There have been no fewer than 18 different lighthouse keepers at Sandy Hook Lighthouse during the 19th and 20th centuries, in addition to the first keepers who served in the 1700s. But there has only been one official and paid woman keeper, and that was Sarah Johnson, half of the brother-sister team that manned the lights protecting New York Harbor from 1867 to 1885. But Sarah stayed on after retiring from that difficult job and remained active at Sandy Hook until 1898.

Charles W. Patterson took over the main light-keeping position from Uriah Smalley in 1861 and his sister Sarah was hired as an assistant six years later. Two years after that, Samuel P. Jewell also became a second assistant, working alongside Sarah.

There was no doubt assistant lightkeepers were essential, since maintaining the beacon required a lot of work, time and care.  It was important to keep a bright light regardless of the weather; the light was fueled with kerosene oil to keep the Fresnel lens bright, and the oil had to be carried up the stairs to the light….all 108 steps from the base to the top.

Sarah was born Feb. 29, 1832, married James Johnson in 1856 and had two children, both of whom died in infancy, and she was widowed not long after, later taking on the position of lighthouse keeper. Records show she was paid $360 annually for her post.

During his years as keeper, Sarah’s brother Charles lived at the light with his wife, W. Anker Patterson, and their four children, sons Trevonian, Franklin, and Edwin, and a daughter, Mary. His first keepers during his 24-year tenure were Frank and Austin Patterson. Charles resigned in 1885 due to Bright’s disease, so Sarah left her position as well, but remained on the Hook teaching the children of the soldiers at the relatively new Providing Ground.  Mr. Jewell was promoted to become the lighthouse keeper, remaining for a total of 40 years, the longest of any of those keepers in the Sandy Hook service.

Sarah remained at Sandy Hook after leaving the lighthouse until all civilians were ordered off the base because of the Spanish-American War. She then retired to her hometown of Howell, where she died in 1909. Charles’ daughter Mary grew up and served 30 years with the US Life-Saving Service, Station Number 1, located at Sandy Hook, continuing a long-time family service to the sea.

Sarah lived through some interesting times on the peninsula. She saw the Sandy Hook Proving Ground officially established in 1874, was on the Hook in 1894 when the lights were first electrified, thanks to help from the Gedley Channel buoys which were electrically powered. She was still there in 1903 when the power was switched back to kerosene gas because the buoys were converted to gas. It was the same year a mortar exploded at the proving ground and 15 tons of metal poured down all over Sandy Hook.

Electricity was not returned to the lighthouse until 1925 and in 1941, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse came under the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard.

Sarah Johnson died in 1909 and is buried at the cemetery of the Ardena Baptist Church, where she had been a lifelong member.

A plaque honoring Lighthouse keeper Johnson is situated at Sandy Hook near the lighthouse.

It all started in 1764 when the 103-foot-high white lighthouse was built on Sandy Hook, now part of Gateway National Recreation Area in Highlands. It was one of only 11 lighthouses in the original 13 colonies and today remains the oldest still operating lighthouse in the country. Although the building is maintained by the National Park Service, the light itself is under the direction of the Coast Guard and the light remains a beacon for ships entering and leaving New York Harbor. The lighthouse closed for visitors in September for intense repairs, rehabilitation and renovations, all of which is expected to be completed by April of 2018. During renovation, the adjacent Visitor Center and gift shop remain open.

A few miles away, across the Shrewsbury River and situated on one of the highest points along the East Coast waterways, is the Twin Lights, once the brightest beacon on the East Coast with its Fresnel lens, and itself a historic landmark for a variety of reasons. It is the site where the Pledge of Allegiance was officially first said publicly; it is also the site where Guglielmo Marconi sent his first wireless message, and eventually became the first lighthouse electrically powered. In the 1930s, the Army’s Mystery Ray, what we now know as radar, was tested at the site. Officially known as the Navesink Light Station, the two lights separated by keeper’s quarters were designed to avoid confusion for seamen with the Sandy Hook Light and are not identical twins because of the differences in their shape and operation. Maintained by the State of New Jersey, and home to both the Friends of the Twin Lights and the Highlands Historical Society, the Twin Lights are open for visiting and climbing several days a week, and house a magnificent maritime collection in the Museum located between the towers.

