Corson Inlet is a narrow strait on the southern coast of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Corson Inlet leads from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

through

barrier islands Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a f ...

off the northeast coast of

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are f ...

, New Jersey. The Inlet separates

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, ...

from

Strathmere, New Jersey Strathmere is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Upper Township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 137, a decrease of 2 ...

. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

seaplane tender USS ''Corson'', in commission from 1944 to 1946 and 1951 to 1956, was named for Corson Inlet.

Corson's Inlet State Park Corson's Inlet State Park was established by the New Jersey Legislature in 1969 to protect and preserve one of the last undeveloped tracts of land along the state's oceanfront. The park borders Corson Inlet. The area's natural habitats are teemi ...

borders the strait. The inlet and adjacent dunes were a favorite place for the amblings of American poet,

A.R. Ammons Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001) was an American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993. Poetic themes Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic ...

resulting in one of his best known poems, "Corsons Inlet". The passing of automobiles to Corson's inlet has naturally left giant, mogul-like bumps in the road, oddly evenly spaced, all reaching the same height and depth (approx. 3 feet).

Geography

Corson Inlet separates Pecks Beach from

Ludlam Island Ludlam Island is a barrier island in southern New Jersey, on which Sea Isle City, and Strathmere, a part of Upper Township are located. Geography Ludlam Island is a barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean between Corson Inlet on the northeast, a ...

in Cape May County. It was described in 1834 as, Corson Inlet was described in 1878, ''viz''.,

History

Corson Inlet appears as Bottle Inlet on a map circa 1700; and as "Coston's Inlet" on a map published in 1749 by Lewis Evans.''A Map of Pensilvania, New-Jersey, New-York, And the Three Delaware Counties'', Lewis Evans, 1749

Notes

References

*''Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1997. . * (See ship namesake paragraph.) * Lehman, D.(Ed.) (2006). ''A.R. Ammons: Selected Poems.'' American Poets Project, pp. 18–22. New York: Library of America. Inlets of New Jersey Straits of New Jersey Bodies of water of Cape May County, New Jersey {{CapeMayCountyNJ-geo-stub