When I was a kid in the early 70’s many of the fields and sand lots I played on were just starting to be developed.
The woods and thick brush my friends and I built our forts in slowly started to disappear as new single family homes were constructed.
In the late 1960’s the southern end of Wildwood Crest still remained largely undeveloped. In fact we were one of only a few houses on our block back then…
we didn’t even have sidewalks other than what was directly in front of our home.

 

The woods I played in ran a block deep reaching into the meadows on the west side of New Jersey Avenue where wooden ties and railway ballast were all that
remained of the train tracks that ran to the southern loop located right around the area of Two Mile Landing, an area we used to call “Devil’s Ditch”.
In the early days of my childhood New Jersey Avenue ended at St. Louis Avenue, forcing traffic east onto my street and taking you past Crest Memorial School.
New streets were soon cut in as well as upgrades to existing streets.

Read More about this story at Ralph’s we site at: http://www.funchase.com/Images/BitsAndPieces/SandLotsAndSmudgePots.htm