Barnegat Lighthouse, Old Barney to friends, at 171 feet in height, joins the Absecon Lighthouse as being the two tallest lighthouses in the state. Located on the north end of Long Beach Island, Old Barney’s striking red and white exterior is a familiar sight for summer visitors. The lighthouse was built in 1859 on what has been identified as one of the most crucial change of course points for ships, with swift currents, shifting sandbars and shoals extending from the shore offering unique and dangerous challenges for sea vessels along the New Jersey coastline. The Lighthouse is on the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail.

In addition to Sandy Hook the Twin Lights, and Barnegat lighthouses, visitors seeking to discover the uniqueness of the structures can visit the Absecon Lighthouse, the 157-foot-high Cape May lighthouse, as well as Hereford in Wildwood, Sea Girt, decommissioned since 1945 but a charming Victorian building constructed in 1896 and boasting a square red brick tower;

Tucker’s Island, a reconstructed lighthouse built about six miles from the original building, East Point in Heislerville on Delaware Bay, a two story white building with a bright red roof, Finns Point Rear Range, an 1876 wrought iron structure in Pennsville, built in Buffalo and moved to its site by rail and wagon, and Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse in Paulsboro, built in connection with Tinicum Front Range Light to guide ships along the Delaware River to ports in Philadelphia and Camden.

https://www.visitnj.org/nj-attractions/sandy-hook-lighthouse

First activated in 1943 at the height of World War II, the Naval installation has been a strong though silent force in both peace and wartime, a quiet neighbor, a comparatively small installation with its approximate 12,000 acres spanning the woodland in Colts Neck and connected by rail and road to the equally spectacular beauty of the waterfront in Leonardo. With the inclusion of the road and rail, the installation has a presence in five municipalities: Middletown, Colts Neck, Howell, Wall Township and Tinton Falls.

In actuality, it was the Army that first thought the location would be perfect for the protection of New York. Long before the start of WW II, both Army and Navy officers knew there should be a base somewhere in the port of New York area, an area close to roads and rail where the military could spring into action as needed. The Army’s first choices were the Port Monmouth and Spermaceti Cove areas, compliments, they felt, to the activity at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook.

But the Navy was looking for more than a fortress for New York. The Navy also wanted a secure site to load and unload ammunition close to New York, which it strongly felt was necessary to maintain the nation’s security. Further, they needed a place to securely store the ammunition when not aboard ships heading to war. They opted not to disrupt the residential area of Port Monmouth and looked further east towards Leonardo, where there was more open land and fewer residential areas to disrupt. Sighting what they termed “swamp and jungle” in the sparsely uninhabited Colts Neck area, government engineers agreed an ammunition depot could be secure in Colts Neck and could be connected to the waterfront capable of handling Naval ships in Leonardo by road and rail.

And thus, Earle Ammunition Depot, named for Ralph Earle, a Naval Academy graduate of 1896 and Chief of Ordnance during World War I was born.

Mission of the Depot, the second military installation in Monmouth County, was, and remains, to support all the operations conducted by the Department of Défense through the Navy. As such it is responsible for storing, repairing, developing and maintaining some of the most advanced weapons used by the US Navy troops, making it an essential base.
At the waterfront, its three-pronged pier, the longest such pier in the known world, stretches 2.2 miles into Sandy Hook Bay, with 2.9 miles of pier and trestle surface.

Throughout its years spanning two centuries, NWS Earle continued to develop after World War II, keeping pace with the Navy’s changing needs. In 1974, the name was officially changed to Naval Weapons Station Earle, still honoring the World War I hero of the 20th century. It continues its mission to provide Fleet operational services and infrastructure management to support Combat Logistics Force homeporting, ordnance functions, and tenant activities in the execution of the National Military Strategy.

