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Pinelands Visitors Center

Pinelands Visitors Center is a great starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

The Pinelands Visitor Center is located at PPA's Headquarters at Bishop Farmstead in Southampton.

It offers visitors a information about the recreational opportunities, historic and cultural attractions, and the conservation efforts and issues associated with the New Jersey Pinelands. Visitors will find a variety of maps, brochures and interpretive displays focusing on the Pinelands, and a bookstore with more than 100 titles about the Pinelands and South Jersey in stock.

[+ ZOOM] The hayloft of the Louden Barn overlooking PPA's property at Bishop Farmstead. © Bob Birdsall

• Historic farmhouse built in 1753
• Historic Louden barn built in 1932
• The carriage house, for meetings & presentations
• Native plant gardens
• Walking trail through grassland habitat for wildflowers, birds, and butterflies
• Bookstore with over 100 titles about the Pinelands and South Jersey

The Pinelands Visitor Center is open Monday - Friday, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Call ahead for seasonal weekend hours

[+ ZOOM] Native grassland habitat at the Pinelands Visitor Center © Bob Birdsall

Directions to the Pinelands Visitors Center at PPA's headquarters, located at 17 Pemberton Road, Southampton Township, New Jersey.

[+ ZOOM] Learning about the Pine Barrens at PPA's Pinelands Visitor Center ©Bob Birdsall

Downloads

Bishop Farmstead Brochure - 1.1MB Learn more about PPA's headquarters at the Bishop Farmstead, including the Pinelands Visitor Center

PPA Presentations Overview - 101.4KB A menu of presentations available to your group or organization.

The Bishop Farmstead

When the Pinelands Preservation Alliance purchased the Bishop-Irick House and its 12.2 acre farmstead in 2002, the organization became the 12th owners of a 250+ year old brick house with a heritage as rich and compelling as that of the New Jersey county in which it was built.

[+ ZOOM] Award for historic preservation from the Southampton Historic Preservation Commission. ©PPA

In many ways, the history of the Bishop-Irick House reflects the broader history of Burlington County: built in 1753 by a second-generation Quaker farmer, the house was one of at least 50 patterned brick houses erected in the 18th century in the county and it remained in the same family for most of its first 179 years until the Great Depression. Previous to its sale out of the family in 1932, its farmland had supported seven generations of Bishops and their descendants who raised a variety of livestock and crops on its fertile fields. After 1932, however, it became a specialized, but comparatively small, dairy farm in response to changing markets and remained in that use until the 1960s when milk production was no longer profitable on a small scale. After that, the farm was used to raise Morgan horses (in the 1960s and 1970s), then sheep, produce, and flowers (in the 1980s and 1990s). Today, the house is used for offices and the farm's twelve plus acres are preserved as open space in perpetuity under a Green Acres grant.

Bishop Farmstead Historical Slide Show