New Jersey

New Jersey's Roaring Twenties saw mob rumrunning operations, Nucky Johnson's Boardwalk Empire and a new craze for dining on local oysters. Whether it was fancy Oysters Rockefeller or simply on the half shell, nationwide demand for the state's Delaware Bay oysters made boomtowns out of Port Norris and Bivalve. Built in 1928, the A.J. Meerwald was a new type of schooner specifically built for oystering the famed Delaware Bay oysters while under sail. As the Depression arrived and wreaked havoc on the industry, the Meerwald stayed afloat, serving with the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and then taking up clamming until eventually being discarded on a mud bank. Found and restored to glory, the ship now tours the state's coasts as New Jersey's official tall ship. Authors Rachel Dolhanczyk and Constance McCart chart the history of New Jersey oysters and the historic ship that carries on the industry's traditions today.

The Maurice River Township area was first settled by the Lenni-Lenape along the Maurice River prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 1600s. The Maurice River became important for many industries, including oystering, commercial fishing, and crabbing. Dorchester and Leesburg, especially the Delaware Bay Shipbuilding Company, were well known for shipbuilding, and the area was very active during World War II. The township has been long recognized for agriculture due to its wonderful sandy ground. The soil has played an important role in the glass industry since the late 1800s, with the silica/sand utilized in a thriving glass-manufacturing business, initially in Port Elizabeth. The railroads were first built to ship oysters to large cities in the late 1800s to mid-1900s but were also employed to transport sand for the glass business and wood for the lumber industry. Many of the enterprises from earlier days have vanished in time, and along with them, some villages have entirely disappeared.

In 1854, two horrendous shipwrecks took place off the New Jersey coast. The Powhattan and the New Era were both American-flag sailing packet ships carrying hopeful European immigrants to new lives in America. The ships ran aground on the offshore sandbars along the shoreline between Sandy Hook and Little Egg Inlet, claiming the lives of many passengers and crew. The staggering casualties finally prompted calls from the public and politicians for reforms to the system for rescues that the federal government had in place. The tragedies ultimately resulted in changes that prevented countless similar deaths. This unique and gripping account offers minute-by-minute details of the deadly wrecks, their

An estimated three thousand shipwrecks lie off the coast of New Jersey - but these icy waters hold more mysteries than sunken hulls.

Ancient arrowheads found on the shoreline of Sandy Hook reveal Native American settlement before the land was flooded by melting glaciers. In 1854, 240 passengers of the New Era clipper ship met their fate off Deal Beach. Nobody knows what happened to two hydrogen bombs the United States Air Force lost near Atlantic City in 1957. Lessons from such tragic wrecks and dangerous missteps urged the development of safer ships and the U.S. Coast Guard. Captain Stephen D. Nagiewicz uncovers curious tales of storms, heroism and oddities from New Jersey's maritime past.