When under the command of Capt. Pierre A. Fuller of Jacksonville, Fla, NWS Earle abandoned a potential plan to rent housing to civilians on the Colts Neck facility, bowing instead to the opinions of local legislators and residents who prefer to see this historic site continue its role as a piece of history, a defense in the present, and a future remaining an active weapons site and depot for the nation’s protection.

Presently. Captain Kent D. Smith is the Commanding Officer of NWS Earle. Captain Smith, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, assumed command of Naval Weapons Station Earle in April of 2023.

https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrma/installations/nws_earle.html

But the infant suddenly changed into a creature, alternatively described as one with a goat’s head, bat wings, a forked tail, clawed hands and hooves. The creature reportedly killed the midwife, then flew up the chimney amid blood-curdling screams to live his life in the Pine Barrens and killing local children who wandered into what is now the Leeds Point portion of Atlantic County.

Some say Mother Leeds was really a woman named Deborah, married to Japhet Leeds, who, in a will written in 1736, left his estate to his 12 children and lived at Leeds Point.

It was Benjamin Franklin himself who first called the Jersey Devil a monster. His rival in the almanac publishing business was none other than Daniel Leeds, a man with had three wives and nine children in his lifetime. As a businessman with strong ties and allegiance to the British crown, Leeds and anything to do with him were indeed ‘monsters to the American patriot Dr. Franklin.

Truth or fiction, many have sworn to the credibility of the Jersey Devil. He was spotted over the Hanover Mill Works as a flying creature flapping its wings that even a cannonball fired directly at him couldn’t stop. Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, attested to the fact he was hunting on his Bordentown estate when he saw the Devil. Farmers complained the devil was responsible for killing livestock; one farmer said an unknown animal with red eyes tried to steal his chickens.

City residents in Haddon Heights swore a creature attacked a trolley car; police responded and shot at the creature, but had no effect. Footprints in the snow have been attributed to the Devil, and schools closed and factories shut down rather than risk an encounter with the wild creature that could not be controlled.

As late as the 1960s, stories were so rampant that merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward and offered to build a private zoo to house the Jersey Devil, should he be found and captured.
Could the Jersey Devil be real? An undiscovered creature? There are those who believe that as well. Could it be possible that a yet unknown species could live and thrive in the Pine Barrens, an area isolated, uninviting, and spacious? If it does exist, into which classification does it fall… a mammal like a huge bat? An avian-like the Blue Heron? …a mammal like the kangaroo it has been reported to resemble? Perhaps even a dinosaur? Or could it be a creature unlike anything else… part mammalian, part avian and part reptilian?

Are there any who dare venture into the inhospitable depths of the Pine Barrens to get the truth? And if they do, will they return to share the news with the rest of the world?
Are there any so bold they would take the risk for the sake of truth? Or shall the three-century-old Jersey Devil continue to remain New Jersey’s own mystery?

Once called the most haunted house in America, the Spy House in Port Monmouth is now home to the Monmouth County Park System’s Bayshore Waterfront Park and more properly called the Seabrook-Wilson House. But it’s the stories of ghosts, pirates, funeral services and a mischievous little boy named Peter that still capture the heart of local residents who have heard and spread the tales for decades.

Originally the home of Thomas Whitlock when it was built in 1663, the original log cabin has been expanded over time and converted to the three-story wood-framed structure it is today. Park historians date it only to 1720 when it was built by the Seabrook family and after five generations of Seabrook was home to William Wilson, a 19th-century farmer and preacher who married into the family.

In its lifetime before becoming a museum, if the traditionalists are to be believed, it was a private home, an inn, and a meeting hall for both British soldiers and colonists. As an inn, it was where colonial spies kept an eye on British ships off the Sandy Hook coast during the Revolution, hence the Spy House name given by the colonists.

It was Gertrude Neidlinger, a beloved former concert singer who lived nearby in the 1960s, who saved the building from demolition and turned it into a hands-on museum where she gave animated talks to thousands of school children, who swore they got chilling vibes and saw visions while walking through the rooms and touching the hundreds of artifacts throughout the building.

