PRESS RELEASE: Photos and Info Provided by Whitesbog Preservation Trust
PICTURED ABOVE: Whitesbog Village archivist Elizabeth Flanagan displays some of the new pieces added to the trust’s blueberry history collection.
As blueberries ripen on the bushes all around Whitesbog Historic Farm & Village and volunteers help at the annual Blueberry Summer Festivals, staff are delighted to explore a new collection on New Jersey blueberry history.
“We were blown away when we saw the volume of blueberry photographs from the very earliest beginnings of blueberry cultivation here at Whitesbog,” said
Allison Pierson, executive director of Whitesbog Preservation Trust, the nonprofit that cares forthe Village.
Pierson was referring to a new collection of historic blueberry photographs,
advertisements, articles, letters and records from the cultivation of the first blueberry commercial crops in the early 1900’s.
Whitesbog received an email from Vinton Thompson in early April about this collection his mother had saved and his family wanted to have preserved in the Whitesbog Archives. The collection had been handed down and added to by their family, generation after generation, starting with Dr. Frederick Coville, the man who collaborated with Elizabeth White to develop blueberries at Whitesbog.
Dr. Coville passed it to his son, Stanley Coville, founder of the Tru-Blu Cooperative for blueberry growers. Stanley passed more blueberry items from the Co-op
down to his daughter Iris Marie Coville Thompson Ortner, who the collection is now named after. Marie added newspaper articles, newsletters and advertisements from past Whitesbog Blueberry Festivals, making for a huge collection of the incredible history of blueberry development and marketing.
“You can actually see how the very first wild blueberries were found by locals in the woods and bogs, cut and propagated for planting, and the massive undertaking of crossing and selecting blueberries to get the best taste and biggest
berries,” Pierson said.
“This was followed by berry marketing, sales, nursery propagation of plants to add a new crop for local farmers, and the spreading popularity of blueberries across the country and eventually the world.”
Visitors to Whitesbog will be able to see some of the new collection this summer, which includes more than 450 photographs of blueberry cultivation, in exhibits at Whitesbog’s Cranberry & Blueberry Museum, and during house tours of Suningive, Elizabeth Colemen White’s home.
The village’s Blueberry Summer Festivals kicked off on Friday June 13 and will continue through the summer blueberry harvest season.
“This year we are trying out Friday night fests, when temps are a bit cooler and we set up lights around the Village and at all the vendors’ tents,” Pierson said. “We’ll have flashlight blueberry picking in the Triangle Blueberry Field, one of the first fields of cultivated blueberries ever.”
Visitors can explore the General Store, the 100 year old Village shop, pick up pies,
muffins, donuts, fresh blueberries, blueberry plants, festival tees, stickers and plenty of blueberry merch.
Saturdays will be lower-key days to walk around the Village, check out the
historic buildings and exhibits and learn all about how Blueberries got their start right here in New Jersey.
Saturday, July 5 will be the only Saturday festival, because 4th of July falls on Friday.
“As a small nonprofit, we rely on volunteers, members, donors, our small staff and
friends to help us highlight the importance of blueberries in New Jersey and support local growers, makers, farmers, bakers and our history,” Pierson said.
Whitesbog Preservation Trust started more than 40 years ago when students and educators working in the Village, part of the state forest, were concerned the buildings would fall down and the history would be lost. They’ve been working since the early 1980s to piece together the history of this place and share it with the public.
Whitesbog became the friends group of the Village and started fundraising and applying for grants to repair the buildings and preserve the historic documents and farm equipment. Whitesbog farm started with cranberries in 1857 and
developed the first commercial blueberries between 1911 and 1916 when Dr. Coville and Elizabeth White collaborated on blueberry propagation. Until then, farmers had been unsuccessful in figuring out the best way to grow blueberries.
Their tests showed blueberries prefer an acidic soil, a winter chill period and good drainage. Whitesbog’s archive includes thousands of blueberry and cranberry artifacts, photographs, maps, letters and more, documenting the growth and development of both crops and Elizabeth White’s photography and work with native plants of the NJ Pinelands.
Elizabeth was really a groundbreaking leader in the industry. She combined science, art, marketing, business savvy and lots of hard work to kick-start this delicious part of our history.
You can help support Whitesbog Preservation Trust with a donation, membership or by shopping online or in person and attending events. Find out more at whitesbog.org and Blueberry Summer Fest 2025.
Whitesbog Preservation Trust pre-sales, donations and membership info can be found here: Whitesbog Preservation Trust.
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