Harrisville, New Jersey
Harrisville (also called Harrisia or McCartyville) is an unincorporated community and ghost town located about 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of New Gretna within Bass River Township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Harrisville, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Harrisville Location in Burlington County (Inset: Burlington County in New Jersey) Harrisville Harrisville (New Jersey) Harrisville Harrisville (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 39°39′41″N 74°31′19″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Burlington |
| Township | Bass River |
| Established | 1795 |
| Destroyed | 1914 |
| Named for | John and Richard Harris |
| Elevation | 16 ft (5 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 876972 |
The first industry in the area of Harrisville comprised two sawmills on the Oswego River (New Jersey), built in about 1750 and 1760 respectively.: 70–71 In 1795, a slitting mill, for cutting iron sheet into strips for nailmaking, was built at the present site of Harrisville by Isaac Potts.: 71 This business was not very successful, and about 1815 it was converted to a paper plant, powered by water brought by a canal from a dam on the Oswego River, a tributary of the Wading River. The town which was built around the factory was originally called McCartyville after the factory owner; when the Harris family bought the factory in 1855, the name was changed to Harrisville. Under the Harris family, Harrisville was a company town, with a grist mill, post office, company store, and free tenant homes for the workers of the paper mill. In 1914, a fire started in Harrisville and destroyed the entire town, leaving only ruins. Only the decayed ruins of this town exist today.
- Remains of Harrisville, early 1970s
- June 1939 WPA construction project on the Oswego River at the CR 679 overpass near Harrisville, just southwest of Harrisville Lake and Harrisville Dam
- View of the August 20, 1939, Oswego River flood at Harrisville, as seen from where Chatsworth Road/County Route 679 crosses the river. The 1939 flood occurred despite the Harrisville Dam being in place since 1932.