There were cool breezes in hallways and on the stairs; there was the scent of a pipe burning tobacco. There were banging noises and clanging around the pot-belly stove; indeed, many felt Mr. Whitlock was right in their midst.
And there were more. There was Abigail, the lady wearing a long black skirt, red blouse, and a black bow in her hair under the bonnet tied under her chin. Abigail often stared far out to sea, perhaps in wait for her lover, a sea captain who was lost, culminating in her mournful cries frequently heard in the upstairs bedroom.

There was Robert, reportedly Capt. Morgan’s first mate, who was frequently seen at one of the windows, as well as a colonial woman usually spotted around the fireplace doing her housekeeping. And everyone loved the patron of the place when it was a house of ill repute……. there are stories of how young ladies could feel his pinch on their derrieres as they walked through some of the rooms.

Not all the ghosts at the Spy House were reported to be bad or even mischievous. Rev. William Wilson’s ghost was in a back bedroom, his Bible ever in his hand, and often conducting funeral services. Even Penelope Stout who reportedly lived at the Spy House at one time, is said to have been spotted from time to time, often in a front bedroom holding an infant, though she had no children of her own.

Peter was a British youngster, who lived at the Spy House sometime in the 1800s and has been seen wearing knickers and a blouse and being quite mischievous. Visitors often talked about how he would turn off tape recorders or ruin cameras of people trying to take photos or hear him laugh.

Today, the Seabrook Wilson House, located at 719 Port Monmouth Rd., has been restored as an Activity Center, situated on a 227-acre park overlooking Sandy Hook Bay where visitors swore they saw sea captains, damsels in distress, and prayerful preachers. It is home to numerous exhibits on nature, history and ecology.

Open seasonally, there’s little talk of ghosts or sea captains or little boys breaking cameras. But it’s worth a visit to see if you can hear, smell, or see for yourself some of the histories of centuries past.

Click on the link below to see the current schedule- it’s a fun way to spend a spooky day!

https://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?Id=2516

It gave life to Asbury Park as vendors photographers and spectators rushed to watch the four-year-old cruise liner go up in flames offshore while crew and passengers jumped from the blazing ship and tried to swim to the safety of boats that gathered to help.

The inferno was detected at 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 8, as the Morro Castle was off the Jersey coast and passengers had a quiet last night aboard the ship……the captain had been found dead seven hours earlier in his bed thus canceling the traditional last night of elaborate dinner and dancing.

The ship’s acting Captain brought the ship closer to shore, but ten minutes later the ship lost all electrical power, and 11 minutes after that, the Morro Castle’s main engines were shut down and the ship was anchored about two and a half miles east of Sea Girt.

The crew of the burning ship only sent one SOS signal, one never received by the Coast Guard. At the time, SOS messages sent via radio and in this case on auxiliary battery power are only received by commercial marine radio stations and then delivered to the Coast Guard.  

Many of the surviving passengers testified in court hearings looking into the incident the following year that crew members did not help, they abandoned ship ahead of passengers, only 8 of the available dozen lifeboats were ever launched, and of the 85 people who managed to escape via lifeboat, most were crew members.

The SS Andrea Luckenbach was the first ship to help in rescue efforts and the first report from land that brought other ships and fishing boats to help came from Surfman Stephen Wilson at the Station Shark River lookout. Stations Quan Beach lookout Surfman Charles Austin was the second landsman to report the fire and in New York, the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa had to be called in so the boat could head to the scene from its Pier 18 dock in Staten Island.

Throughout the morning hours, the SS Monarch of Bermuda,  the SS City of Savannah,  the Coast Guard Cutters Tampa and Cahoone arrived as did other boats. But it was the local fishing boat the Paramount that was the primary and real hero of the Morro Castle fire. The Bogan family, whose descendants are still the watermen and respected families of the shore today, with Capt. John Bogan, Jr. at the helm, and plenty of other Bogans aboard, including John Bogan, Sr. rescued 67  survivors, running their boat among floating bodies to find the living, throw them a line and pull them onto the boat.

