Industry and landscape · Places to explore
Stafford Forge: iron, cranberries and four ponds
Documented landscape · Historical footprint uncertain
The dikes and ponds along Westecunk Creek record several uses of one Pine Barrens watershed. Iron production gave the place its name; cranberry farming reshaped its water; state wildlife management now keeps the former bogs open as habitat.
The name came from iron
A New Jersey Historic Preservation Office survey of the West Creek area says John Lippencott built Stafford Forge in 1797 and operated it for 42 years. Its account places the now-destroyed works near the meeting of Martha and Stafford Forge roads and describes pig iron being worked into everyday goods. That road reference locates the historical neighborhood; it does not identify a surviving foundation or establish that a modern pond pin marks the forge building.
From iron water to cranberry water
A Pinelands Commission Westecunk Creek field handout identifies the Stafford Forge bog pond and spillway as part of a site converted from an iron forge to a large cranberry farm. An 1878 atlas view independently records a Stafford Forge Cranberry Plantation at West Creek as the property of Daniel R. Gowdy. The image is a period promotional view, useful evidence for the plantation's name and existence but not a surveyed plan of today's dikes. Stafford Township's history also associates Nathaniel Holmes Bishop III with cranberry bogs at Stafford Forge; the sources checked do not establish how Bishop's operation related in acreage or ownership to Gowdy's 1878 plantation.
The four ponds today
NJ Fish & Wildlife describes four ponds along dammed Westecunk Creek within a 12,597-acre wildlife management area that also includes former bogs, pine-oak woods, marsh and a northern pygmy-pine tract. It lists birds of the woods and wetlands, frogs, turtles, beaver and other wildlife. The agency says people can cross the dikes between ponds on foot, and a 3.4-mile sand road provides shore-fishing access. The old water controls are therefore still readable from public routes even where the forge itself is not visible.
Go and look
Use NJ Fish & Wildlife's directions: from Garden State Parkway exit 58, follow County Route 539 north, turn onto Forge Road, continue onto Martha Road, then turn left onto Old Forge Road to enter the management area. The official WMA road map shows the boundary, roads and designated parking. Sand roads can be difficult, and the area is actively used for hunting, fishing, dog training and at a separate shooting range. Check the current WMA notices and regulations before visiting; park only where the state map allows and remain on established roads and dikes. The historical forge footprint is not a wayfinding target on this walk.
Sources and research limits
- NJ Historic Preservation Office, West Creek historic survey — summarized forge date, operator and road-area location.
- Pinelands Commission, Westecunk Creek field handout — bog pond coordinates and forge-to-cranberry account.
- Woolman and Rose, 1878 atlas view, David Rumsey collection — contemporary plantation title and Gowdy attribution.
- Stafford Township, local history — Bishop's association with cranberry bogs here.
- NJ Fish & Wildlife, Stafford Forge WMA profile and road map — present habitat, activities and access.
The map pin indicates a public WMA pond locality, not an exact parking place or the forge remains. The historical landownership sequence and footprint need further archival work.