Maurice River Recollections Project
River Reaches
The Maurice River Reaches Project
Leesburg Reach #39
In this presentation to the Vineland Historical Society, Nutt gave a tidbit about the more recent past (1936). "A few years back they were making government rum-running boats of great power. These boats used to chase bootleggers at sea," Nutt told his audience. ![]() Nutt also mentioned a landmark that once stood on the reach. "If you go down to the river on the one street that leads there, and walk over to the left, in back of the oyster shell building, you can see on a rise of ground four well-built corner-stones where an old Dutch wind mill use to stand. It has all gone now." Nutt was referring to the windmill that was built by William Carlisle in 1849. In his book, From Whence We've Come, Don Keen published a rare photo of the windmill. Keen noted that "It stood on a small hill on the property of the present Allen Steel Company near the river on High Street in Leesburg. It was used to grind grain." Keen also published a picture of a shed that was made from the wood of this windmill.
At one time, diked farms stretched from just above Leesburg all the way to Millville on the eastern shores of the Maurice River. And across the Maurice River from Leesburg, the meadows of the western shores were banked and farmed as well. Lou Capaldi, of Port Norris, remembered the farm directly across from the DelBay Shipyard. "That was called the Cook Farm," Capaldi said. "It's all water and mud now." He remembered that, back in the 1940's, the Cook farm had a beautiful house and a barn. Capaldi also recalled the Silverman farm, which was adjacent to the Cook farm. Charles Hartman created a compilation of maps based on older maps and surveys. One of Hartman's maps shows that, in 1850, Chas. Cook Ferry Road traveled eastward from where present-day route 649 is (north of Port Norris), to the Maurice River, where the Cook Ferry crossed the Maurice River to Leesburg. That Commercial Township road is now called Cook Road. The acquisition of the Silverman farm added 20 acres to the Capaldi family property. Here they planted lima beans and potatoes. "We had lima beans like you've never seen," Calpaldi said, adding that "there wasn’t a stone in that ground,” making it an excellent place for a potato crop, too. "Potatoes like that, we couldn’t sell them," Capaldi said, indicating the oversized spuds they raised, "so we loaded them on a freight car and they went away to make alcohol." Capaldi said that the land was very rich, "but we were tired of putting up with the dikes. We were about the only ones left. It finally fell in." Capaldi said that his family worked what was probably one of the last diked farms on the southern reaches of the Maurice River. Based on the Hartman map there was a fish factory, and a factory-centered "village" known as Menhaden. (See Reach #40, Lower Leesburg for more information.) |
Narratives
Leesburg
Narrative Recollections Ken Camp Lou Capaldi Drew Tomlin Everett Turner Mary Harris Veach Other Historical Sites-Ferry Crossings |