Maurice River Recollections Project
River Reaches
Debra A. Barsotti Research Journalist Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc.
The Maurice River Reaches Project
Little Haul Reach #16 “I made my first haul when I was 11 years old - on the Little Haul," said local waterman Richard Weatherby. Just down river from Mud Haul was "a real small eddy," Weatherby said, adding that his grandfather, father and other local fishermen knew this reach by that name. Little Haul is located on the eastern banks of the Maurice River near the Burcham farm. The Polenta Hotel, Jane Galetto said, was right across the Maurice River from the Burcham's point - at the Little Haul Reach, not very far south of where Peter and Jane built their home. The Dilks farm was just south of the shack known as Polenta Hotel on the same reach. 6/06 At one time, a wharf edged out into the river at this reach. The wharf was constructed by NJ Silica in 1935. Clarence Wolf of NJ Silica leased the land and riparian rights from Frank Burcham to construct a commercial pier. Wolf planned to transport NJ Silica's sand via the Maurice River rather than pay the increasing cost that the railroads were demanding. The sand company used the wharf only once, but that was enough to convince the railroad to roll back their rates. The sand company never used the loading pier again. For decades, "Wolfie's Wharf" stood as another landmark on the eastern shores of the Maurice River. Maintaining the long wooden structure was costly for the Burcham sisters, who inherited the farm in 1951. Finally, in 1994, the wharf was demolished. Frank and Joanne Murphine are familiar with the wharf that once sat on the Maurice River at the Burcham farm. While he wasn't familiar with the name "Little Haul," Frank Murphine knew some of the locals who pulled their nets in from there, including Toots Peterson, one of the colorful characters of the Maurice River. Julie Smalley remembered the pier, too. "They had this big high pier and the land came way out to the buoy. If you went out (close to the buoy) you would get stuck," Smalley said. That was something she and her family were mindful of as they navigated their boat up and down the Maurice River. In the 1960's, Smalley and her husband built a family cabin further south on the river at Sweet Meadows. The family spent a good bit of time on the Maurice. "But I never heard any one refer to theses reaches as Mud Haul and Little Haul," Smalley said. In the 1960's, that way of life was already fading into the past. 6/06. |
Narratives
Little Haul
Narrative Recollections Burcham Sisters Frank Murphine Julie Smalley Richard Weatherby Other 1930 Aerial Photo - Grainery to Yellow House Aerial Photo Burcham Farm at Millville, NJ |