The City of Egg Harbor was planned shortly before the Civil War by a group of German investors from Philadelphia, Pa. and was incorporated in 1858. The City's name dates back to 1614 when a Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutchmen, sailed his ship from New York to explore the New Jersey Coast. When he entered the mouths of two rivers, Captain Mey and his men were amazed at the great number of eggs piled on the banks. Thus, the name "Eyren Haven" which in Dutch meant "The Harbor of Eggs."