Marshallville--an identity lost

Dear Ramblers and Readers:

                Beck’s journey into the cobweb-coated corners of Southern New Jersey took him on trips where stories abounded.  I trust that you as well are finding great stories to share on your journeys through the southern half of the Garden State.  Often times the stories Beck found were funny, or thought provoking, but once in a while he ran across a tragedy.  The story of Marshallville, New Jersey is one of those stories.

From Top to Bottom

                Marshallville was a city Beck found on an old yellowed map, one that showed cities that were no longer there.  These missing towns gave Beck itchy feet, and off he went!  Marshallville, however, showed on both the yellowed map and the maps of Beck’s day and age.  The only difference was that Marshallville, once part of Cumberland County, was now part of Cape May County.  This forming booming industry town was, as Beck found it, a shadow of its former self.  Marshallville industry was concentrated in the glass works and the shipyards pulling in roughly 100, 000 dollars per year.  Enough ships went out to fill a fleet averaging fourteen ships a day. 

Sinking fast

As the shipbuilding industry grew the demand for smaller ships decreased.  As the river went unused it quickly turned into a marsh and the shipbuilding industry of Marshallville dried up.  No one, not even in Beck’s time, knew why the glass-making industry stopped.  Most likely it was a correlation of the town losing half its business, several families had to move away to find work elsewhere, and the rest was a domino effect.

Left in the dust, sadly

                History marches on, and often the wounded fall behind.  The world can push forward into greater and greater efforts of progress and never look back at those who might need a helping hand.  As society changed around Marshallville no one bothered to help them weather the storm, not even themselves.  When Beck arrived the town showed little evidence of having once been a capital of industry.  The world changed around Marshallville, and as it changed it did not take Marshallville with it, instead leaving it behind to be forgotten.

Marshallville these days…

                Marshallville as a town still exists, though it is made up of a dozen houses (down from 40) with only remnants left of its industry days.  Many of the areas of Marshallville have been placed on the Historic Preservation list, and while a few families still reside it is another forgotten town absorbed into a much larger township.

                As we travel these places together I keep thinking:  which cities, alive with industry and people now will become the forgotten towns of tomorrow?  Is there anything that can be done now to save them, or is merely part of history that these things happen?

 

Next Post:  Beesley’s Point:  Less travelled, but not forgotten