History
During colonial times, the Pine Barrens was home to various industries. Bog iron was mined from bogs, streams, and waterways, and was worked in furnaces at Batsto, Lake Atsion, Ferrago, Hanover, and several other locations. Iron from these early furnaces was instrumental in supplying the American military with weapons and camp tools during the American Revolution and the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War. For example, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. sailed to Algiers armed with 24-pound cannons that had been cast at Hanover in 1814. The bog iron industry fell off in the mid-19th century when iron ore could be mined more cheaply in Pennsylvania. Other industries such as paper mills, sawmills, and gristmills rose and fell throughout the years. Smaller industries such as charcoal-making and glassmaking also were attempted and met with varying degrees of success. Over time, however, the forest reclaimed almost all traces of the Pine Barrens' industrial past. Ghost towns—remnants of these industries—can still be found at various locations, and one, Batsto Village, has been restored to its mid-19th century state.
The Pine Barrens were home to the pseudonymous Kallikaks, a poor, backwoods family who were held up as a case study in genetic inferiority by eugenicists in the early 20th century. Today, it is understood that the facts in the Kallikaks study were misrepresented, including doctored pictures to make them appear "stupider". For years, residents of the area were called "Pineys", by outsiders, as a derogatory term. However, today, many Pinelands residents are proud of both the name and the land on which they live.
On July 12, 1928, Mexican aviator and national hero Emilio Carranza crashed and was killed in the Pinelands while returning from a historic goodwill flight from Mexico City to the United States. Flying back from Long Island, he encountered a thunderstorm and crashed in Burlington County. A 12 ft (3.6 m) monument identifies the location of the crash.
Read more about this topic: Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)