Baileytown
A Lost Town of Southern New Jersey

Located in Cumberland County about a mile southwest of Laurel Lake, Baileytown was a rural farming community that dated back to 1799 when Bagwell Bailey built a log cabin along Ackley Road.  For the next 143 years, its residents enjoyed life in this pleasant little settlement, raising their families and farming their fields. 

But all that changed in late 1942 when Baileytown fundamentally ceased to exist, its streets and family farms soon to become part of an aerial target range for the Millville Army Air Field.  Forced out by the War Department, its residents' lives were changed forever. 

For many, this small farming community was the only home they’d ever known, and a few could trace their roots back to the earliest settlers.  There was bitterness and sorrow and the undeniable truth -- they could never go home again. 

As a child growing up in the 1950’s I often heard stories about Baileytown and was aware of a certain amount of resentment and a sense of nostalgia for this place.  "They bombed the hell out of it" was a common remark, and indeed during our Sunday drives through what was once Baileytown we saw no homes, no farms, no schoolhouse -- only miles of dirt roads, open fields, and dense forest. 

Had Baileytown survived, today it would most likely look like the surrounding area, subdivided into small lots.  But instead its remains have been preserved.  Located in a section of the Bevan Wildlife Management Area, cellar holes and foundations sleep silently among acres of protected woodland.   

Through this website, I hope to keep some of its history alive and pay tribute to the community and families who paid such a high price for the war effort almost seventy years ago.  I am looking for any stories, information, or photos of Baileytown or its residents to post here.  Please e-mail me if you have information or know where it can be obtained.