From the Courier-Post

Published Sept. 2, 2007

Magazine sees Chatsworth as a lovely place
By RICHARD PEARSALL
Courier-Post Staff

WOODLAND - In his 1967 work on the Pine Barrens, author John McPhee called Chatsworth the Capital of the Pines and described it as "somehow . . . a half-tone more attractive than any other town" there.

Now Adventure magazine, a publication of the National Geographic Society, has gone at least a full step farther, naming the village in the middle of the Pinelands one of the "best small towns" in America in which to "live and play" in its September issue.

The magazine, with its orientation toward the outdoors, was particularly impressed with the natural beauty of the place and the opportunities it provides for hiking, fishing, canoeing and other outdoor activities.

". . . Swamp-edged streams, stands of pine and cedar . . . tracts of cranberries," the magazine enthused, and "all that, just 37 commutable miles east of Philly."
Residents do not seem surprised by the designation, although, surrounded by woods and streams as they are, they tend to take its natural beauty as a given, and move on to other aspects they treasure.

"Most people in town know each other," said Stan Fayer, a longtime resident. "Up until just recently you had to go to the post office to get your mail, so you saw people there and saw all the notices so you knew what was going on."

"If you want to get involved, you can, but if not, that's OK, too," added Lynn Giamalis, who has headed up the restoration of the old White Horse Inn in the center of the village.

It's been a long haul, with more than a few bumps in the road, but the restoration is nearly complete and the historic inn, which dates to the 19th century, will open in October -- in time for the town's annual cranberry festival.

Together with Buzby's General Store (now a gift shop) and the fire station, the Inn anchors the center of town, a crossroads of two county routes.

Tiny in population, Woodland Township (the official, though seldom-used, name of the municipality) is vast in area.

"It's about 95 square miles," notes Woodland Mayor Bob DePetris. "And probably over 80 percent is either in a Pinelands Preservation area or is deed restricted so there will be no development in perpetuity.

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About 300 people strong when McPhee visited in the 1960s, Chatsworth is now home to about 1,300 people.

Blueberries and cranberries, both native species, are the two crops cultivated in the sandy fields and bogs of the township.

A huge tract of land once used for both crops went out of production and was sold seven years ago to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation by J. Garfield DeMarco, the former chairman of the Burlington County Republican Party.
Known now as the Franklin Parker Preserve, in honor of a former Pinelands Commission chairman, the tract covers 14 square miles.

"It's an incredible encapsulation of all the different, unique and beautiful habitats of the Pinelands," preserve director Chris Jage said.

The area is rich in history as well as geography. The name of the village was bestowed on it by an Italian prince who built a resort called the Chatsworth Country Club on a lake here. The massive, Tudor-style resort, like the railroad that once ran through town, is long gone.

Unlike most parts of New Jersey, where development seems to roll over nature, it seems to work the other way out in the Pinelands, Jage said. "Nature just seems to take things back," he said.

Reach Richard Pearsall at (856) 486-2465 or rpearsall@courierpostonline.com
Published: September 02. 2007 3:10AM

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