New Gretna, NJ

New Gretna is a Burlington County census-designated place within Bass River Township, with 390 residents in the 2020 census. The village lies along Bass River, where U.S. 9 runs between older buildings, newer homes, and the surrounding Pinelands. It is served by New Jersey Transit's 559 bus to Atlantic City and by Garden State Parkway exits 50 and 52. The Bead Wreck Site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, adds a maritime marker to a place better known for its river, roads, and scattered village shape.

The area was settled as farmland in the early 1700s, then grew through Bass River mills and lumber shipped toward New York. The name New Gretna took hold in the mid-19th century after earlier names including Harmony and Bass River Lower Bridge. A hotel, post office, blacksmith shop, Methodist church, and Presbyterian church formed the village's small commercial district; the two churches still stand. Bass River State Forest, New Jersey's first state forest, was established nearby in 1905. New Gretna remains a South Jersey village where Route 9, river history, and the Pinelands meet.