Downshore From Manahawkin to New Gretna (Images of America)

A unique area exists along the western shores of Little Egg Harbor Bay and Great Bay between the communities of Manahawkin and New Gretna in the southern coastal section of New Jersey. From the beginning, the region was rich in natural resources, providing fish, clams, oysters, lumber, and cranberries for early settlers. The communities also enjoyed a temperate climate and navigable harbors, leading to the development of shipbuilding and trading as early industries. Because of the isolation of the Tuckerton area from the larger population centers of the state, its small-town flavor and way of life were allowed to endure. Many of the occupations of the settlers of the early 1700s survive to this day. Downshore from Manahawkin to New Gretna seeks to capture the charm of the little towns in this region, the character of the people who settled here, many of whose families still remain, and the lifestyle lived in harmony with this pastoral environment during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.