
Atsion, NJ
N 39° 44.515 W 074° 43.555
18S E 523483 N 4399149
Atsion was once a thriving iron community. Atsion also had life as a "planned community", and as the "Atsion Farm" of Joseph Wharton. Reminders of Atsion’s past are visible on the east side of US 206.
Waymark Code: WM5D63
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/21/2008
Views: 5
"ATSION, 124.2 (50 alt., 150 pop.), named for Atsionk Indians, has a few worn buildings along the banks of the Mullica River. A dam at the highway forms Atsion Lake (R), the millpond of an early bog-iron works. Below its spillway are the ruins of the Atsion Furnace, built in 1776, and a large stone and stucco mill building that in turn manufactured iron, paper, and cotton. A large, deserted house of square design (L), with wide porticos and iron pillars embossed at the base with the furnace brand "A," is the Samuel Richards Mansion, home of an eighteenth-century iron master. The general store is (L) close to the highway. A plain stuccoed building without an identifying signboard it resembles a small chapel with its small belfry and austere architectural lines, although a haymow door on the second floor does not conform to church design." --- New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past, 1939; page 471-472
This town is located in a State Forest, as the others are, in NJ's Pine Barrens. There is a U.S. highway going through the middle of it. There are some people living there in modern homes. On some dirt roads in the area you may need 4-wheel drive because of soft sand. Atsion is now a part of Wharton State Forest. It was a part of the New Jersey’s purchase of the Wharton Tract in the mid 1950"s.
Some of these reminders are existing structures such as the mansion (currently under rehab), the general store also known as Etheredge's Store (now a ranger station), a barn, a one-room school house, a church (still in use), a cemetery (also still used), a barn and a few structures whose primary purpose is unknown to me. These unknown structures are barely standing. I especially like the railroad which runs right through the town. The tracks can be found running perpendicular to Quaker Bridge (where Grace Bible Baptist Church is located)