The Pine Barrens: Exploring a Pinelands outlier in Middlesex County
Map from The Pine Barrens of New Jersey by Lester S. Thomas
Published originally in 1967 by NJ DEP
A Wild New Jersey Exclusive
by Joseph Sapia
How do you clear your mind? Some people drink. Some people do drugs. Some people seek professional therapy. Me? I walk the woods.
The Woods, for me, mean the Pine Barrens around the South Middlesex County, snuff mill town of Helmetta. Woods with locations whose names offer a variety of descriptions: Snuffy Hollow, Cedar Swamp, Cranberry Bog, the Ditch, Shekiro’s Pond, Hidden Lake, and Hank’s Spot.
Maps do not list these names. Instead, these are locales. Those who grew up with these woods know almost as, if not just as, easily as a mention of Jamesburg to the southwest and Spotswood to the northeast.
Jimmy Krygier and I have an age-difference of about 10 years and have never explored together in these woods, but we are both from old-time Helmetta families. So when Jimmy brings up Big Tree, I know he is talking about a big beech whose bark holds graffiti carved over the decades. The tree sits, of course, between Swing Hill in these pine woods and Pigeon Swamp just outside them.
Locals know these woods, fields, swamps, waterways, and bodies of water through their backgrounds as hunters, trappers, anglers, mushroom- or blueberry-pickers, hikers, and naturalists. But they may not have known these woods are part of the environmentally significant New Jersey Pine Barrens because being from here, we have viewed them simply as our woods.
As a young adult, I began to study the Pine Barrens, not knowing I had lived my whole life in them. What I, and probably most people, had thought of the Pines was to the south, the area covered by John McPhee’s classic book, The Pine Barrens, and later designated as the “Pinelands” areas by the state and federal governments.
But in about 1985, Bobby Zampella, then the staff biologist for the state Pinelands Commission, mentioned an outlying Pine Barrens area to the north of the main Pine Barrens, a town whose name began with an H.
Hightstown? No.
Helmetta? Bingo!
These woods I grew up in took on new meaning.
The Pine Barrens around Helmetta are part of what scientists call the Spotswood Outlier, a roughly 12-mile by 12-mile blob-shaped ecosystem disconnected by as little as 8 miles from its bigger, more well known sibling to the south. The outlier, partly in Middlesex and Monmouth County, is approximately bounded by the Runyon Watershed to the north, Englishtown to the south, Holy Cross Cemetery on Route 535 to the west, and the Wickatunk-Morganville area of Route 79 to the east.
It includes the more recognizable locales of the Jamesburg Park Conservation Area, Frost Woods, the DuHerNaL water system, Burnt Fly Bog, and the John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve.
Where two brooks, the Manalapan (a word that means the land of good bread in Lenni Lenape, according to local lore) and the Matchaponix (the land of bad bread) meet to form the South River, there is a meeting of the conventionally fertile, dark soils and the conventionally infertile white sand.
Although my turf has expanded from that of my childhood (neighborhood places such as the Swamp, Turtle Creek, the old Swimming Hole, the T, and so on), it is not huge in my adulthood. Draw a 2-mile-radius around Helmetta and that circle contains “my woods.” Small, perhaps, by one standard. But huge by another.
Helmetta is home to the George W. Helme Snuff Mill District, a still-existing representation of an 1800s mill community on the federal and state Registers of Historic Places. Surrounding it is a natural Pine Barrens ecosystem. Not only a land of pitch pines, oaks, and Atlantic white cedars, it is home to the pink lady-slipper and rose pogonia orchids and various meat-eating plants (pitcher, sundew, and bladderwort). Turkey-beard is at its northern limit here. Helmetta Pond may be as far north as the hammering song of the carpenter frog is heard.
No record of the Pine Barrens tree frog has been formally recorded here in four decades and I have not seen a northern fence lizard or evidence of a red squirrel in years. But Middlesex County, with no known beaver population just 23 years ago, has seen a nice return. I was ecstatic when Dr. Larry Nillissen, my college roommate visiting from Wisconsin, and I recently stumbled upon an approximately 4-foot northern black racer. After the snake raced away, I refused to try to find where it was hiding, knowing it is really its woods, not mine.
