Closed Sea: From the Manasquan to the Mullica: A History of Barnegat Bay

A history of the Barnegat Bay region, Closed Sea weaves a colorful tale of whalers and pirates, Revolutionary patriots and loyalists, fishermen, sportsmen, iron masters and life saving crews. Filled with historical anecdote and keen observations of sea and shore, it is a compelling portrait of a unique place and its history.

You will follow the earliest explorers as they first set eyes upon the pristine bay, the Dutch and British settlers who came after them and the intrigue and battles of the "Colonial Rebellion". You will meet whalers who migrated from New England to New Jersey's coastal waters, and many others who harvested the sea's various bounty. You will go with the men of the Life Saving Service into the icy, treacherous surf of a winter storm. Accounts of shipwrecks and of pirate treasure buried on barrier beaches alternate with tales of the Pine Barrens, a place you will visit when it was a thriving center of 18th century industry. And, finally, you will join the early summer vacationers for rollicking times in the first guest houses of Long Beach Island.

With a naturalist's eye and a sailor's experience, environmental historian Kent Mountford describes the history of New Jersey's Barnegat Bay region and its people, from the Lenni Lenape to 20th century summer vacationers. He opens our eyes to the Shore's past, its shifting inlets, disappearing islands, dangerous tides and shoals. Moving inland, he documents the Pinelands environment and the industries it has supported over the centuries.

Closed Sea tells the remarkable history of a fascinating place, a place of great beauty, danger and opportunity, a place that has cast its spell on generations of people.

Extending roughly from the Manasquan to the Mullica rivers is a region of bay, creeks, barrier island, and coastal forest. Girdled on the east by treacherous inlets and shifting shoals, hemmed in on the west by the vast and mysterious Pine Barrens, steeped in myth and history, this place has been claimed by many: pirates and whalers, iron masters and fishermen, patriots and vacationers. This is Barnegat Bay.

Closed Sea is the saga of New Jersey's Barnegat Bay region. It is a legendary coast that has drawn many admirers — lured by its beauty and promise, undaunted by the inherent dangers of living at the edge of an unforgiving sea, yet unable to shake the attraction that its glorious shores hold.

Includes selected bibliography, index, and map.