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BY ERIC MODEL
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
JOURNEYS INTO NEW JERSEY
They like to tell us that the Thanksgiving weekend is the most heavily traveled time of the year nationwide, and especially on the New Jersey Turnpike locally.
Our personal experience can attest to that. We've spent many a Thanksgiving weekend worried about the best way to navigate "New Jersey's Main Street" — Should we get off at Exit 7A (not a good idea); 8A or 9 as we head south? Enter at what point going northward (I would take I-295 to the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the way to or back from Maryland). Truck or car lanes? etc.
To pass the time, whether in slow moving traffic or idling in jammed up traffic stretching tens of miles, I am apt to play little mind games with myself. For example, those giant warehouses down in Central Jersey — how did they seem to all pop up overnight? What's inside? How far do these distribution centers distribute to? How full are they these days in the wake of our Great Recession?
Then there's the old reliable mind game — how many people are traveled to a Norman Rockwell type of Thanksgiving at a picturesque rural setting and how many will end up at some dysfunctional family table against their better instincts?
But probably my favorite exercise is to annually pose the question: Just who are the people that the New Jersey Turnpike rest areas are named after?
Clearly, some names are familiar to most of us. Others are more obscure. What follows is a summary of them all:
But first, we should note that the rest areas are actually called "Service Areas." These days they are highlighted by mostly Burger King, Roy Rogers, Popeye's Chicken, Sbarro and Starbucks restaurant locations. Most also include a Sunoco. (More on the history of food and gas on the Turnpike in a future Journey into New Jersey).
These service areas have been named after people who lived or worked in New Jersey. From south to north, the rest areas are:
- Clara Barton Service Area (southbound, milepost 5.4, in Oldmans Township, named for Clara Barton (December 25, 1821 - April 12, 1912), a pioneer teacher, nurse, and humanitarian . She has been described as having a "strong and independent spirit" and is best remembered for organizing the American Red Cross.
- John Fenwick Service Area, (northbound, 5.4, in Oldmans Township), named for John Fenwick, a Quaker colonist in America, b. England. Planning to found a Quaker refuge in America, Fenwick obtained (1674) Lord Berkeley's share of New Jersey in trust for the Quaker merchant Edward Byllynge. In 1675 he and other Quakers founded at Salem the first permanent English settlement in New Jersey.
- Walt Whitman Service Area, (southbound, 30.2, in Cherry Hill Township) named for Walt Whitman, (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892), an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humorist. Late in life, when in ill health, he moved to Camden to live with his brother George. He died there, and his funeral that took place in Camden was a big event.
- J. Fenimore Cooper Service Area (northbound, 39.4, in Mount Laurel Township), named for James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851), prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales. Among his most famous works is The Last of the Mohicans. Cooper was born in Burlington, New Jersey
- Richard Stockton Service Area, (southbound, 58.7, in Hamilton Township) named for either Richard Stockton, (October 1, 1730 - February 28, 1781), a lawyer, jurist, legislator, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, or Richard Stockton (1764 - 1828), a lawyer who represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate and later served in the U.S. House. He was the first U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, holding that office from 1789 to 1791, and ran unsuccessfully for vice-president in the 1820 election as a member of the Federalist Party, which did not nominate a candidate for President.
- Woodrow Wilson Service Area, (northbound, 58.7, in Hamilton), named for Thomas Woodrow Wilson, (December 28, 1856-February 3, 1924), 28th President of the United States. Prior to becoming President, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. To date, he is the only President to hold a PhD degree and the only President to serve in a political office in New Jersey before election to the Presidency.
- Molly Pitcher Service Area, (southbound, 71.7, in Cranbury Township) named for Molly Pitcher. "Molly Pitcher" is a name given to a woman (reportedly a water-bearer who helped cannoneers during a New Jersey battle during the Revolutionary War) who may or may not have existed. The most accepted narrative involves a Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley from Pennsylvania, who traveled to New Jersey to see her husband in battle against the British. There, at what turned out to be the Battle of Monmouth, she attended to the Revolutionary soldiers by giving them water. She got the name Molly Pitcher when the soldiers said, "Molly, Pitcher."
- Joyce Kilmer Service Area (northbound, 78.7, in East Brunswick Township), named for Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886-July 30, 1918), journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer and editor. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer (full name Alfred Joyce Kilmer) is remembered most for a short poem entitled Trees (1913), which was published in the collection Trees and Other Poems in 1914. He was born in New Brunswick, and attended what is now Rutgers Prep, as well as Rutgers College. He taught in Morristown and lived in Mahwah from about 1913 to the end of his life (killed in France during World War I where he is buried). It was also in Mahwah where he was living when he first wrote Trees ("I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree....")
