Well-known for its hunting, fishing, and sea-faring ship captains, the town of Barnegat, New Jersey, was also a thriving center of industry and modern technology. Steam locomotives once raged through the pines, and over four thousand boats were built at the Perrine Boat Works. A downtown business district thrived, and cottage industries-- like glass blowing and silkworm cultivation--also left their marks. The history of the Barnegat area, which is chronicled vividly in this marvelous new photographic history by Kevin Hughes, is truly a varied and fascinating one.

A narrative son of Barnegat Bay shares an insidder's chronicle of a culture that has all but disappeared. It is a story that celebrates the bay, the Jersey Shore, and the Pine Barrens with a genuine and deeply felt sensitivity.

Closed Sea weaves together a colorful history of whalers and pirates, Revolutionary patriots and loyalists, fishermen and loggers, iron masters and life saving crews, sportsmen and holiday makers. Filled with historical anecdote and keen observations of sea and shore, it is a compelling portrait of the Barnegat Bay region and its history. With a naturalist's eye and a sailor's experience, environmental historian Kent Mountford opens our eyes to the Shore's past, its shifting inlets, disappearing islands, dangerous tides and shoals. Moving inland, he documents the Pinelands environment and the industries it has supported over the centuries. Closed Sea tells the remarkable history of a fascinating place, a place of great beauty, danger and opportunity, a place that has cast its spell on generations of people. This book is published with support, in part, from the Ocean County Historical Society, the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program, and the Tuckerton Seaport.