Governor Harry Moore’s army plane crew assisted the Bogans in this effort. With visibility poor amid the waves, Moore’s pilot would dip the plane’s wings when he spotted a survivor, guiding the Bogans to another rescue. The boat also pulled in 72 lifepreservers with their 67 rescues. In his official report to the Coast Guard, Capt. Bogan said, “We did not hit one person and did not miss one that we saw alive.”

Station Coast Guard Sandy Hook searched for bodies and survivors until they were ordered to return to the station at about noon on Sept 9. 1934.

Over the next three days, bodies continued to wash up on Jersey beaches from Bay Head to Long Branch. And the trials, FBI investigations and lawsuits and settlements continued for years after.

The mystery of how the fire started, what was the cause of the Captain’s death earlier, and so much more still remains unknown and the topic of speculation and mystery. 

The New Jersey Maritime Museum on Dock St., Beach Haven, has thousands of photographs, records, memorabilia and equipment from the Morro Castle, together with testimony and artifacts donated to the museum by family members of those who both lived after or perished in the fire in what is probably the most comprehensive display and information on the worst maritime disaster of the 1930s. For more information, visit their website at www.NJMM.org.

Admission is free, and donations are accepted.

To read more stories from Muriel J. Smith, check out: www.venividiscripto.com

It all started more than 10 years ago when Patti started working at a deli and catering business near her home in Linden. Dan was already working there, and almost instantly, the pair felt a connection of friendship. Even when Dan bought the deli and catering company, the two became friends and started dating. That was nine years ago.

Driving to various places along the shore, Dan and Patti found themselves always drawn to
the Twin Lights. There was something about it that held their attention and charm. So much so that when Dan knew he wanted to marry Patti, he planned to bring her to their favorite place, climb one of the towers, and propose to her at the top, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

But Patti, who has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Kean University, Dominican University and Georgian Court University and is a third grade teacher, is obviously a woman on the go. Busy with her career as well as other activities, such as serving as Vice President of the Kean University Alumni Association as well as being active in other organizations and school groups, she saved time for Dan and herself to still drive down the shore. In the meantime, Dan sold his successful deli business and is currently a restaurant consultant and managing his own catering business.

The date was set for Jan. 8 of last year for Dan to propose. He wanted to ask that all important question at the top of the Twin Lights. He and Patti were going to a friend’s baby’s Baptism and thought they could stop at Nicholas Creamery for ice cream and after that, visit the Twin Lights.

But Patti was too tired and wanted to go directly home instead. Back at home, Patti’s grandfather was outside by the car. He lives with Patti and Dan, and Dan, concerned he was outside, ushered him into the house. Patti went next door to get her dog from her mom’s house to bring him back home. In the house, with Grandpa settled and the dog lying quietly, it was a very excited and by now frustrated Dan who asked his beloved if she could just stand still for 30 seconds. And as Patti tells it,  “I turned around and he was down on bended knee next to our couch. It was the most perfect proposal because it was just us in our home with no interruptions.”

So the engagement did not take place at the top of the Twin Lights as Dan had hoped. But because the site was so important to them both, they drove back down to take photos both inside and outside the museum, as well as a few overlooking Sandy Hook and the ocean. “It was the perfect engagement shoot. We had the fortune of being able to climb both towers and actually used one of them in our engagement shoot.”

The wedding is set for Oct. 13 of this year at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Linden, where Patti and Dan both attended the grammar school, although it was years apart. The reception will be at the Palace at Somerset Park.

For now, while Patti is sorry her active lifestyle didn’t allow for Dan to carry out his engagement plans at the site they both love, she explains “ Dan is an extremely selfless person, helping whoever needs it and putting others needs before himself. He never questioned when my Grandpa became sick and needed to move in with us, doing whatever he could to help out.