- Thomas Edison Service Area (southbound, 92.9, in Woodbridge Township), named for Thomas Alva Edison, (February 11, 1847 - October 18, 1931), inventor, scientist and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, NJ), Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, before building a lab in Menlo Park and then later in West Orange. Of course, his impact was enormous everywhere. In New Jersey, it was felt right to the very end as in 1931, just months before his death, the Lackawanna Railroad implemented electric trains in suburban service from Hoboken to Gladstone, Montclair and Dover in New Jersey (Those very cars lasted into the NJ Transit era until 1984 when they were finally retired).
- Grover Cleveland Service Area, (northbound, 92.9, in Woodbridge), named for Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 - June 24, 1908) was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Full name Stephen Grover Cleveland, he was born in Caldwell, though soon thereafter he family moved out of the state.
- Alexander Hamilton Service Area (southbound, eastern spur, 111.6, in Secaucus) named for Alexander Hamilton, (January 11, 1755 or 1757 - July 12, 1804), the first U.S. Secretary of State, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. He led calls for the Philadelphia Convention, was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, , and co-wrote the Federalist Papers, a primary source for constitutional interpretation. Born in the West Indies, he came to Elizabethtown, NJ to be school. But his most famous connection to the state is that he died in Weehawken in a duel with Aaron Burr.
- Vince Lombardi Service Area, (northbound/southbound, 116.0 (eastern spur), 115.5 (western spur), in the Ridgefield), named for Vince Lombardi (June 11, 1913 - September 3, 1970), the legendary football coach. Before winning titles as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi lived in Englewood, while first an assistant coach at St. Cecilia, and then as an Assistant Coach to Jim Lee Howell (along with Tom Landry) with the New York Football Giants in the 1950's.
For those of you who are really into Turnpike trivia, there is still more.
Prior to Exit 13A opening in 1982, there used to be a service area on the northbound side where Exit 13A is located. The service area usage did overlap the existence of Exit 13-A (northbound drivers who took Exit 13-A missed the service area, and vice versa) but is no longer in existence. Today, one can notice it when exiting at 13A from the northbound car lanes since there's a 'temporary' concrete barrier that's blocking an open asphalt lot. The plaza was named for Admiral William Halsey (October 30, 1882-August 16, 1959). Called "Bill Halsey" and sometimes "Bull" Halsey, he was a U.S. Naval officer and the commander of the U.S. third Fleet during part of the Pacific War against Japan in World War II. He was portrayed by James Cagney in the 1960 bio-pic The Gallant Hours; by James Whitmore in the 1970 film, Tora! Tora! Tora!; and by Robert Mitchum in the 1976 film, Midway. He may also be the "Admiral Halsey" mentioned in the Paul and Linda McCartney song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". His connection to New Jersey? He was born in Elizabeth.
Also, two service plazas were located on the Newark Bay Extension (one eastbound and one westbound) located west of Exit 14B. These were closed in the early 1970s. The eastbound plaza was named for John Stevens (c.1715 - May 10, 1792), owner of mercantile vessels and a prominent politician who served New Jersey as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1783. The westbound plaza was named for Peter Stuyvesant, (c. 1612 - August 1672), best known as a major figure in the early history of New York, but who as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland (New York) from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, presided over New Jersey as well as New York .
Not too long ago, as part of the talk surrounding the possible privatization of the Turnpike, there was also some mention about jettisoning these service area names in favor of corporate names (as has been the trend at many sports venue and the PNC Arts Center, formerly the Garden State Arts Center).
Such a step (at present unlikely) would stop any discussion about refreshing those honored. For example, among the modern-era names bantered about have been the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Jack Nicholson, Joe Piscopo and the cast of "Jersey Boys." And how about a Turnpike remember for Frank Sinatra or Paterson's own Lou Costello?
It has been reported that some contemporary New Jersey writers such as Calvin Trillin and Phillip Roth and have ruefully commented that they hope they do not get a rest stop named after them once they die.
And even when one leaves the Turnpike, there's a naming story to be told on the parallel I-295. There was once a rest area (just bathroom facilities) named after Howard Stern in Springfield (the one in South Jersey). It was christened in 1995 by Governor Christie Todd Whitman. This gesture — a "thanks" for Stern's support in the November 1993 election — drew both criticism and thieves. A plaque featuring Stern in an outhouse was stolen. Former Governor Jim McGreevey closed the rest stop in a 2003 cost-cutting measure.
What does it all mean? We'll leave others to make sense of it. In the meantime, at least it might give you something to ponder as you sit in traffic between Exits 7 and 8 or perhaps as obscure talk for the in-laws at a future Thanksgiving table to redirect the conversation from some unwanted topic.
Either way, we wish you safe and happy motoring over the holiday weekend. By the way, watch out for filling up on too much leftovers.
Eric Model explores the "offbeat, off the beaten path overlooked and forgotten" on SIRIUS-XM Radio and at www.journeysinto.com.
ALSO BY ERIC MODEL
Giving thanks for the Garden State ... and how New Jersey got its nickname
The many ghost towns of New Jersey have something to tell us
Perfect Fall getaway: Uncovering N.J.'s covered bridges
Origin of Manhattan Transfer is part of N.J. history
Labor Day is special in Paterson — home to the American Labor Museum