Encroaching development, garbage-dumpers, and off-road vehicles be damned. I still hold out hope for this enchanted ecosystem. Is it any wonder why I escape into these woods, fields, and swamps? They are good for the soul. Of course, a pop, perhaps a snifter of Courvoisier Cognac on a snowy night, is good for the soul, too.
—30—
This story is the first of a monthly series by Joe Sapia, a native of the Pine Barrens around Helmetta, where his family has resided for more than 100 years. He has written about the Pine Barrens of Middlesex County for the past 25 years. He can be reached at Snufftin@aol.com or at P.O. Box 275, Helmetta, 08828.
by Joseph Sapia
How do you clear your mind? Some people drink. Some people do drugs. Some people seek professional therapy. Me? I walk the woods.
The Woods, for me, mean the Pine Barrens around the South Middlesex County, snuff mill town of Helmetta. Woods with locations whose names offer a variety of descriptions: Snuffy Hollow, Cedar Swamp, Cranberry Bog, the Ditch, Shekiro’s Pond, Hidden Lake, and Hank’s Spot.
Maps do not list these names. Instead, these are locales. Those who grew up with these woods know almost as, if not just as, easily as a mention of Jamesburg to the southwest and Spotswood to the northeast.
Jimmy Krygier and I have an age-difference of about 10 years and have never explored together in these woods, but we are both from old-time Helmetta families. So when Jimmy brings up Big Tree, I know he is talking about a big beech whose bark holds graffiti carved over the decades. The tree sits, of course, between Swing Hill in these pine woods and Pigeon Swamp just outside them.
Locals know these woods, fields, swamps, waterways, and bodies of water through their backgrounds as hunters, trappers, anglers, mushroom- or blueberry-pickers, hikers, and naturalists. But they may not have known these woods are part of the environmentally significant New Jersey Pine Barrens because being from here, we have viewed them simply as our woods.
As a young adult, I began to study the Pine Barrens, not knowing I had lived my whole life in them. What I, and probably most people, had thought of the Pines was to the south, the area covered by John McPhee’s classic book, The Pine Barrens, and later designated as the “Pinelands” areas by the state and federal governments.
But in about 1985, Bobby Zampella, then the staff biologist for the state Pinelands Commission, mentioned an outlying Pine Barrens area to the north of the main Pine Barrens, a town whose name began with an H.
Hightstown? No.
Helmetta? Bingo!
These woods I grew up in took on new meaning.
The Pine Barrens around Helmetta are part of what scientists call the Spotswood Outlier, a roughly 12-mile by 12-mile blob-shaped ecosystem disconnected by as little as 8 miles from its bigger, more well known sibling to the south. The outlier, partly in Middlesex and Monmouth County, is approximately bounded by the Runyon Watershed to the north, Englishtown to the south, Holy Cross Cemetery on Route 535 to the west, and the Wickatunk-Morganville area of Route 79 to the east.
It includes the more recognizable locales of the Jamesburg Park Conservation Area, Frost Woods, the DuHerNaL water system, Burnt Fly Bog, and the John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve.
Where two brooks, the Manalapan (a word that means the land of good bread in Lenni Lenape, according to local lore) and the Matchaponix (the land of bad bread) meet to form the South River, there is a meeting of the conventionally fertile, dark soils and the conventionally infertile white sand.
Although my turf has expanded from that of my childhood (neighborhood places such as the Swamp, Turtle Creek, the old Swimming Hole, the T, and so on), it is not huge in my adulthood. Draw a 2-mile-radius around Helmetta and that circle contains “my woods.” Small, perhaps, by one standard. But huge by another.
Helmetta is home to the George W. Helme Snuff Mill District, a still-existing representation of an 1800s mill community on the federal and state Registers of Historic Places. Surrounding it is a natural Pine Barrens ecosystem. Not only a land of pitch pines, oaks, and Atlantic white cedars, it is home to the pink lady-slipper and rose pogonia orchids and various meat-eating plants (pitcher, sundew, and bladderwort). Turkey-beard is at its northern limit here. Helmetta Pond may be as far north as the hammering song of the carpenter frog is heard.
