History of the Jersey log life

Some of the history of Rancocas Woods is lost. But according to Burlington County historian Joseph Laufer, this much is known:

The colony of about 35 homes was built between 1938 and the early 1940s, with some additions made through the 1960s, along a tract on the eastern edge of Mount Laurel. The site had once been home to an amusement park that was abandoned in 1918.

In 1938, Laufer says, an advertisement in local newspapers announced, "Rancocas Woods - Prices start at $1,500 . . . Only $300 cash and $18.42 a month . . . Log cabins in N.J. Pines."

In 1948, Philadelphia entrepreneur William Spencer, who had moved into one of the early cabins, bought 25 acres and began to develop a rustic shopping center of log-cabin stores anchored, by 1955, with his own large furniture and gift shop.

"My late father wanted me to grow up in the woods, and it was just a wonderful life," said Spencer's daughter, Valerie Houser, who now lives nearby in the Village of Rancocas and continues to run the store.

Houser remembers reaching her loft bedroom by ladder and kayaking on the creek behind her home for hours without seeing a soul.

Today, the shopping area still exists, with a restaurant and 20 shops that sell clothing, gifts, model trains and crafts.

- Sally Friedman