Introduction
The portion that you will browse here is the result of trying to determine the various names that the reaches of the river have been called.  You will find the information, like all history, to be a combination of lore and facts. Our interest in the project began with a book by Joseph Reeves called Maurice River Memories in which he labeled a map with various names for the reaches - the stretches of the river that lie between the bends. The scale of the map he used resulted in the areas north of the Menantico Creek being misplaced by a couple of reaches, as is evidenced by the indisputable location of the Burcham Point farm actually being located elsewhere than he shows it.

Originally I began to interview some of the people whose families historically used the river to see what names they knew the reaches to be called.  A complex web of folk history began to develop.  During the late 90’s I would sporadically return to the inquiry, but I finally realized that if we were to have information to share with our website visitors we needed to hire a person to conduct the research.  The primary goal was to engage you and others with the Maurice through telling the stories of the river.  So primarily we needed someone who could recount the stories of others accurately and with an appealing style, as well as conducting historical research that would corroborate those stories.  Ultimately we selected research journalist Debbie Barsotti.  We think you will find her writing style engrossing.  Stories written by others will include their bylines.

There are two major components that make up the presentation: first, a narrative on each reach, and second, a series of interviews in which individuals relayed information on that reach and, often, on other reaches as well.  I like to think of using the map as a navigation of stories and history.   Start your journey by clicking on a buoy to find out more details regarding any reach.  The name of the reach will be displayed in a pop-up bubble and you can select the “Narrative” about it or choose from a series of recollections relayed by various people regarding the reach.  These recollections reappear again on other reaches that they also address.   There are so many interconnections that the web presentation lends itself to a travel through time and space.

There are lots of photographs that we hope will make things come alive for you. 

This is a living project and photos and information will be added to the reach narratives and to individuals’ stories and interviews contained here.  Feel free to email us through the mailbag at the bottom of the page.  You may offer a correction, or maybe you even have a river story to tell us.

Enjoy!
CU on the River-

Jane Morton Galetto
Project Editor
and
President Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc.
~Southern New Jersey~

Special thanks:
We are indebted to numerous proofreaders and submitters of photographs.  In particular I will call out just a few folks here - proofreaders Leslie Ficcaglia and Diane Jones and photo archivist Dale Wettstein of Steelman’s Photographic in Millville. Many thanks to those who gave interviews and provided graphics.  The historical societies, especially Cumberland County, Vineland, and Mauricetown, all contributed valuable material.