Salem County History

08/15/2026

08/05/2026

"Scarce see a house but the south-side begrit with hives of bees..."

"Scarce see a house but the south-side begrit with hives of bees..."

ALLOWAY - Set back from Brickyard Road in Alloway Township, one brick wall in Salem County has spent nearly 275 years doing something almost no other wall in the country ever attempted: displaying, all at once, every decorative bricklaying technique an 18th-century mason knew.

The Dickinson House, built in 1754 for John and Martha Dickinson, is that wall's home — and it remains, by the account of the county's own foremost historian, the single finest expression of a craft tradition that arrived in Salem County and never fully took root anywhere else in America.

Read all about it, see old photos of different designs and modern photos of the awe inspiring Dickinson House in Alloway Twp. at: https://thenewsofsalemcounty.com/patterned-brick-dickinson-house-alloway-1754/

07/07/2026

Can you name all or most of these six bridges (the water it crosses & roadway) in and/or around LAC Twp.

"This is creek and marsh country and we honor it for its gnats, its people, and its beautiful sunsets."

07/06/2026

Salem County’s Historic Patterned Brick Homes: William Oakford House circa 1736 in Alloway Twp.

Through a detailed review of the historical accounts preserved in the Alloway’s Remembers book, the remarkable history of the William S. Oakford House—one of our region's finest surviving examples of early 18th-century architecture—is brought back to life. Stripping away the romantic folklore of yesteryear reveals a sturdy factual history of land transactions, wartime genealogy, and architectural resilience.

Read the detailed article featuring one of the area's most beautifully preserved home from the early 18th Century at: https://thenewsofsalemcounty.com/historic-brick-inlay-homes-william-oakford-house-circa-1736/

06/28/2026

"Manny the Marl Mastodon from Mannington"

News and local concerns can bring anxiety, frustration, and negative energy quite often.

Why not read about the one-of-a-kind discovery made on a late August afternoon in 1869 while minimally paid farm hands were marling near the banks of Swedes Run in Mannington Twp.

Around 4 ft. down their shovels hit something large and solid. What was it?

As they dug around the enormous object, they reached a depth of about 6 to 8 feet. Curiosity and fear soon became as tangibly heavy as the late day's thick, moist heat.

In that moment, the misery of their minimal wages vanished. The men stood in absolute, reverent awe, staring into an enormous skull with hollow eye sockets, and jagged, immense 7" long by 3" wide teeth.

They were looking right into the gaping mouth of a titan—a beast with a lower jawbone weighing a crushing 120 pounds—that had waited ten thousand years in the dark just for their shovels to find it.

Continue reading the full history of Manny the Marl Mastodon of Mannington by clicking the link in our comments below!