Martha was another ironmaking town of the New Jersey Pine Barrens.When they discovered high grades of iron ore in North Jersey and PA, the making of Bog Iron is South Jersey went on a fast decline. Submitted by: Barry Caselli

A few miles north of Harrisville is Martha where is located the Martha Furnace. Isaac Potts who named it after his wife built the furnace in 1793. That was the custom in those days. Isaac Potts & Co. was an iron merchant in Philadelphia. Perhaps Potts noticed the success of New Jersey bog-iron furnaces during the struggle for independence. In any event, he began acquiring land in the Martha area until his holdings reached a peak of nearly 60,000acres. In less than three years, a sizeable town had sprung up around the furnace. In its heyday, the village had a population of four hundred people. There were forty to fifty houses, a store, a school, a sawmill, a gristmill and numerous other buildings. Potts sold the furnace in 1800 to a group of four men. The products of the furnace included the usual stoves and firebacks, sash weights, sugar kettles, shot, cannon wheels, and various utensils. Today there is little left to suggest the village and its furnace ever existed. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.