200 Plus
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•June 2, 2022
Barnegat City Struggles to Connect
In June 1914, after years of promises and waiting, the Long Beach Island automobile bridge and Grand Boulevard were finally opened to automobiles. The effect on the southern half of the Island was…
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•May 25, 2022
‘You Can’t Get There’
During the early days of the 20th century as Henry Ford put America on wheels with his car for the common man, the Model T, New Jersey began a road-building project.
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•May 18, 2022
Promises, Promises – But No Money
After years of sitting in traffic jams caused by the ongoing construction of the “Causeway Improvements” and asking if this will ever end, it should be obvious that the history of Long Beach Island…
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•May 11, 2022
Barnegat City Fights Big Railroad
Today a trip to the northern end of Long Beach Island is highlighted by some notable differences: fewer traffic lights and less congestion along with fewer commercial properties. Modern LBI was in…
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•May 4, 2022
Railroad Trials and Tribulations
The Jersey Pine Barrens is dotted with ghost towns, such as Pasadena and Martha’s Furnace. These towns grew up around a single industry, and when it failed, they quickly disappeared.
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•April 14, 2022
Shore Visit Ends in Tragedy
During the summer of 1926, there had been scattered reports of shark sightings at the Jersey Shore, from a thresher shark attacking a boat off Seabright, to a 9-foot record sand shark being caught at…
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•April 7, 2022
Suddenly Sharks Are Everywhere
If you mentioned New Jersey and shark attacks to even a casual visitor, you will likely get the story of 1916 and the 12 days of horror. The events have been the subject of books, movies and…
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•March 30, 2022
Will Bridge Tender Go to Jail?
On Oct. 28, 1906, a newly inaugurated electric railroad express train derailed on the drawbridge entering Atlantic City, toppling into the bay and killing over 50 people. A coroner’s inquiry was…
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•March 24, 2022
Placing Blame for Railroad Disaster
On Oct. 28, 1906, six weeks after the opening of the nation’s longest electric rail line, it suffered a devastating crash as a train derailed on the drawbridge leading to Atlantic City, killing over…
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•March 16, 2022
Drawbridge Leads to Death
In September 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad began service on the longest and most modern electrified rail line in the entire country. The line ran from Camden to Atlantic City and was hailed by…
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•March 9, 2022
Death Rides Electric Third Rail
On Sept. 18, 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad prepared to inaugurate the longest electrified rail line in the country. Unfortunately, there seemed to be several operating problems.
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•March 2, 2022
Electricity Comes to Railroads
At the beginning of the 20th century, Atlantic City was one of the nation’s leading resort destinations. In the period before the rise of the automobile, the major method of transport was the…
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•February 24, 2022
Bridgeton Mourns Its Losses
On July 30, 1896, Atlantic City suffered one of the worst railroad disasters in the city’s history.
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•February 17, 2022
Red Men Trip Ends in Disaster
The Atlantic City of the 19th century owed its existence to the railroads. As the century ended, tens of thousands of riders made the journey” by rail each weekend to what was known as the “world’s…
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•February 10, 2022
Race to the Shore
In the 1850s, modern-day Atlantic City was born. First came the railroad, then the hotels and finally the tourists.
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•February 2, 2022
Lives Lost, Changed Forever in Wreckage
At 6 p.m. on Aug. 11, 1880, over 1,000 daytrippers left Atlantic City on two trains after a pleasant excursion to the shore, bound for the return trip to Camden.
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•January 26, 2022
Beach Day Ends in Tragedy
On July 4, 1854, the Camden and Atlantic Railroad ran its first train to Absecon Island, where local promoters were planning a resort city and constructing a hotel. One month later, on Aug. 7, the…
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•January 19, 2022
New Railroad Leads to the Shore
There is a famous movie line that goes “Build it and they will come.” This quote could have been made years before when writing about the rise of the Jersey Shore and, more specifically, Atlantic…
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•January 12, 2022
How Good a Historian Are You?
The SandPaper vacation is over. It’s time to get back to work, which means you get a chance to grade your 200 Plus end-of-year exam. Give yourself four points for each correct answer plus another…
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•December 23, 2021
Were You Paying Attention?
As The Sandpaper prepares to take its annual winter’s hiatus, those who regularly read the 200 Plus history column know it’s time to ante up. For over 30 years, a year-end test has attempted to bring…
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•December 15, 2021
Placing the Blame for Crash
The Camden & Amboy Railroad was the most powerful corporation in the state of New Jersey. In return for a 5-cent per passenger tax going to the state treasury, a monopoly had been granted on rail…
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•December 8, 2021
Horror on the Tracks
In the early 1800s, the New Jersey Legislature had granted a monopoly to the Camden & Amboy Railroad to link New York and Philadelphia in return for a tax to be collected on each rider. As a…
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•December 1, 2021
Railroad Disasters Continue
The Camden & Amboy Railroad had been granted a monopoly by the New Jersey Legislature to link New York and Philadelphia across the state. Donald Sinclair explained in an article that appeared in a…
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•November 24, 2021
Who Was to Blame for Disaster?
By 1850, the pioneering Camden & Amboy Railroad was one of the most profitable and powerful corporations in the country. Granted a monopoly by the New Jersey Legislature, it controlled all rail…
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•November 17, 2021
Another Disaster for NJ Railroad
The Camden & Amboy Railroad was the first to connect the cities of Philadelphia and New York. Under normal circumstances you would expect that within a short time others would also be constructed to…
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•November 10, 2021
Rocky Start for New Railroad Co.
During the fall of 1833, the Camden & Amboy Railroad began the first steam-powered transportation link between New York and Philadelphia. At first it was held as a marvel of modern technology, but a…
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•October 27, 2021
Railroads Enter Age of Steam
The story of the role played by New Jersey in the steam transport revolution of the 1800s is filled with many firsts. Some are proudly remembered; some we would just as soon forget.
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•October 13, 2021
Persistent Effort to Save Old Barney
With the coming of fall 1921, the friends of Barnegat Lighthouse had convinced the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, and the U.S. President, Warren G. Harding, to join the fight to prevent…
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•October 6, 2021
Still Fighting for the Lighthouse
It’s said you can’t fight City Hall or mess with Mother Nature. But that is exactly what a band of citizens forever remembered as “the Friends of Barnegat Light” spent 1921 doing.
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•September 29, 2021
Explosion Hits Penns Grove
When it comes to history or journalism, deciding what to include is almost as important as how you cover the subject. What else happened on Dec. 7, 1941, or the day man landed on the moon? Aug. 24…
