"Trails & Tales of Wharton" is a monthly publication of nature and history related articles written by Wharton State Forest's nature and history interpretive staff.

A Nature Note: Out of this World Earthstar (and Another Fun Guy)

Late summer and into the fall, is a great time to see many different species of fungi. Temperatures are still high and added moisture makes for ideal growing conditions. While walking along our trails, our naturalist found a large earthstar fungi ! Fitting name for the way it looks above, but they start out very round before the outer layer splits to form this star shape. Earthstars are common in the Pine Barrens and are often found growing out of the sand.  

This fall, you might also come across a fly mushroom which are often found growing underneath our pines. Their color can range from yellowish to red, but they all have whitish warts on their caps. Fly mushrooms are quite large. When people all over the world think of mushrooms, they often think of this species without even realizing it.

If you see any of our fungi, please leave them be. It is illegal to collect mushrooms in New Jersey State Parks. Not to mention, fungi are an important food source for some of our native species and maybe be harmful to humans. If you’d like to learn more about fungi, check out the only mushroom club association in New Jersey – the New Jersey Mycological Association!

A History Highlight: Atsion's Post Office

If you are a regular visitor to Wharton State Forest, you may have looked inside the Batsto Post Office or even sent a postcard from the historic building! You

may not know, though, that Atsion also had a post office and also played an important role in connecting South Jersey communities! 

Atsion was home to one of the first post offices in Burlington County. On August 18, 1797, post offices were established in Atsion and Tuckerton, which was a major port of entry in the early United States. 

For nearly two decades, the post office at Atsion helped support its booming iron industry and growing population. After the ironworks closed in 1815, however, the post office was relocated to nearby Sooy’s Inn. In the 1820s, Samuel Richards purchased Atsion and quickly brought life back to the furnace and town. He built the mansion, still standing today, in 1826. One year later, in 1827, he built the general store. The very next year, in 1828, the post office was re-established at Atsion.  

From the 1830s to the 1860s, Atsion’s post office opened and closed numerous times as the surrounding town’s population grew and declined. Like many other South Jersey iron towns, competition from cheaper, more efficient furnaces in Pennsylvania forced Atsion’s owners to pursue other industries and endeavors. Colonel William Patterson purchased the land and reimagined it as an agricultural community called the Fruitland Improvement Company. In 1866, Patterson renamed the Atsion Post Office to the Fruitland Post Office. Though Patterson’s venture was ultimately unsuccessful, the Fruitland Post Office continued to operate here until 1871. 

Maurice Raleigh purchased Fruitland and changed the town’s name back to Atsion. For the next decade, the Astion Post Office again served the surrounding community. Industry also returned to Atsion, as Raleigh converted the town’s paper mill to a cotton mill. In 1882, however, the post office was moved to Atlantic County, where it could be closer to the New Jersey Southern Railroad’s station house. The relocation only lasted for a little over a year, and the Atsion Post Office was returned to this spot in 1883.  

In 1892, Joseph Wharton purchased Atsion, and it became part of his 96,000-acre tract in South Jersey. Initially interested in selling the fresh, clean water of the Pine Barrens, Wharton ultimately pursued agricultural endeavors. Atsion became an important part of Wharton’s cranberry business and served as a center for experimentation with peanut crops. The post office remained at Astion until 1930, when its service was discontinued and replaced with the Vincentown Post Office. 

From the Archives: Back to School 

For many of us, September means “back to school.” This month, we are going all the way back to school in 1909! 

The postcard pictured above features students attending the Pleasant Mills School, dated April 28, 1909. Cross-referencing the names written on the back with the 1910 federal census gives us a window into the lives of these students and their teacher.

Everyone in the photograph, except for the Coleman sisters and Lilla Ford, lived in Mullica Township. The 1910 federal census was enumerated in Mullica Township in mid-April, just shy of one year from the postcard’s date. From the census, we discover:

• Tillie Grams was 20 years old and born in Pennsylvania. She was single, living at home with her parents, and her occupation was listed, appropriately, as a teacher in a public school.
• Mary Ella Jervis was 18 years old and was a “cutter” in a paper mill. She lived at home with her parents in Pleasant Mills.

• Lilla Ford was 19 years old and had moved to Philadelphia by 1910. She is listed as a “boarder,” single, and was a laundry “sorter.”

• Helen Leek was 9 years old. She lived with her parents, George and Isabella, and she had a little sister named Laura.

• Lillian Ford was listed as a “housekeeper” at just 14 years old, living with her father.

• Olive Miller was only 8 years old and was the only surviving child of three born to Elmer and Effie Miller. Her father, Elmer, was a fruit farmer.

• Florence Ford, 12 years old, was Lillian Ford’s younger sister.

• Eugene Reynolds (Walter E. Reynolds on the census) was 13 years old and was listed as a “laborer” at home.

• Jesse Reynolds, Eugene’s brother, was also a “laborer” on their family farm.

• Russell Ford was 13 years old and Lila and Austin Ford’s brother.

• Austin Ford was 10 years old and was still attending school with his brother Russell.

• Ada Coleman was 19 years old, single, and living in Batsto with her parents.

• Emma Coleman was 16 years old and also lived with her parents at Batsto.

• Maggie Coleman, the postcard’s addressee, was Ada and Emma Colman’s mother. She was also the older sister of Augustus Miller, who was featured in the May edition of Trails and Tales!

Next, we have Emma V. Morasco’s notebook, shown above complete with her spelling words and plenty of creative doodling on the inside cover. On the back cover,

Emma notes that she was 11 years at the time and lived in and/or attended school in Atsion.   

Emma was born in August 1893 (1905 NJ State Census), dating her notebook to the 1904-1905 school year. The same census shows us that Emma had a younger sister, Sadie, and they lived with their

grandparents and widowed mother, Annabel, in DeCosta. Emma’s father, Robert, died in 1903 (NJ Death Index). In 1913, Annabel married William Bozarth (NJ Marriage Index), who was listed as the

caretaker of the Wharton Estate on the 1930 United States Census. 

About Wharton State Forest

Located in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, Wharton State Forest is New Jersey's largest state forest. It encompasses approximately 125,000 acres covering parts of Atlantic, Burlington and Camden

counties providing a variety of recreational activities including hiking, biking, swimming and horseback riding. It is home to historic Batsto Village, Batsto and Atsion Mansions, and the Atsion Recreation Area.

You can find more information about Wharton State Forest and other New Jersey state parks on our website at https://dep.nj.gov/wharton.

Wharton State Forest Office Locations

Atsion Office
744 US 206, Shamong, NJ 08088, (609) 268-0444

Batsto Office, Museum and Store
31 Batsto Road, Hammonton, NJ  08037, (609) 561-0024

Both offices are open 7 days a week (except major holidays) 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.