Rivers and maritime work · Mullica River
Green Bank schooners and the public river landing
Federal survey compared · Public state-forest stop
Large coal schooners once slid into the Mullica at Green Bank. The river can still be approached at nearby Crowley’s Landing, without assuming the landing was the historic shipyard.
Schooners from a forest river
The federal Census Office's shipbuilding report, published with the 1880 census, grouped Green Bank with Barnegat, Tuckerton and West Creek as a coastal-schooner building district. At Green Bank, it recorded several large schooners launched into the Mullica, each able to carry roughly 400 to 550 tons of coal. It said none had been launched there since 1877. The report also identified Jersey pine as the chief timber in the wider district. These are a contemporary survey's figures and cutoff, not a complete vessel register or proof that every Green Bank hull was built from pine alone. U.S. Census Office, Report on the Ship-Building Industry of the United States, p. 122.
Why the river mattered
Green Bank connected inland forest products with a navigable route toward Great Bay and the Atlantic. The Pinelands Byway plan puts both Green Bank and Crowley’s Landing on the north bank of its Mullica corridor, with Pleasant Mills farther upriver. Its route follows County Route 542 through the Green Bank section. The plan treats the village as a potential historic district, which is a planning designation, not a claim that an intact shipyard survives or that every present building dates to the schooner years. Pine Barrens Byway Corridor Management Plan (2009), pp. 12–16.
A bridge changed, while the crossing stayed
The state Department of Transportation says Green Bank Road Bridge was originally built in 1926 and reopened in March 2003 after a two-year rehabilitation planned with the State Historic Preservation Office. The road crossing therefore offers a later chapter of the same river corridor, not an eighteenth- or nineteenth-century relic. Atlantic County reported in May 2026 that the drawbridge would remain in its down position until further notice: cars could continue across, while boats needing the open span could not pass. That dated advisory should be checked again before any boating plan. NJDOT, bridge reopening (2003); Atlantic County traffic advisory (May 2026).
Visit the river from public ground
For a drive-and-walk stop, use Crowley Landing at Wharton State Forest on Route 542, rather than stopping on Green Bank Road Bridge or entering private village waterfront. The state boat-ramp guide identifies Crowley as a concrete Mullica River ramp at 39°37.584′ N, 74°34.160′ W (approximately 39.6264, −74.56933). The Pinelands Byway plan calls it a recreation area. NJDEP says motor-accessible forest launch sites have parking, but check current signage, hours and launch fees at the site. The ramp is a place to view the water corridor; neither the federal survey nor the byway plan identifies it as the exact schooner-building location. NJDEP boat-ramp guide, p. 40; Byway plan, p. 16; NJDEP motor-access plan FAQ, p. 2; current Wharton visitor page.
Sources and research limits
- U.S. Census Office, Report on the Ship-Building Industry of the United States, p. 122 — Contemporary regional shipbuilding account and Green Bank schooner claim.
- Pine Barrens Byway Corridor Management Plan (2009), pp. 12–16 — River-village grouping, byway route and Crowley’s Landing Recreation Area.
- NJDEP, New Jersey Boat Ramp Guide, p. 40 — Crowley Landing name, coordinates and ramp type. Its access details are older; the current park page governs visitor planning.
- NJDOT bridge reopening (2003) and Atlantic County bridge advisory (May 2026) — Later crossing history and dated operating condition.
No original shipyard parcel or surviving launching ramp was identified. Crowley’s Landing is a separate public river viewpoint, not a pin for the historic shipyard.