No record of the Pine Barrens tree frog has been formally recorded here in four decades and I have not seen a northern fence lizard or evidence of a red squirrel in years. But Middlesex County, with no known beaver population just 23 years ago, has seen a nice return. I was ecstatic when Dr. Larry Nillissen, my college roommate visiting from Wisconsin, and I recently stumbled upon an approximately 4-foot northern black racer. After the snake raced away, I refused to try to find where it was hiding, knowing it is really its woods, not mine.
Encroaching development, garbage-dumpers, and off-road vehicles be damned. I still hold out hope for this enchanted ecosystem. Is it any wonder why I escape into these woods, fields, and swamps? They are good for the soul. Of course, a pop, perhaps a snifter of Courvoisier Cognac on a snowy night, is good for the soul, too.
—30—
This story is the first of a monthly series by Joe Sapia, a native of the Pine Barrens around Helmetta, where his family has resided for more than 100 years. He has written about the Pine Barrens of Middlesex County for the past 25 years. He can be reached at Snufftin@aol.com or at P.O. Box 275, Helmetta, 08828.
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 9/9/2011 6:00 AM 
Categories: WNJ Exclusives, The Pine Barrens
Tags: pine barrens helmetta middlesex county woods pinelands
Categories: WNJ Exclusives, The Pine Barrens
Tags: pine barrens helmetta middlesex county woods pinelands
Hi Joe, my wife's mother's family is from Helmetta - the Reids. I've explored the woods there once in an effort to find the bog but was unsuccessful. I'll try again next year if not sooner. Historically this was an area where Whip-poor-wills bred. I am curious if they still do b
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Pat,
Re the whip-poor-will, it was a vibrant bird around here years ago and hanging on in recent years. While I cannot speak for all its breeding in the Pine Barrens Around Helmetta, I have not heard it in my neighborhood (between Helmetta and Jamesburg) for 2 summers or so. I suspect it is loss of habitat, the habitat becoming too confined to sustain the breeding, or destruction of habitat.
I used to conduct an anecdotal survey from year to year on the whip-poor-will. I should start that up again next year.
Re loss of species here, I have not seen evidence of red squirrel in 10, maybe 15, or so years. Cannot confirm a northern fence lizard since the late 1970s, the Pine Barrens tree frog last documented here about 40 years ago and so on.
I know two different Reid families, both in my neighborhood. Email me at Snufftin@aol.com. I probably know your wife's family.
Also, let me know which bog you are looking for and I will try to direct you. Cranberry Bog?
Joe
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great descriptions & detail of the woods.
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Terrific article, Joe. Ah, the memories of Turtle Creek and the ole Swimming Hole.
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Jimmy Kreiger is my brother in law and we talk about the days in Helmetta where he grew up.My daghter lives in Helmetta, on North Shore Blvd.
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Hey Joe,
Love to read the articles. Brings back a lot of good memories. On my last visit to Locust Dr. I walked around the block with my 18 year old grand daughter. Showed her Turtle Creek. As we stood there I told her some of my fond memories and mishaps of falling in. We laughed and enjoyed the memories together. It was wonderful. Keep up the good work. Thanks
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Joe, our paths crossed in March of 2010 when I was out photographing around Helmetta Pond (following a major storm). I've returned several times but was disappointed to see the construction and the removal of so many trees, etc. Although I've never walked around the pond, the area I did cover is just not the same since the backhoes showed up. I'm reserving my judgement since I'm not familiar with what is exactly going on. I hope it's for the good. In the meantime, I truly enjoyed your article and will look forward to future ones. All the best!
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Among the species to preserve is the culture of the pinelands.Not so much the sprawl that has eaten away the pine barrens over the years.I do wonder if one day what will be left is the lawn of the Pinelands Commission. Its sign might read "This is what's left." Too cynical?
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