Five years ago, a majority of the shops along High Street in Millville were run down, vacant and marked by graffiti. But look again. The city today has reemerged as a hub for arts, culture and cuisine.

Dozens of glass, canning and cork mills were the lifeblood of Millville during its heyday. When the mills closed, so did the city. Historic factories were shuttered. Businesspeople fled in droves. In 1999, the 200-year-old Ball-Foster glass plant left town; with it went 300 jobs. The city’s decline seemed complete. 

Now Millville is back and booming. The Millville Development Corporation and the state’s Main Street New Jersey program have attracted artists, gallery owners and restaurateurs to the riverfront community. The city’s “rustic industrial” look remains, but everything feels brand new.

High Street, in particular, is flourishing. Think Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, Main Street in Manayunk, Bridge Street in New Hope and Lambertville. It’s that kind of place, with green and white banners fluttering above boutiques, brew pubs and art galleries. Coffee shops are cheek-by-jowl with high-end eateries like Winfield’s. You don’t have to spend a dime; simply strolling and window shopping is a delight. 

The third Friday of each month, downtown merchants offer wine, hors d’oeuvres, live music and late hours. “On Third Fridays we get upwards of 3,000 people in Millville,” says a merchant. “There is just a synergy, a festive atmosphere — everybody comes out.”

While you’re there, check out the old Levoy Theatre on High Street. The 2,000-seat former vaudeville palace is being transformed as a performing arts center.

Though some of Millville’s old brick mills had to come down (the chimneys were loaded with asbestos), new construction so far is in keeping with the city’s historic feel, which combines urban grit with small town America, amid groves of the holly trees that are the community’s trademark.

Adding to Millville’s picturesque charm: the Maurice River. Thanks to the presence of protected wildlife (including osprey, and a bald eagle that locals say circles City Hall each day around noon) former Vice President Al Gore designated the river a “wild and scenic” waterway. Come summer, it’s perfect for kayaking, tubing and bird watching.

Wheaton Arts recalls region’s fiery past

In his paean to Millville, poet Carl Sandburg rhapsodized about “great rafts of wood and big brick hulks,” and the moment in the glassblower’s shop when “the death of sand” becomes “the birth of glass.”

Millville was once New Jersey's glassmaking center. That era has been captured at the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center (formerly Wheaton Village). The vast 60-acre wooded campus welcomes 70,000 visitors a year and includes demonstrations by glassblowers, ceramicists and papermakers.

Site of the largest glass museum in the United States (as well as the world’s largest glass bottle, made in 1992) Wheaton Arts includes the Down Jersey Folk Life Center with ever-changing demonstrations (currently: bobbin lace making, wood penny rug making, and Ukrainian embroidery).

Founded in the 1970s, Wheaton Village was an important but obscure historical attraction until the development of Route 55. Then “its fortunes soared,” says Wheaton Arts docent David Iams. “Millville and Vineland in general have been discovered, and Wheaton Village has become the de facto cultural center for southwest New Jersey.”

Another don’t-miss attraction
The Millville Army Air Field Museum

Dedicated in 1941 as “America’s first defense airport,” Millville was a pivotal base during the Second World War, training 1,500 fighter pilots.

Millville Airport is the site of the annual AAF Wheels & Wings Air Show (this year’s is May 26-27, and will feature the famous Blue Angels).

Call 856-327-2347 for hours of operation.

For more about Millville, go to www.millville-nj.com, and www.wheatonvillage.org.