Originally the Stage Road was nothing more than an Indian path used in their annual summer migrations from the Camden area through Burlington County to the Tuckerton area on the coast, particularly today’s Osbourne Island As more and more white settlers began moving into the Little Egg Harbor area, the need for better roads became necessary as plantations and small hamlets emerged throughout the area. The Indian trail was gradually improved into a crude roadway used for wagon and stage travel, and the roadway became known as Stage Road.
The Stage Road was formally laid out in 1789 when the Burlington County Court of Common Pleas authorized the Burlington County Surveyors of the Highways to survey and the Burlington County Overseers of the Highways. Today, the only section of roadway that still carries the original name of “Stage Road” leads from Rt. 9 by the Acme shopping center in West Tuckerton westward through Nugentown, through the Bass River State Forrest, and ends in Bass River Township at the inter section of West Stage Road and Rt. 679 (Chatsworth Road). The next part of the original Stage Road is under that part of 679 which runs from the store at Timberline Lake north for approximately a mile. It then appears only as a depression in the woods as it slowly veers off to the west side of Rt. 679 and can only be clearly seen when it occasionally crosses a stream or another old road. When you get to Beaver Run on Rt. 679 the old road can be seen crossing the stream about 30 to 40 yards down stream. The old bulkheads are still visible.

Take a moment to close your eyes while on the Road and imagine a team of horses pulling up next to you with their owner's stage coach attached. It is a far cry from the speeding SUVs just a few miles away.