THE CITY OF PORT REPUBLIC

BY ERIN McFEETERS

Travel over the Mullica River Bridge and escape to the secluded Atlantic County town of Port Republic. First settled in 1637, Port Republic is a small residential town filled with the natural beauty of Nacote Creek and preserved wildlife areas.

“Port Republic is a laid back quiet country community, nestled between the Mullica

River and Nacote Creek, where there is a beach that families can enjoy,” said coowner of Honey & Sweets Farm Stand Heather Miller. “It is a good safe place to raise a family, outside the hustle and bustle of city life.”

Miller’s business, Honey & Sweets, started as a retirement hobby 20 years ago, selling pumpkins on the side of the road. “From there it just grew and got out of control, so we had to commit to it and learn how to grow plants and vegetables as we went along,” said Miller. “We could not have done it without the continued support of the community and be where we are today.”

Without a single traffic light in town, you won’t hit traffic driving through, but you will see residents out and about catching up with one another or going on a morning walk.

“Once you go over the bridge, you’re home, and you feel like this is just a beautiful place,” said City of Port Republic Mayor Monica “Niki” Giberson. “It’s a community that a lot of people walk. They spend time walking through town because it’s so beautiful, so they get their exercise that way,” said Giberson.

The town is just eight square miles and filled with 450 homes and 1,100 residents, according to Giberson, with many families passing down properties for generations. “I got married in 1978, and I’m living on a property that has been in my husband’s family since 1637,” said Giberson. “His parents actually built this house, but the property was in the family for that long, so the house was built around 1932.”

Giberson’s husband was mayor for 35 years before he retired. When originally asked to run, Giberson explained she “sort of laughed,” but added, “the more I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine that anyone else could love this town as much as I do, so I did run, and I ran unopposed and so of course I won, and I’ve been mayor now for a year and a half.”

Port Republic’s history goes more than 100 years beyond that of the U.S. According to the National Register of Historic Places, John Mullica, who named Mullica River, explored Port Republic in the 1630s, and then in the 1770s Chestnut Neck, which is now part of Port Republic, was a trading port during the Revolutionary War. According to revolutionarynj.org, in 1778, the British attacked and torched the village, but much of the town retreated before their arrival. A monument was erected in the early 1900s and still stands overlooking the water in honor of the Battle of Chestnut Neck. The town evolved over the years, and became known for fishing and oyster harvesting, milling, shipbuilding, and farming. Today, those industries continue to play a role in Port. The Chestnut Neck Boat Yard has a selection of boats at motor supplies, a service center, used boats for sale, and a boat launching ramp; Maxwell Shellfish, a family-operated seafood company, has been harvesting clams and growing oysters since the 1830s; and Honey & Sweets Farm Stand is best known for its produce and hanging baskets.

Stockton University also continues Port’s maritime connections with its Coastal Research Center out of Nacote Creek in Port Republic. The location provides easy access to surrounding waterways such as Bass River, Wading River, Absecon Bay, and the southern Barnegat Bay waterways for their research boats.

Main Street in town is where you can find many homes of yesteryear, city hall, the ball field, the Port Community Church, and Smith’s Meeting House Cemetery, where Revolutionary War Privateer Captains and soldiers are buried.

Many homes in the surrounding neighborhood retain their 19th century character with Victorian home elements such as decorative trim and vibrant colors, while others date back to the late 1700s.

Houses don’t hit the market often, with seven single family closed sales in 2023 and just four in 2022, according to New Jersey Realtors® June 2023 housing market data reports. The median sale price year-todate is $426,388.

Community and supporting one another are at the forefront of the town’s ideals. “I am very much into building community, so we’ve added a few activities in Port Republic like we have Port Day every year where we have food trucks and a parade, and we have fireworks,” said Giberson. They’ve also recently added an Earth

Day celebration and a fall festival with an outdoor movie showing. Everyone gets involved in one small way or another, whether it’s selling popcorn or selling t-shirts. “Everybody’s goal is to just have everyone work together anytime we have an event,” said Giberson.

The town even gives a warm welcome to brandnew residents, “celebrating what we have like every time a baby is born in town, I give them a handmade quilt because I want them to feel that they’re as much of an important member of our Port Republic family,” said Giberson.

While there’s limited shopping, dining, and entertainment in Port, there are plenty of protected open spaces, hiking trails, mountain biking trails, wildlife, views of the surrounding river, and an unmatched sense of community and history.

“It’s a really sweet place to be, it really is,” said Giberson.

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