The Gutter Guys

According the local historical society, the municipality's name was not always Berlin. In fact, it started out as "Longacoming." The story goes that the main travel route between the New Jersey shore and the Delaware River ran through this town. It was a Native American path called Lonaconing Trail. Travelers and shipwrecked sailors who walked the path would stop at a stream here. This stream was the head of the Great Egg Harbor River. The weary travelers knowing the trail name would refer to the spot as "long a coming". The name stuck. Long-A-Coming is halfway between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City, so it became a stopping point on the stagecoach route. A rail line was laid in 1853. Three years later, the Long-A-Coming Railroad Station was built. In February 1867, the station was renamed "Magnolia". This caused confusion because there was a town called Magnolia nearby. So, three months later, the station's name changed to Berlin. Nobody knows why Berlin was chosen. Presumably, it was chosen as a reference to the city of Berlin in Germany.