Head of the River Cemetery
N 39° 18.685 W 074° 49.273
18S E 515413 N 4351351
Head of the River Methodist Episcopal Church/Cemetery is located near Tuckahoe, Atlantic County NJ, Route 49 at Aetna Drive at the junction of County Roads 66 and 49; about 4 miles from Tuckahoe.
Waymark Code: WM2M3A
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2007
Views: 50
About the Area:
This church (see pictures) located in the graveyard is a plain meetinghouse, erected in 1792. It resembles several you might seen in Rhode Island and Massachusetts—a simple farmhouse with no decorative details. The shutters are simple and there is a plain lintel over the double doors. It appears to have been little altered, but superbly maintained, since then.
According to old accounts (and an internet literature review), there was a small village here named Head of the River, about four miles from Tuckahoe, and the small Methodist mission was started here about 1780. When the bog iron industry declined, the population dropped. Regular services were last held in 1916.
Update: 02-18-08
I finally had an opportunity to return to this location and my friend (melcrim) and I counted graves. We counted headstones and figured there to be approximately 1246 graves. I have tried many times to find a number to call or a website to e-mail someone for this elusive number, but was utterly unsuccessful. A field count was the only possible way to get this information.