Historic Batsto Village is a treasured regional tourist draw
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
TOURISM, from Page 1
Historic Places.
Hammonton Historical Society
and Batsto Citizens Committee
member Janet Worrell said several
residents of Hammonton, who
have since passed away, were involved in the restoration of Historic Batsto Village, becoming a
part of New Jersey Parks.
One of the key Hammonton
contributors of the Batsto Village
restoration efforts was Charles
Kier. Kier was a photographer,
among other trades, and worked
full-time at Historic Batsto Village
after he retired. Other local contributors were Mrs. George Eckhardt and writer Joe Wilson.
Worrell said there was a lot of
local involvement during that
time.
When the state bought the property, they didn’t know what to do
with it at the time, according to
Worrell. That is when a local resident joined a committee to help
with financing.
“They established a committee
and the committee consisted of 36
people from these eight lower
counties of New Jersey. For
money making they established an
organization of The Friends of
Batsto, and the number-one person that joined that was Jack
Olivo. He was also from Hammonton and he owned Olivo’s
grocery store,” Worrell said.
From a tourism relationship
standpoint, Worrell stated Batsto
is remote from Hammonton, even
though the two towns are only
eight or nine miles apart from one
another.
“Batsto is remote. It remains remote. I imagine it is because of
the Pinelands Commission keeping the growth out. An organization, a community, a town or a
city can go and get a lot of support
and money and fundraising. With
the events at Batsto, it is more difficult because there are no local
businesses,” Worrell said.
Lawrence Hajna, New Jersey
Department of Environmental
Protection Press Officer, said
Hammonton has always been a
great neighbor to Batsto.
“The town is like a gateway to
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Wharton and Batsto, providing a
place for people to dine, shop or
just walk around after a day of
soaking up nature and history,”
Hajna said.
According to Mayor Stephen
DiDonato, Batsto is another asset
to th