Batsto is one of several iron communities that thrived during our Revolutionary War but became ghost towns when the iron industry moved to Bethlehem, Pa. Popular place for school outings, as is Allaire. Batso tried to make glass after the iron industry but didn't' make it. Glassboro made the switch from iron to glass and still thrives.
This film is said to have been inspired by the book: The Jersey Devil by James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr.