Whitesbog Village is a historic company town and farm with 25 historic buildings. It is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Sites. This is where Elizabeth White, in collaboration with Dr. Frederick V. Coville developed the first cultivated blueberry in 1916!
For more details and program information, visit the official Friends group website Whitesbog Preservation Trust
Whitesbog area history begins with the 18th and 19th century iron furnace industry. In the mid-1800s, James A. Fenwick purchased 490 acres of land formerly utilized by Hanover Furnace and began a farm of successful cranberry production. Fenwick’s son-in-law Joseph J. White took over production of cranberry farming in 1882, upon Fenwick’s death. White began adding land to the acreage of the farm. In 1893, White’s daughter Elizabeth began working on her family’s farm and experimenting with blueberry production to compliment the already flourishing cranberry industry. In the early 1900s, the White property was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey. In 1916, while collaborating with Dr. Frederick V. Coville, Elizabeth developed the first cultivated blueberry and began to market them to the world. Her test fields remain at the site to this day.
Whitesbog is an important part of New Jersey history and the history of the blueberry and cranberry culture in the United States. It is listed on both the National and State Registers of Historic Sites. Whitesbog includes the village and the surrounding 3,000 acres of cranberry bogs, blueberry fields, reservoirs, sugar sand roads and Pine Barren’s forests.
Into the 1970s, a few employees from the J.J. White company town continued to live in the village even though the NJ Department of Environmental Protection purchased the village in 1967. The state incorporated the land into Lebanon State Forest (now Brendan T. Byrne State Forest) and the NJDEP and the Division of Parks and Forestry administers the land.
The Division of Parks and Forestry is not alone in administering Whitesbog. The Whitesbog Preservation Trust, created in 1982, leases Whitesbog from the state in order to preserve Whitesbog. Specifically, the Trust restores, protects and enhances the lands, sites (and sights!) and buildings at Whitesbog so that it can continue to provide educational programs and materials about the history, culture and environment that create Whitesbog.
Year round we provide:
Specialty events include:
P.I.N.E.S. provides Natural and Environmental Programming to school groups. Rowan College previously offered this programming at the site and Whitesbog was passed the torch in 2019. Educational programs are tailored to accommodate grades K-12. There is a fee associated with the program. For additional information or to book a program, please call 609-893-1765 or email pinelandsintitute@gmail.com
The village is comprised of historic dwellings. Some of them are accessible to those with disabilities. Driving tours and maps are available at the kiosk. Restrooms are presently unavailable due to COVID restrictions.
Facilities for People with Disabilities
We encourage people with disabilities who require special considerations to contact the historic site / park at the phone number listed in the general information on the home page of the historic site / park. The staff will assist with arrangements. Text telephone (TT) users, please call the NJ Relay Services at (800) 852-7899.
For the Comfort and Enjoyment of All
This historic site / park is part of the NJ State Park system and your cooperation with the following will help ensure the survival of the museum collections, historic structures & features and surrounding property for the enjoyment and education of future generations!
Please contact this historic site / park with specific inquiries about any of these restrictions, as there may be some variations at this specific historic site / park.
Brendan T. Byrne State Forest
Whitesbog Preservation Trust
P.I.N.E.S. at Whitesbog
Home 2020 | Pine Barrens Native Fruits (pbnf.com)
Phone Number
Visitor Center: 609-893-4646
Phone Archives: 609-283-0255
Address
799 Lakehurst Rd., Browns Mills, NJ 08015
Mailing Address
120 W. Whitesbog Rd #34, Browns Mills, NJ 08015
Grounds Hours Dawn to Dusk
General Store 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Tour Hours Please call site for hours of operation
Entrance Fee None. Additional programming & event fees may apply.
GPS Coordinates
39.959692, -74.509749