James Garfield Alloway Monument
Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey
Marker Inscription
The cultivated blueberry industry started in the New Jersey Pinelands. On this site, James Garfield Alloway established one of the world's first blueberry farms.
The Story
The sandy, acidic soil of New Jersey's Pinelands was long considered too poor for conventional farming, yet it proved perfect for a fruit that had only ever grown wild: the blueberry. In the early twentieth century, growers in this corner of Burlington County helped turn the untamed native berry into a dependable cultivated crop, launching an industry that would spread across the country. This monument marks a site where that pioneering work took root, honoring James Garfield Alloway's part in establishing one of the world's first blueberry farms.
Why it matters
The taming of the wild blueberry was a landmark of American agricultural innovation, transforming a scrubby Pinelands plant into a national crop and giving one of the country's most distinctive fruit industries its birthplace.
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Related people
- · James Garfield Alloway
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