Recent Posts

Little Egg Harbor took its name from the portion of a bay called Egg Harbor by the Dutch sailors because of the eggs found in nearby gull nests. The first known account of the town was made by Captain Cornelius Jacobsen May in 1614.

The first European to settle the township was Hendrick Jacobs Falkenberg, who likely arrived by 1693. Though he was from Holstein (now in Germany), his first wife was a Finn and part of the Swedish community. Falkenberg settled on an 800-acre tract of land that he had acquired from the Lenni Lenape Indians in 1674, and a 1697 deed re-confirmed this earlier purchase. This tract included the two islands of Monhunk and Minnicunk later known as Wills Island and Osborn Island. Falkenberg was a linguist, fluent in the Lenape language, and was considered southern New Jersey's foremost language interpreter involving land transactions between the Indians and the European settlers, particularly the English Quakers.

In October 1778, the Little Egg Harbor Massacre took place as Patrick Ferguson was wreaking havoc on Colonial shipping in the Mullica River. Kazimierz Pulaski and his newly raised forces were ordered to oppose his actions. Pulaski's Legion, along with three companies of light infantry, three troops of light horse, and one artillery detachment, came too late to be of great use against Ferguson's operations. But their arrival did stop Ferguson from raiding the iron works at Batsto, and stemmed their attacks on privateers at The Forks of the Mullica River.

They then set up camp on a farm. A deserter, Lt. Gustav Juliet, found Ferguson and told him of Pulaski's encampment; he mentioned that morale was fairly low, and security almost nonexistent, so that a surprise attack would be devastating. Ferguson promptly loaded 250 of his best men onto boats and rowed them, in the dark, some ten miles (16 km) to Osborne Island. He then marched them a further two miles (3 km) to the site of the infantry outpost, which comprised fifty men a short distance from the main encampment. At first light, Ferguson ordered the attack; only five of his quarry were taken alive. Pulaski eventually led his mounted troops up, causing Ferguson to retreat to his boats minus a few men that had fallen into the colonists' hands. A memorial on Radio Road commemorates the attack.

One of the first recorded ships of the township was a sloop belonging to Thomas Ridgway Sr. John Mathis Sr. also had a ship which his son, Daniel, sailed the West Indian routes. They made a profit from selling clams and oysters.

The 825 foot Tuckerton Wireless Tower was built in 1912 by the German "Hochfrequenzmaschin Aktiengesellschaft Fuer Drahtlose Telegraphie" company (The High Frequency Machine Corporation for Wireless Telegraphy, often referred to as HOMAG) when the present-day Mystic Island was called Hickory Island. The tower was used to communicate with an identical radio telegraph station in Eilvese, Germany starting on 19 Jun 1914, less than two weeks before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The station continued to communicate with Eilvese until America entered World War I on 6 April 1917. It is rumored that it was used to send the message to order the attack by a German U-boat on the RMS Lusitania. After President Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality, the President ordered the US Navy to take over the station on 9 Sep 1914 to assure the neutrality of messages sent to and from the station; however, the station continued to be operated by German nationals employed by HOMAG and continued to communicate only with the Eilvese radio station.

When America entered the war, all U.S. radio stations were seized and shut down by Executive Order. The remaining German personnel at Tuckerton immediately became war prisoners and were replaced by U.S. Navy personnel. The Navy used the Tuckerton Radio Station for transatlantic communications while the naval radio stations in New Brunswick, NJ and Sayville, NY were undergoing major transmitter and antenna upgrades. Tuckerton was used for fleet broadcasts after installations of 200 kilowatt transmitters at New Brunswick and Sayville were completed in June, 1918.

After the war, the Tuckerton Wireless Station was included in German war reparations paid to America. Shortly afterwards, it was sold to RCA which operated it until 1948 as a backup to their famous Radio Central facility in Rocky Point, New York. In 1921, RCA installed two massive Alexanderson alternators, which were removed in 1948. For transatlantic communications, The radio station operated under the call signs WCI and WGG. For coastal communications, after World War I, the station operated under the callsign WSC. The 820-foot (250 m) steel tower, anchored by three large concrete blocks, was taken down on December 27, 1955. The three huge anchor blocks still exist today, in a backyard on North Ensign Drive and in the middle of South Ensign Drive and Staysail Drive. Many smaller anchor blocks providing foundations for smaller towers, that supported the umbrella antenna are still visible in the lagoons. Remains of the large tower can be seen in scraps at the Giffordtown Museum.

______________________________________________

Little Egg Harbor took its name from the portion of a bay called Egg Harbor by the Dutch sailors because of the eggs found in nearby gull nests. Little Egg Harbor is growing with subdivisions, such as Tall Timbers, Tavistock, Cross Creek, Sunrise Bay, Holly Lakes, Atlantis, Harbourtown, and Sunrise Bay, many of which have been developed since the mid-1980s.  In 1996, the Little Egg Harbor branch of the Ocean County Library opened. In the 2000s, development along the road boomed, with businesses like Super Wawa, Walgreens, Rite Aid, SOCH Center for Health, a new strip mall, a Kara Homes development, and plans are underway to build another strip mall and retirement community on the road. Little Egg Harbor is located off of Exit 58 on the Garden State Parkway. Major routes, County Route 539 and Route 9, are major arteries in the town. New Jersey Transit provides bus service to Atlantic City on the 559 route. In addition to Atlantic City Beaches, Long Beach Island, Ventor, Osborne Island and Tuckerton beaches are nearby. Osborne Island Beach located just at the end of Mystic Islands. Local resturantes include Mystic Island Casino, Tuckerton Beach Grille, Panini Bay, Doyle's Pour House and Allen's Clam Bar to name a few. In season, Stewart's Drive-In offers classic foods while enjoying views of the lagoon and passing boats. Come Visit and enjoy the relaxed environment. A getaway from other high stressed places.