A Celebration of New Jersey Rivers

The rivers that helped shape business, transportation, food, and human settlements in the Garden State are featured in a new exhibit at the New Jersey Historical Society. 

Visitors to the interactive exhibition can explore four New Jersey rivers – the Delaware, Maurice, Passaic and Raritan -- and discover how New Jerseyans harvested the resources, built transportation networks, made a living, settled along these waterways, set up industries and addressed conflicts over how its rivers are used. For example, industrialists along the banks of the Passaic captured the energy of falling water to power mills and factories, to tan leather, and for transportation of goods. The Maurice River helped create a water-based economy of workers harvesting fish and oysters and building ships, dating back to colonial times. Rivers also played a key role in development of the state's beer industry: over the last two centuries, about 50 breweries operated out of the Newark area. The lore among local residents about why so many breweries located in Newark was the quality of the water, but the concentration of German immigrant families in the Newark area may have had more to do with it. "Ebb and Flow: New Jersey and Its Rivers" opened last month at the New Jersey Historical Society in downtown Newark. Admission is free. http://www.jerseyhistory.org/news_detail.php?recid=89 

Passaic River near Patterson, NJ
Photo: USGS