The Pine Barrens offer Nature, History, Legends and more. Start your journey here @ Time’s Tin Cup !
The Pine Barrens of New Jersey !
What a precious gem and legendary site of New Jersey!
Not only can this field guide help you find the natural and historic sites….it will lead you to the areas that legends originated from.
The Pine Barrens are a New Jersey treasure of history, preservation and legends.
One legend of the Pine Barrens was the origin of Joe Mulliner, “Robin Hood of the Pines”, the Tory outlaw that was forced to leave his home in 1779 to avoid arrest and went on a crime spree burning farmhouses, kidnapping and robbing stagecoaches. His body is buried in the Pine Barrens.
Read the legend at Weirdnj.com ! Photo credited to Weirdnj.com
Another legend of the Pine Barrens is the Brooksbrae Brick Company located in Pasadena. It was incorporated in 1905. From a railroad strike to a fire, a rumor evolved of a possession that resulted in rape and murder.
Learn of the legend connected to this chilling tunnel, Brooksbae and Weirdnj.com here:
Read the legend at Weirdnj.com ! Photo credited to Weirdnj.com
But, the best known legend of the Pine Barrens is the Jersey Devil.
HatTip to Rutgers University Libraries
The Jersey Devil. So famous, we even have a hockey team named after this legend
The Jersey Devil is the oldest New Jersey folklore. Jerseyans have told the tale of the mythical beast that has stalked the Pine Barrens for over 300 years.
The legend says that in or around 1735, a Pine Barrens resident (Mother Leeds) found herself pregnant for the thirteenth time. Mother Leeds and her drunkard husband could not afford a thirteenth child and proclaimed to the heavens, “Let this one be a devil” ! Despite this proclaimed curse, the birth appeared normal and Mother Leeds birthed a normal baby boy. But, before the eyes of the midwives and Mother Leeds, the baby started to change. It transformed from a beautiful healthy boy into a hideous creature. The wailing infant began to growl and grow! Horns sprouted from its head! Talons grew from it’s fingers and toes! Bat-like wings sprouted from the baby’s back and hair transformed into feathers!
The baby, now known as the Jersey Devil, killed the midwives, mother, father and 12 siblings. The Jersey Devil then climbed up the chimney and supposedly stalks us to this day. There has been endless stories of sightings and captures since!
The Pine Barrens are historic. Chilling. And Beautiful. This is New Jersey. Start your journey.
Hike and video, HatTip to @walterzolna