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    The White Horse Pike
    The White Horse Pike
    The White Horse Pike
    Ebook155 pages51 minutes

    The White Horse Pike

    By Jill Maser

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    About this ebook

    The White Horse Pike may not be America's most famous road, but it is one of the most storied. Originally a migratory footpath of the Leni-Lenape, this timeless 60-mile route from the Delaware to the Atlantic has been followed by everyone from Walt Whitman to the Jersey Devil. It has served as a stagecoach highway, a toll road, and a pattern for railroads. The White Horse Pike depicts the heyday of this still popularcity-to-shore road, the most direct route from Camden to Atlantic City.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439632673
    The White Horse Pike
    Author

    Jill Maser

    In compiling material for The White Horse Pike, Jill Maser worked closely with historians at every stop. The South Jersey resident is an author whose research and travel across the state piqued her interest in the pike. She sees the road as a reflection of "not only Americans" love of automobiles but also their desire to gambol in the ocean's surf and to live in the verdant tranquility of the suburbs." She continues to marvel at the eclectic mix of business and residences along the way and at the number of people who travel this historic route.

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      The White Horse Pike - Jill Maser

      appreciated.

      INTRODUCTION

      From footpath to stagecoach route, from rutted dirt road to four-lane highway, the White Horse Pike may be one of the country’s most storied roads.

      The White Horse Pike has existed since the Leni-Lenape Indians first settled southern New Jersey. Their migratory route, a direct line from the Delaware River to the Atlantic coast, has served as a footpath, stagecoach route, toll road, and the pattern for two railroad lines. The Jersey Devil himself has been purported to travel the route. His best-documented appearances place him at points along the White Horse Pike during a two-week stretch in 1909. Today, the White Horse Pike remains a major highway serving commuters and vacationers between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

      The Leni-Lenape developed footpaths from the Delaware River, along the tidal creeks, through the thick interior forest, and on to the Atlantic coast. During the planting season, they settled near the creeks and fished while their crops of maize, peas, and beans matured. After the harvest, they migrated inland, where the forest provided shelter and fuel. They continued on to the shore where they collected shells from which to fashion wampum.

      The first European settlers saw the value of the footpaths, and as their traffic and modes of transportation developed, the pike saw its first improvements. Stagecoaches and other horse-drawn conveyances required a wider road. And while movement through the western part of the country was relatively smooth, once travelers crossed the watershed at Long-a-Coming (Berlin), the road became a boggy, sandy, wheel-sticking mess. Pine planks, cut from the abundant old growth in what is known as the Pine Barrens today, were laid across the route to allow for ready passage. The weather took its toll, and the route remained a rough ride for even the most seasoned travelers.

      Poor travel conditions did not deter those seeking the respite found at the Atlantic shore. Summer in the city is never a pleasant experience. Citizens from Philadelphia and Camden braved the jolting multiple-day ride to cavort on the beaches along New Jersey’s coast.

      Dr. Jonathan Pitney of Absecon took note of the growing numbers of seaside visitors. He believed in the restorative powers of the ocean and envisioned a health resort along the coast where thousands would come to cure their ills. No rutted, planked road could move so many people. Pitney’s answer was to be found on the rails. In February 1851, Pitney met with his friend Enoch Doughty and began to draft a charter to build a railroad from Camden to the Atlantic shore. Pitney and Doughty’s influence, combined with the financial backing of glassmaking mogul Samuel Richards, made for a smooth ride through the state railroad monopoly in Trenton. The first shares of Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company stock were sold in 1852, and the line celebrated its opening on July 1, 1854. Some 600 invited guests made the trip from river to shore that day along a route virtually parallel to the White Horse Pike in a mere two-and-a-half hours.

      The birth of the Camden and Atlantic opened fierce competition among railroad companies. The narrow-gauge Philadelphia and Atlantic Railroad opened soon thereafter, and the Jersey shore developed as a tourist destination. Walt Whitman regularly rode the Philadelphia and Atlantic to his summer retreat in Laurel Springs, and in 1878, he traveled through to Atlantic City on the Camden and Atlantic. The Atlantic City of Whitman’s era is a far cry from the city of today, as he described in his travelogue:

      I had a fine and bracing drive along the smooth sand (the carriage wheels hardly made a dent in it). The bright sun, the sparkling waves, the foam . . . a sail here and there in the distance . . . the vital, vast, monotonous sea all the fascination of simple uninterrupted space, shore, salt atmosphere . . . were the items of my drive. (Reprinted courtesy of the Courier-Post, Cherry Hill.)

      New Jersey’s population boomed with the large waves of European immigrants in the 1890s. Towns sprang up along the White Horse Pike and its surrounding rail lines. Fresh air and healthy living were touted as reasons to move out of Camden and into the suburbs of southern New Jersey. In addition, this south-central part of New Jersey proved to be fertile farmland. Tomatoes, cabbages, and fruits found markets in Camden and Philadelphia, not only for citizens, but for burgeoning new industrial markets such as the Campbell Soup Company.

      The White Horse Pike grew again to accommodate the horse-drawn wagons laden with fresh Jersey produce. The number of trains running from river to shore increased. Ferries carried increasing numbers of passengers and tons of freight between Camden and Philadelphia. There was even serious talk about bridging the Delaware River to ease the stop-and-go methods of travel between the sister cities. But, as many major projects to be undertaken by a coalition of governments, plans for the bridge died.

      Just as the railroads were reaching their peak, a number of inventors were perfecting their horseless carriages. Reaching speeds of eight miles per hour, these amazing steam- or gasoline-powered vehicles were able

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