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A Brief Return to Historical Shallow Groundwater Levels Water-table levels might seem excessive during the winter of 2009/2010, but I suggest even higher levels were once the norm here. Locals, who have long-term memory of their surroundings, widely accept in their collective knowledge that the...

The Bicycle, the Trolley, and the Telephone Jerseyman, Thanks for reminding us about this once all-important conveyance. We forget the formidable influence cycling had upon South Jersey’s transportation history as a prelude to the auto era. Wheelman considered the bicycle to be superior...

Beloved Spungs Jerseyman, I wish to thank you again for your delightful posts! This reference to South Jersey’s enclosed basins (i.e., spungs) escaped my attention – especially the appellative “slush.” Slush, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, means “liquid mud or mire,” which is...

A Revisit to Richland Village “Buena Vista Township Mayor Chuck Chiarello said Ashmun was fair and thoughtful when he appeared before the commission over projects such as the redevelopment of the railroad town Richland Village.” http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=7161 I...

Pining-Away on a Sunday Afternoon! Bobpbx, You’ve piqued my curiosity about the genetic potential for pine-tree heights, so here’s what I found out. Farjon (1984: 99, Pines: Drawings and Descriptions of the Genus Pinus), a real stickler for facts, indicates that Sugar Pine (Pinus...

Rumex acetosella – Sheep's Sorrel oji, I believe you are looking at Sheep's Sorrel. Its thin stringy roots are the bane of any Pinelands vegetable plot, since pieces accidentally left in soil will quickly sprout into another rampageous thug. Back on the farm it was my chore to collect...

Another Forgotten Place... Boyd, Before the modern state of Israel was born, to many of the Jewish faith the New Jersey Pine Barrens was to become the Promised Land. By the Fall of 1882, a year after Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in Imperial Russia, the agricultural colonies of Alliance...

So sorry Guy, as I am under the gun towards multiple deadlines. If I waited around until time permitted an adequate response to Smitty's query, it simply wasn't going to happen. There are too many fascinating posts ot this and kindred Pinelands blogs! The above cited material is available at...

Long-A-Coming Smitty, you have only just scratched the surface! Briefly: 1) Thelma Avenue is the modern equivalent to the ancient Long-A-Coming Trail commemorated in Chalmers (1951), a very important Indian path that ran from Camden to Job Somers' Ferry at Job Point. 2) This is...

I started to laugh, but then I realized you just might not be joking!

yea, yea, George Washington slept here... Maybe? Furball1, George Washington’s Batsto Cypher is about an iron casting commissioned at Batsto for use at Mt. Vernon. In her Masters Thesis, Megan Giordano (2005: 30-36, Artistry and Industry in Cast Iron: Batsto Furnace, 1766-1840) presented...

I've had positive experiences with Mac Ed, I have been with Mac since 1984. That original purchase was a 128K with a blazing-fast 8 MHz Motorola microprocessor, 9-inch black-and-white monitor, and 128 KB DRAM. The set still works! On the plus side, Macs are well built, stable...

I meant golfing shoes, but I'm certainly relieved to see Gabe has better taste in footwear than presumed!

Rocks in Gabe's head, tassels on his feet.... Good questions, Gabe, As stated in an earlier Pinelands stone thread (link below), my discipline concerns only the last couple hundred thousand-years of Pinelands geologic history (i.e., Late Pleistocene). Still, I’ll try to simplify earlier...

here, here! Let's hope those entrusted with the stewardship of this place share our sentiments.

cold, dry, windy Furball, Indeed, the ancient cold climate mass wastage of Pine Barrens terrain and the presence of submerged bones are linked. Warm, wet interglacial periods were the climatic exception, not the climatic norm for the last million+ years (i.e., the Pleistocene). North...

Hi Kevin, Pinelands hills are fascinating inside and out! In old Piney speak, they’re often referred to as “buck hills.” Does anyone know the reason for this archaic designation? Has anyone used mounts as hunting resources? Spung-Man

South Jersey is Backwards! Gabe, You are correct. Our high points began as old (i.e., Miocene age) river bottoms. In places where streams changed their course, gravels where deposited. In places where water flow was sluggish and swampy, ironstone would form. As rivers changed course the...

more time than money Imkms, Thanks for the post! I guess people had more time than money during the Great Depression. That's a lot of work. Do you happen to know if the collected stones were reddish ironstone or whitish silcrete? Spung-Man

Here yes! Largo, Yes, from the photographs your walls appear to be built of darker colored ironstone and lighter colored silcrete. Way cool. Do you know the age of the shown structures? Are the stones reused from older buildings? We really don’t know much about duricrusts in NJ. Smaller...