"Country" Jersey? (Toms River, Trenton: transplants, new home, construction)

[RUBIES77]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

I've been to that part of New Jersey and further south before. As I said, I've been to Cowtown Rodeo in Woodstown many times, and I get why the cowboys dress like cowboys-because they are cowboys. Cowtown is a real live rodeo. I guess I was just trying to get at this association between "rural" and "the South." Why do the rural areas of New Jersey have to be associated with the South? There are scores of rural areas from wilderness to farm country quite a ways north of the Mason-Dixon line in the country-heck, just look at some of the places north of the Canadian border!

Maybe a better question would be "Does rural Jersey or country Jersey have its own identity, or is it stuck associating itself with the South?" It also makes me wonder, do you see Confederate flags deep in the woods of Maine or in the hills of Vermont? Why is it that we rural New Jersey Yankees seem to cling to the culture of the South for our identity? Why don't we consider ourselves "Swamp Yankees?"

Swamp Yankee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term "Swamp Yankee," describes certain parts of Southern Nj, including the town of Sayreville, very well. It may have to do with having certain people living there, who are not considered forward-thinking, or have a thinking process/mind set of being from another planet?

[Busch Boy]

When I first went to South Jersey (the Vineland area), I remember noticing how flat everything was! Not a hill or mountain in sight. Vineland is an interesting town. It has a rural-ghetto feel with a suburban-style downtown. The area outside of Vineland, however, is very rural. I also remember going to Hunterdon County one time (an area called Jutland) and it was also very rural. I like rural areas, but I would like to have neighbors close by. The thought of living two or three miles from the nearest neighbor scares the crap out of me.

[Diane Giam]

Originally Posted by Badfish740

Ok, a mixture of things have gotten me thinking about this topic today. Obviously one of the contrasts we have in New Jersey is the rural vs. the urban vs. the suburban. We have it all and for the most part we seem to like it. We may not have isolated rural areas on the order of Appalachia or the West, but there's no question that life in places like Wantage and Hoboken (55 miles apart) is very different for a variety of reasons. We also have quite a bit of variety in our rural towns. Though Stillwater (Sussex), Chatsworth, (Burlington), and Alloway (Salem) could all be considered "the boonies" for different reasons, they're very different places in very different parts of the state. So how about the people? One common thread of all of these places is that they are all Republican strongholds, which of course is common of rural areas.

So basically, what does it mean to be "Country" Jersey? One of the reasons I've been mulling this over is because last weekend my fiancee, myself, and some friends drove down to Sewell over the weekend for a Chili cookoff and Country music concert. To be honest it was a little bizarre. We had an ok time (the weather wasn't great and it was way too crowded), but we were a little shocked at some of the people we saw. For example, I saw more Confederate flags emblazoned on shirts, hats, trucks, etc...than on a Civil War battlefield! I don't get it. New Jersey is not the South, New Jersey did not side with the South, and to top it off, the South lost!

The other thing I don't really get is cowboy hats (and boots) themselves. I love country music, I drive a truck, I hunt, I fish, but I'm a Yankee Northerner and personally would feel silly wearing a cowboy hat if I wasn't trying to stay on a bull or roping a calf at the time. The folks at Cowtown Rodeo get special dispensation because they are actual rodeo riders. Anyway I don't understand why people from the South wear cowboy hats either. I don't think Cowboys ever made it east of the Mississippi

So anyway, what is "Country" Jersey to you? To me its some of the more unique aspects of our state, such as the Pinelands. Though it's rapidly disappearing, the Pinelands has a culture that's evolved around the landscape (bog iron-making, cedar pole cutting, cranberry/blueberry growing, roots music, etc...), including the "Pineys," people who made their living off the barren sandy soil and scrubby vegetation. It's also the bay areas where the Barnegat Bay sneakbox was invented (a small, coffin-like boat built for waterfowl hunting) and baymen dug clams, trapped crabs, etc... Last but not least, I think that many of us forget our rich farming legacy that continues to this day.

I guess for me it was all a component of my childhood. I grew up in the woods behind my house and my friends' houses. We hiked, hunted, fished, and did just about everything there was to do in the woods. I learned to shoot in the Pine Barrens at the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area and got my first pheasant there. In the summer we always spent more time surf fishing at Island Beach than at Point Pleasant or Long Beach Island. We also spent a lot of time on the Delaware between Bordentown and Lambertville (at least when the water was high enough), and I went on my first camping trip in Stokes State Forest.

So what is "Country" Jersey to you?

Cowboy Hats? The only people that wear those in Nashville are Tourists and Country Singers.
I have noticed that in some parts of South Jersey they have a kind of Southern Acent, but Hillbilly Sounding. I think country Jersey starts south of 195.
Diane G

[ottomobeale]

There is one house in Ogdensburg where they hang a Confederate flag. Right on 517. East side of road south of "town".

watch out for the bears.

[CURT]

Originally Posted by Diane Giam

Cowboy Hats? The only people that wear those in Nashville are Tourists and Country Singers.
I have noticed that in some parts of South Jersey they have a kind of Southern Acent, but Hillbilly Sounding. I think country Jersey starts south of 195.
Diane G

I think alot farther south than that. I was living in Howell from 86 to 91 when they were undergoing a major resident transformation. it was pretty suburban by the time I left. I think Toms River is even pretty suburban. I grew up in Monmouth County towns so I can only compare by that.

[Alex07860]

I don't know much about south jersey's rural atmosphere, but up here in sussex county and north warren county all I see is just more like blue collar working class families and farm people. Sure we have our occasional Charlie Daniel lovers and the likes with their pick up trucks and hunting/fishing gear but there's no cowboy hats or confederate flags. But I tell you one thing that I have noticed though, a lot of pedophiles from the south moving up to jersey.

[Calico696]

Originally Posted by Alex07860

I don't know much about south jersey's rural atmosphere, but up here in sussex county and north warren county all I see is just more like blue collar working class families and farm people. Sure we have our occasional Charlie Daniel lovers and the likes with their pick up trucks and hunting/fishing gear but there's no cowboy hats or confederate flags. But I tell you one thing that I have noticed though, a lot of pedophiles from the south moving up to jersey.

Ah, so you have seen my other half

[marye711]

Originally Posted by Alex07860

I don't know much about south jersey's rural atmosphere, but up here in sussex county and north warren county all I see is just more like blue collar working class families and farm people. Sure we have our occasional Charlie Daniel lovers and the likes with their pick up trucks and hunting/fishing gear but there's no cowboy hats or confederate flags. But I tell you one thing that I have noticed though, a lot of pedophiles from the south moving up to jersey.

What makes you say that about the pedophiles? Yikes!!

[Alex07860]

Originally Posted by Calico696

Ah, so you have seen my other half

Is he always wearing a red hat?

[Alex07860]

Originally Posted by marye711

What makes you say that about the pedophiles? Yikes!!

Was checking the sex offender registry site one day, and noticed that a lot of the offenses were commited like in Georgia and alabama.