He has such a big heart and he never fails to make me laugh. While I’m a very type A person, he is more laid back and never fails to ground me when I take on too much or just need support.” Dan, on the other hand, understands why his own plan for proposal could not happen. He says he is primarily attracted to Patti because she is “ compassionate, caring, and resolute.” He likes how Patti  “has  always been by my side, even when I didn’t ask for help or wasn’t looking for it.

I love her sense of humor, even her bad puns, which are a constant.”  And he loves that once she starts a project, she sees it through until the end. Quite simply, he smiles, “she makes sure everyone is taken care of.”

As for the Twin Lights? It will always be a special place for both of them, and a reminder every time they climb a tower or enjoy a picnic lunch on the front lawn or pick up a gift or souvenir in the gift shop, “it has always been a very special place in both their hearts.”

The Twin Lights grounds are open every day from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM for visits, whether or not an engagement or wedding is planned.

Check our website for building and tower climb hours www.twinlightslighthouse.org call (732) 872-1814 or follow the Twin Lights Historical Society on Facebook.
The Twin Lights State Historic Site is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection, Division of Parks, Forestry & Historic Sites (“NJ Parks”.)

Nick Wood, RIS-History, the full time NJ Parks Curator at the site, offers private tours by appointment for a small fee (so worth it!). [email protected].

The Twin Lights Historical Society is the officially recognized friends group for NJ Parks at the Twin Lights. The role and purpose of the society at the site is to support and assist NJ Parks in its operations and exhibit development through financial support as well as volunteer services  at the site. The Society invests all donations, memberships and proceeds from the Twin Lights Museum Store to improve visitor experience and online public relations, including new exhibits, paid internships for local high school and college students, as well as special projects.

To celebrate all, the Historical Society is hosting a “Lover’s Tea” Saturday, February 24, from 4:15pm until 6:45pm. Admission is free.

“This is our first attempt at such an event, but we have already received interest from couples who attended our fall full moon night climbs last year,” said Bev Kugele, Vice President of the Twin Lights Historical Society.

“Specifics have not yet been finalized, but the accent is on each couple have a memorable
time,” the vice-chairman said. “We also welcome those who may have lost their loved one, but who would like to celebrate their memories here by attending,” she added. The day and time for the Lovers Tea was designed to align with the February full moon, which rises over the Atlantic in front of the Twin Lights night.

The event is planned to be High Tea, complete with teacakes and other assorted treats and
beverages, including tea. The event committee would benefit from hearing from interested
parties, in order to complete plans for the event.

Tea service begins at 4:15 p.m. Feb. 24, with sunset at approximately 5:30p.m., moon rise, about 6:00 pm and the closing of the ceremony at 6:45 p.m.

For more information on events, as well as membership information, visit www.twinlightslighthouse.org or follow the Twin Lights Historical Society on Facebook. The Twin Lights State Historic Site is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks, Forestry & Historic Sites (“NJ Parks”). Nick Wood, RIS-History, the full time NJ Parks Curator at the site, offers private tours by appointment for a small fee (so worth it!).

See below for more details or contact Nick directly at [email protected].

For the most up to date information on hours, call (732) 872-1814 or go to
https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/twinlights.html.

The Twin Lights Historical Society is the officially recognized friends group for NJ Parks at the Twin Lights. The role and purpose of the society at the site is to support and assist NJ Parks in its operations and exhibit development through financial support as well as volunteer services at the site. The Society invests all donations, memberships and proceeds from the Twin Lights Museum Store to improve visitor experience and online public relations, including new exhibits, paid internships for local high school and college students, as well as special projects.

For more information about the Twin Lights and its illustrious history, go to www.twinlightslighthouse.org or call (732) 872-1814

Visitor Information is available by mail to the Lighthouse at 2 Lighthouse Road, Highlands, NJ 07732 or by calling (732) 872-1814

Grounds are open every day from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM

But the infant suddenly changed into a creature, alternatively described as one with a goat’s head, bat wings, a forked tail, clawed hands and hooves. The creature reportedly killed the midwife, then flew up the chimney amid blood-curdling screams to live his life in the Pine Barrens and killing local children who wandered into what is now the Leeds Point portion of Atlantic County.

