Did You Know? A Look at Lacey's History

This feature looks at five facts of Lacey’s history provided by “Forging Ahead: The 125th Anniversary of Lacey Township,” a book developed by the local historical society and stored at the library.

1. Colonial sailors became the area’s navy during the Revolutionary War. Between their knowledge of the bay and the hit-and-run tactics that they developed, the sailors had an advantage over the larger and better-equipped British ships. The sailors would lure British ships through narrow channels where they would ground on a bar. They then would board a small boat and take the British by surprise.

2. Also during the war years, bands of outlaws known as the pine robbers and refugees terrorized the local community. The robbers were believed to live in caves, one—Dick Bird—which was supposedly located near the headwaters of Cedar Creek. 

3. A section of bayshore near Island View Drive in Forked River Beach was formerly known as Shipyard Cove. Sawmill Owners used the area to carry goods to foreign and American ports. Wood, lumber, charcoal, ice, iron ore, fish, shellfish and produce were commodities that left on vessels from Lacey. Returning ships brought sugar, rum, spices, molasses, cotton goods and other items.

4. A third mill—combination saw and grist—was operated on the northeast corner of the Mill Pond during the early decades of the last century. Formerly a cedar swamp, a long dam, which is now Parker Avenue Extension, converted the waterway into the Mill Pond. Beneath the roadway, where it crosses with Mill Street, lies one of the old millstones. The stone was too heavy to move when the mill was demolished in the late 1930s.

5. An archaeological survey of the Mill property was conducted in 1978, before the township built a Mill Street pumping station. The site is the only property in Lacey listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.