Burlington Island is a
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
located in the
Delaware RiverThe Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony....
between
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
and
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Burlington Island is officially part of the City of
Burlington, New JerseyBurlington is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. As of 2007, the city population was 9,485.Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was reincorporated by Royal Charter on May 7, 1733. After American independence, the city was...
. It is uninhabited scenic landmark in the Delaware River. Burlington Island Lake, which is one of the largest lakes-within-an-island-within-a-river.
The island is the site of the first European settlement in what would become New Jersey.
The indigenous population had known this island as Matennecunk.
Burlington Island is a
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
located in the
Delaware RiverThe Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony....
between
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
and
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Burlington Island is officially part of the City of
Burlington, New JerseyBurlington is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. As of 2007, the city population was 9,485.Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was reincorporated by Royal Charter on May 7, 1733. After American independence, the city was...
. It is uninhabited scenic landmark in the Delaware River. Burlington Island Lake, which is one of the largest lakes-within-an-island-within-a-river.
Colonial era
The island is the site of the first European settlement in what would become New Jersey.
The indigenous population had known this island as Matennecunk. In 1624, the Dutch established a settlement on the island, which they had named Verhulsten, in honor of the first
Director of New NetherlandThis is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland in North America...
. The
factorijFactory was the English term for the trading posts system originally established by Europeans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial possessions...
, or trading post, was known as
Fort WilhelmusFort Wilhelmus was a settlement in the 17th century colonial province of New Netherland, located on what had been named Verhulsten Island on the Zuyd Rivier, today's Delaware River...
, and one of many to be built along the river which comprised the European colonies of
New NetherlandNew Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
and
New SwedenNew Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. It was centered at Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, and included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Along with Swedes...
.
Though relations between the Lenni Lenape and the colonists were generally peaceful, Burlington Island witnessed one of the few murders of that era. Two Dutchmen were slaughtered by Tashiowycan and Wyannattamo. The Lenape then promised to kill the braves responsible; the murder is the first recorded in New Jersey's history.
Burlington Island came under the jurisdiction of Burlington in 1682.
Burlington Island Park
Burlington Island Park was an amusement park on the island between 1900-1934. in the Delaware River between Burlington, NJ., and Bristol, Pa. This is just northeast of Philadelphia, Pa. It was also known as Island Beach Park.
Never having any automobile access, the park has always been accessible by footbridge or ferry only.
Around 1900, the island was used as a family picnic "resort". People would arrive on the island by boat and picnic among the trees on tables and in a large pavilion.
In the early 1900's, Burlington Park had a midway, circle swing, and sandy beaches for swimming. There was a bath house for the swimmers and an ice cream stand.
In 1910, they added a carousel. It was a beautiful mixed Dentzel machine. It spun under a large canopy.
In 1917, George Bassler and Robert Merkel purchased the park. They added a giant roller coaster called "The Greyhound" and built an elaborate amusement park. They introduced a ferris wheel, along with an "ocean wave" and boat swings. People came by the thousands, by steamboat or train, then ferried to the island.
The rides and attractions were numerous. There were the Steeplechase, Tunnel of Love, Tumblebug, Aeroplanes, Dodge-em, bumper scooters, caterpillar, a fun house, a merry-go-round, and a miniature railroad. There were a fish pond, a rifle range, air guns, a pony ride, and a ring-a-cane. For other entertainment, there was baseball, a dance hall, and bingo.
At this time, the park covered almost 100 acres of the 400 acre island. But it was to last only 11 years.
In 1928, a fire broke out at the park. It started one morning at 2am. Since all the fire-fighting equipment had to be ferried across the river from Bristol, Pa., most of the amusements burned to the ground by the time the equipment arrived.
After the fire, Robert Merkel sold the property to the VanSciver Sand and Gravel Co. (later to become the Penn-Warner Cement Co.)
The ruins of the park stood on the island until 1934 when a second fire destroyed what was left.
In 1955, the Warner Co. started to dredge the sand and gravel from the park area of the island. By 1969, there was nothing left of the former amusement park site but a 100-acre lagoon.
The carousel still exists today. It is owned by Dr. Floyd L. Moreland of Seaside Heights, NJ. And it still spins, under the same canopy, on Casino Pier in Seaside Heights.
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