Somewhere no longer there

Road trips are old fashioned things.  Even back in the 1930s, as the Great Depression ravaged the United States, a guy could climb into his car with his buddies and drive off in search of adventure, the open road, or (as in the case of Henry Charlton Beck) forgotten towns that permeate the South Jersey landscape.  Road trips are taken for many reasons, but none more common than simply for the love of the destination.  Whether your ending point is a town, a landmark, or a particular person road trips with friends can be a great way to explore the world around you.

Horizons: broad and flat

                Thankfully curiosity only kills cats, not reporters for the Camden Courier Post who decide to satisfy their own wonderings. For if it did, Henry Charlton Beck would have perished when he and some friends (who happen to be newspaper photographers and reporters) travelled to small towns of Southern New Jersey of which no one has ever heard.  What started out as a simple question turned into a quest:  “Who would name their town Ong’s Hat?”  What resulted was a series of articles that captivate readers even today.  The journeys of Henry Charlton Beck and his associates document a part of South Jersey history that has been ignored, paved over, and disappeared into history.

So what?

                I’ll spare you, dear reader, from the oft too repeated line about people who are ignorant of history; instead I will replace it with another from historian and author Philip Howard “The black hole in [history] is the way of life of mute, inglorious men and women who made no nuisance of themselves in the world”.   Many centuries of human civilization have seen people and towns disappear into history.  Beck’s series of articles and books rescued some of those people and towns and preserved them for the ages.

South Jersey past and present

                So how is this blog different from just another book review?  How will it recall the historical elements without being another history lesson and nothing more?  The essence of Beck’s articles and books were written to capture the culture and heritage of Southern Jersey.  They were also meant to ignite the passion for South Jersey history in the hearts of those of us who live in South Jersey in the 21^st century.  These towns are hidden amongst pine trees, down dirt roads, and scattered to the winds from one end of South Jersey to the next.  They are meant to be searched for, found and explored.  They are part of our shared identity.

Purpose and Intent
                Every guy who grew up in the 1980s has (at some point) wanted to be Indiana Jones.  Some *ahem* still do.  While being crushed by a huge boulder and shot at with poison tip darts is not on my bucket list, seeking a bit more adventure through exploring vast areas of the world is.  Beck and his buddies traipsed all over South Jersey tracking down these towns, the people who remember them, the people who lived in them, and the buildings and landmarks that were left of them.  How could a wannabe explorer/adventurer do anything less?  Just as Beck brought along friends, I encourage you to go with me on these journeys.  Read about the towns, their histories—do a little research of your own, then (to paraphrase) Indiana Jones: If you want to be a good explorer, you’ve got to get out of the library.  As we follow Beck and friends through 1930s South Jersey, and follow our GPS to locate it almost 80 years later I leave you some words of wisdom from Beck himself from the foreward to the 1961 printing: “At last [I have been] persuaded more than ever that the people of New Jersey should become more keenly aware of all their heritage, not just around their homes but all over the state—in the mountains, in the flatlands, on the seacoast, and in the forest fastnesses—”.