Vol. I, No. I

ORIGINS
By June G. Sheridan 
January 1997


Welcome to the first edition of, "ORIGINS" a newsletter for the residents of Egg Harbor Township. We hope we can make the history of Egg Harbor Township come alive to the citizens of our township. Considering that it can be documented that people were living at Egg Harbour in the late 1600's, there is a wealth of information that should be preserved and related to this and future generations. We hope you will like our attempts to make Egg Harbor Township's history come alive and that you will contribute your knowledge to future newsletters.

If you would like to contribute a historical story, poem, legends or just ask a question, direct a letter to Township of Egg Harbor, 3515 Bargaintown Road, Egg Harbor Township, 08234-8321 and to the attention of the local historian. We will attempt to verify, print and/or answer your questions to the best of our ability in future newsletters.

So here goes! We hope the beginning of a long-lived publication of interest to you. You will be surprised at the wealth of our roots and how deep into the origins of the founding of this nation our ancestors were involved. Do you know how many men from Egg Harbour served in the Revolutionary War? Civil War? What kind of settler inhabited the area? Were their Indians in Egg Harbour? What were the industries? What is the religious history? How and by whom were the early settlers governed? From where did these early settlers come?

There are many questions to be answered and many stories to be told. So with this edition we give birth, hopefully to long-lived newsletters for the people of Egg Harbor Township. Let us know how you feel about this pilot project so they we may know if you wish this to be continued.

F.Y.I.

    • Did you know that Egg Harbor Township included all of what is now Atlantic County?
    • Before 1837, when Atlantic County was formed, Egg Harbor Township was under the jurisdiction of Gloucester County and that the seat of government was Woodbury.
    • Did you know that there are no natural lakes in Egg Harbor Township? All the lakes were formed by damming streams to power grist and saw mills.
    • How did Egg Harbor get its name? Who named it?
    • We are very special! Let's let everyone know our history so they may take pride in our future!