Some say Mother Leeds was really a woman named Deborah, married to Japhet Leeds, who, in a will written in 1736, left his estate to his 12 children and lived at Leeds Point.

It was Benjamin Franklin himself who first called the Jersey Devil a monster. His rival in the almanac publishing business was none other than Daniel Leeds, a man with had three wives and nine children in his lifetime. As a businessman with strong ties and allegiance to the British crown, Leeds and anything to do with him were indeed ‘monsters to the American patriot Dr. Franklin.

Truth or fiction, many have sworn to the credibility of the Jersey Devil. He was spotted over the Hanover Mill Works as a flying creature flapping its wings that even a cannonball fired directly at him couldn’t stop. Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, attested to the fact he was hunting on his Bordentown estate when he saw the Devil. Farmers complained the devil was responsible for killing livestock; one farmer said an unknown animal with red eyes tried to steal his chickens.

City residents in Haddon Heights swore a creature attacked a trolley car; police responded and shot at the creature, but had no effect. Footprints in the snow have been attributed to the Devil, and schools closed and factories shut down rather than risk an encounter with the wild creature that could not be controlled.

As late as the 1960s, stories were so rampant that merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward and offered to build a private zoo to house the Jersey Devil, should he be found and captured.
Could the Jersey Devil be real? An undiscovered creature? There are those who believe that as well. Could it be possible that a yet unknown species could live and thrive in the Pine Barrens, an area isolated, uninviting, and spacious? If it does exist, into which classification does it fall… a mammal like a huge bat? An avian-like the Blue Heron? …a mammal like the kangaroo it has been reported to resemble? Perhaps even a dinosaur? Or could it be a creature unlike anything else… part mammalian, part avian and part reptilian?

Are there any who dare venture into the inhospitable depths of the Pine Barrens to get the truth? And if they do, will they return to share the news with the rest of the world?
Are there any so bold they would take the risk for the sake of truth? Or shall the three-century-old Jersey Devil continue to remain New Jersey’s own mystery?

It was Benjamin Franklin himself who first called the Jersey Devil a monster. His rival in the almanac publishing business was none other than Daniel Leeds, a man with had three wives and nine children in his lifetime. As a businessman with strong ties and allegiance to the British crown, Leeds and anything to do with him were indeed ‘monsters to the American patriot Dr. Franklin.
Truth or fiction, many have sworn to the credibility of the Jersey Devil. He was spotted over the Hanover Mill Works as a flying creature flapping its wings that even a cannonball fired directly at him couldn’t stop. Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, attested to the fact he was hunting on his Bordentown estate when he saw the Devil. Farmers complained the devil was responsible for killing livestock; one farmer said an unknown animal with red eyes tried to steal his chickens. City residents in Haddon Heights swore a creature attacked a trolley car; police responded and shot at the creature, but had no effect. Footprints in the snow have been attributed to the Devil, and schools closed and factories shut down rather than risk an encounter with the wild creature that could not be controlled.
As late as the 1960s, stories were so rampant that merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward and offered to build a private zoo to house the Jersey Devil, should he be found and captured.

Could the Jersey Devil be real? An undiscovered creature? There are those who believe that as well. Could it be possible that a yet unknown species could live and thrive in the Pine Barrens, an area isolated, uninviting, and spacious? If it does exist, into which classification does it fall… a mammal like a huge bat? An avian like the Blue Heron? …a mammal like the kangaroo it has been reported to resemble? Perhaps even a dinosaur? Or could it be a creature unlike anything else…part-mammalian, part avian and part reptilian?
Are there any who dare venture into the inhospitable depths of the Pine Barrens to get the truth? And if they do, will they return to share the news with the rest of the world?
Are there any so bold they would take the risk for the sake of truth? Or shall the three century old Jersey Devil continue to remain New Jersey’s own mystery?

Images from Atlantic County Government And Getty Images