking chairs on the general store’s porch and eventually explored its offerings. All good fun.
We learned that the Whitesbog Preservation Trust runs the interpretative aspects of the Village, which includes at least 26 features on a tour map. In the general store the executive director told us about the friends group’s mission. From here we embarked on a tour led by Mackenzie Tansey and Clint Crawn.
Tansey holds a master’s degree in museum leadership from Drexel and an undergraduate degree from Albright College; she did a marvelous job of giving us an introduction to the historic ownership of Whitesbog. The story began with James A. Fenwick who grew cranberries along Cranberry Run beginning in 1857. After his death his son-in-law Joseph J. White took over the business, renaming it J.J. White.
The acclaimed Elizabeth Coleman White, J.J.’s eldest daughter, became interested in growing blueberries. She and USDA Botanist Dr. Frederick Coville developed the first experimental commercial blueberry crop on the village grounds.
The cranberry farm grew to 3,000 acres and was called White’s Bog by locals. By the early 1900s it was New Jersey’s largest such operation.
Today, Pine Island Cranberry Co., owned by Haines and Haines, Inc., is the largest cranberry farm in the state, at 1,400 acres of cranberries and 14,000 acres of woods and supporting reservoirs. It dates back to 1890. It produces an average of 13 million pounds annually.
In the 1920s Whitesbog Village grew to include workers’ houses, a general store, and 600 employees during the fall harvest. After J.J. White’s death in 1924, his sons-in-law Lewis and Emlen Darlington ran the operation.
During the 1940s what had previously been a dry handpicked harvest changed to a more mechanized wet harvest, and because it became less labor-dependent the need for workers at the Village decreased. “In 1967, the village and nearby fields were sold to the State of New Jersey to be managed as a state historic site. The Darlington family still farms the cranberry bogs.” (Whitesbog Interpretative Guide).
We learned about the environment that supports cranberries and visited an area that is transitioning to a demonstration cranberry bog. This enabled us to understand the mechanics of wet harvest, which requires dikes, sluices, reservoirs, and flooding.
We strolled the nearby dikes to look at fields of cranberries. The adjacent wooded areas had a number of patches of wild cranberry vines. We also saw the outside of agricultural specialist Elizabeth Coleman White’s home.
We passed Triangle Field where White (1871-1954) had her experimental blueberry crop, started in 1916 (see box, “Triangle Field,” above right). White was the first woman to become a member of the American Cranberry Association and she also developed wild blueberries into the cultivated variety we enjoy today.
Visitor Services Assistant Clint Crawn showed us the migrant workers’ homes on the grounds. These circa 1900 cottages consisted of four tiny apartments. Inconceivably, each held as many as eight family members. Crawn also highlighted the museum’s collections in the coopery and packing house.
The coopery displays a selection of artifacts and a family business history with short biographies. The last cranberry barrel was made in 1925, and in 1937 the coopery was converted to a community hall for workers. Faint traces of shuffleboard numbering are still visible on the floor.
The neighboring storage warehouse showcases implements, machinery, and photographs related to harvesting. Artistic advertising and marketing signs are also on display. Crawn discussed the way bouncing determined berry quality and how the practice of bouncing evolved. It is said that an employee tripped with a crate of cranberries while transporting them down a set of steps. As the berries bounced down the steps it naturally sorted the best from the inferior ones in a tiered fashion.
The exhibit allows visitors to visualize the evolution of implements from dry to wet harvest. Originally, cranberries were picked by hand but later were scooped with a handheld box rake. Wet harvest involves flooding the bogs, walking behind harvesters, driving harvesters, floating berries, and booms. Today the size and modernization of cranberry harvests varies from company to company.
Historic photos show families, including children, harvesting in the field, which prompted discussion about child labor laws and early migrant labor forces. Italians were among the initial work force, which gradually moved toward Afro-American workers in the field and Whites in the packing houses.
We finished our guided visit in the back of the general store where we watched some short videos about cranberry harvests and tasted some jams, mustards, salsas, and other jarred berry-based treats. At the end we had the opportunity to purchase souvenirs—and is when the taste samplings paid off!
The Village is staffed on Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment. The grounds are open daily for self-guided exploration. The interpretive trail guide is available on the property and the web; some of my text comes nearly verbatim from this source. The site is great for families who might enjoy a combination of historic interpretation and being outdoors.
As the end-of-year holidays approach, Whitesbog hosts a Halloween event on Saturday, October 26, from 5 to 9 p.m. This is the Whitesbog Preservation Trust’s haunted history tour fundraiser for the public.
Honestly, what better time to learn about cranberry farming than before Thanksgiving? There is also a blueberry festival that runs on Saturdays from the end of June to the end of July at Whitesbog Village. The in-person tour truly enhanced our experience and can be booked online at Whitesbog.com.
Source: Whitesbog Historic Village & Farm Interpretative Trail Guide.
More to check out on Whitesbog’s Website: Whitedbog.org > About> Oral Histories
Jim Buddy Jefferson’s oral history: A 2018 interview of growing up at Whitesbog Village, YouTube.
Other recordings can be found on the Whitesbog website.
