The Great Egg Harbor River is a river in
South Jersey
South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...
.
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 It is one of the major rivers that traverse the largely pristine
Pinelands, draining of
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
into the Atlantic Ocean at
Great Egg Harbor, from which it takes its name.
Great Egg Harbor (and thus the river) got its name from
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
explorer
Cornelius Jacobsen Mey
Cornelis Jacobsen Mey (in Dutch often rendered as Cornelius Jacobsz. May) was a Dutch explorer, captain and fur trader. Cape May, Cape May County, and the city of Cape May, New Jersey, are named after him.Russell Shorto, ''The Island at the Center ...
. In 1614, Mey came upon the inlet to the Great Egg Harbor River. The meadows were so covered with shorebird and waterfowl eggs that he called it "Eyren Haven" (Egg Harbor). Today, the National Park Service considers it one of the top 10 places in North America for
birding
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
.
Description
The Great Egg Harbor River rises in the suburbs southeast of
Camden near
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and flows generally southeast, to the south of the
Atlantic City Expressway
The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a long toll road in the U.S. state of New Jersey, managed and operated by ...
, entering Great Egg Harbor approximately southwest of
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
. The lower of the river provide a navigable
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
as far as
Mays Landing
Mays Landing is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. . The
Tuckahoe River enters Great Egg Harbor just to the south of the mouth of the river.
Before the arrival of Europeans to the area in the 18th century, it was inhabited by
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
. During the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, its estuary sheltered
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s. The presence of "
bog iron
Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in solution. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite (FeO(OH)).
Iron-bea ...
" along the river provided material for
cannonballs and led to the construction of
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
s, as well as
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
and
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
factories, until the middle of the 19th century.
In 1992, the United States Congress designated of the river and its tributaries as the Great Egg Harbor Scenic and Recreational River, as part of the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
. It is the longest
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
ing river within the Pinelands. It can be paddled for from New Brooklyn, near
Route 536, all the way to
Beesley's Point.
The river is noted for its
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
-colored "cedar water", the product of the
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
tannin content of the fallen
cedar
Cedar may refer to:
Trees and plants
*''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae
*Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar
Places United States
* Cedar, Arizona
* ...
leaves along much of its length.
[ It provides abundant habitat for ]waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
in the region. The fish populations include striped bass
The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...
and alewife herring.
As of July 2015, of land along the river in Atlantic County is owned and administered by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is a government agency in the U.S. state 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 stat ...
as the Great Egg Harbor River Wildlife Management Area.[New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife]
Wildlife Management Areas
Retrieved October 19, 2015.
See also
* List of New Jersey rivers
This is a list of streams and rivers of the U.S. state of New Jersey.
List of New Jersey rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (''i.e.,'' branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in the ...
* List of New Jersey wildlife management areas
The state of New Jersey in the United States owns and administers over of land designated as "Wildlife Management Areas" (abbreviated as "WMA") throughout the state. These areas are managed by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, an ag ...
Tributaries
* English Creek
* Hospitality Branch
* South River
* Stephen Creek
References
External links
National Park Service – Great Egg Harbor River
*
{{authority control
Rivers of Atlantic County, New Jersey
Rivers of Camden County, New Jersey
Rivers of Gloucester County, New Jersey
Rivers in the Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
Rivers of New Jersey
National Park Service areas in New Jersey
National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers
Protected areas of the Pine Barrens (New Jersey)
Protected areas established in 1992
1992 establishments in New Jersey
Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States