Aerial photo's "Then & Now" - 56k Beware, contains big images

[Teegate]

All,

I have been away and did not have time to post these before I left. I will start with aerial photo's of Rockwood from 1931 and 1995. This photo to me proves that the blueberry operation at Rockwood occurred after 1931. You can see in the 1931 photo that much of the area is all bogs, but in the upper photo from 1995 most of the bogs are now blueberry's. If you have visited there and explored you would agree. I had always though that C. G. Rockwood had blueberries but I was wrong.

Here is a smaller view.

Guy

 

[Ben Ruset]

Friendship:

Click for full size image:

 

[Ben Ruset]

Buckingham:

(Click for full size image)

 

[Ben Ruset]

Martha/Calico:

(Click for larger image)



Interesting that it puts Calico out by where the bits of corrugated metal roofing and cellar holes are, which is not where the maps say Calico is. Also, Martha looks a bit deforested to me.

 

[Teegate]

Ben,

When I click for the larger images they download and open in Preview. Is that what you had in mind?

Guy

 

[Boyd]

I noticed the same thing. For some reason I don't think Safari knows how to open those GIF's. However, if I take the downloaded GIF and drag it to Safari it opens right in the browser. Weird...

---
(EDIT)
Hmm, guess that isn't it. I uploaded one of Ben's files to some other webspace I have and it's properly displayed in the Safari browser when I click on it. What happens on the PC when you click on those attachments?

 

[Ben Ruset]

It's because the file you're downloading is called through watermark.php and not an actual .gif or .jpg. Sorry.

 

[MarkBNJ]

Thanks for posting these, Guy. Really interesting to see these places in the 1931 aerial view, especially as I visited some of them just a couple of days ago.

After my research I ended up plotting Callico almost exactly where they have it labelled on the 1931 image. I don't recall the exact path I used to get to that presumption, but it relied heavily on the 1880's topos in the George Cook collection. Haven't yet gone far enough up that road from Martha to check it out carefully though.

Speaking of Callico, did Beck often get distances wrong, or was he possibly obfuscating? In "Forgotten Towns" (chapter 10) he says that he found Callico four miles NE of Martha Furnace. That's way off. I understand he didn't have access to Google Earth and GPS . But 4 miles puts you out past Oswego Gun Club and almost to the bombing range.

 

[Teegate]

Speaking of Callico, did Beck often get distances wrong, or was he possibly obfuscating? In "Forgotten Towns" (chapter 10) he says that he found Callico four miles NE of Martha Furnace. That's way off. I understand he didn't have access to Google Earth and GPS . But 4 miles puts you out past Oswego Gun Club and almost to the bombing range.

Never trust Beck's directions. Well, almost never.

Guy

 

[Ben Ruset]

After my research I ended up plotting Callico almost exactly where they have it labelled on the 1931 image. I don't recall the exact path I used to get to that presumption, but it relied heavily on the 1880's topos in the George Cook collection. Haven't yet gone far enough up that road from Martha to check it out carefully though.

The Cook maps show Calico as starting from below the large bog and continuing up to the area where the metal ruins are located. You can see in both the Cook topo as well as the 1930 DEP imagery that there is also a bog located right along the South side of Calico.

I have a feeling, however, that the ruins that can be found at Calico now are more recent buildings to service the bog that was there.

I still don't get why people who worked at Martha would have lived so far away. In Allaire, the row houses are within easy walking distance to the furnace - same thing with Batsto. Budd Wilson had a theory that Calico was settled by African Americans but he didn't expand too much on it when I spoke with him about it.

 

[Teegate]

This photo shows two places of interest. The yellow circled area in both photo's is the location of the Carranza Memorial. The memorial site was fixed up in 1935 so we are seeing it in the first three years of the monument being there. But the really interesting thing is that the sawmill that Ed found after the controlled burn last year looks to be in full operation, or had already ended operations. This is the sawmill that had the metal gears in the cement foundation. It is circled in blue in both photo's.

Guy

 

[woodjin]

Great stuff! These 1930 photos are opening many exploring interests.

 

[Teegate]

This is one of the best comparisons I have found yet. Bob has found one just as good though. Anyway, Jeff (Woodjin) a few years back told me about a sawmill he had discovered, and we visited together soon after. The wood was still there from the building which is unusual, and after I did some research with the help of a map from member Tom’s collection, I discovered it was owned by a Mick. I contacted a former adjacent property owner but was not able to get much info from them due to failing memory.

Here are the photo’s. Notice the location in 1931 where they were sawing the wood. You can see the roads to each location and maybe even the stacked wood. Compare that to 1995 and you can see how in 60 years almost all traces of that deforestation are gone, at least in the aerial photo. A hint to PBX members that we need to visit there Looks like tough going which is the way to be!

The yellow circle is the saw mill location.

Dialup

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/watermark.php?file=5672&size=1


Broadband

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/watermark.php?file=5672


Guy

 

[Teegate]

Ben,

Even the links download to your drive. That don't seem correct. Is there anything you can do? Sorry about my previous large photo's but I like my photo's big. Shows so much more detail.

Guy

 

[Boyd]

This is all good stuff. I have a couple then & now of my own which I'll post soon. One thing that really strikes me is just how deforested much of the pine barrens appear to be in those old photos. Looks like there may have been some pretty bleak landscapes back then.

 

[Teegate]

This is all good stuff. I have a couple then & now of my own which I'll post soon. One thing that really strikes me is just how deforested much of the pine barrens appear to be in those old photos. Looks like there may have been some pretty bleak landscapes back then.

Bob found the most amazing charcoal "area" where many acres of woods were deforested and you can see the charcoal pits.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

This is one of the best comparisons I have found yet. Bob has found one just as good though. Anyway, Jeff (Woodjin) a few years back told me about a sawmill he had discovered, and we visited together soon after. The wood was still there from the building which is unusual, and after I did some research with the help of a map from member Tom’s collection, I discovered it was owned by a Mick. I contacted a former adjacent property owner but was not able to get much info from them due to failing memory.

Here are the photo’s. Notice the location in 1931 where they were sawing the wood. You can see the roads to each location and maybe even the stacked wood. Compare that to 1995 and you can see how in 60 years almost all traces of that deforestation are gone, at least in the aerial photo. A hint to PBX members that we need to visit there Looks like tough going which is the way to be!

The yellow circle is the saw mill location.

Dialup

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/data/528/medium/carranza_.jpg


Broadband

http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/watermark.php?file=5672


Guy

From what I can tell, tragically, where they cut all the cedars, it turned to hardwood swamp (light grey). That is because of deer eating the young cedars who tried to make a comeback. That is a fact proven by the fence at Penn Swamp. It kept the deer out and the cedars made a strong comeback.

 

[woodjin]

Guy, What a difference. Do you recall that there was an overgrown blueberry field to the south of the mill? I don't evidence of that on either photo. Maybe it just didn't come out.

 

[woodjin]

From what I can tell, tragically, where they cut all the cedars, it turned to hardwood swamp (light grey). That is because of deer eating the young cedars who tried to make a comeback. That is a fact proven by the fence at Penn Swamp. It kept the deer out and the cedars made a strong comeback.

Bob, there is a spot in Lebanon where the fence has been successfull also. Seperate from that, do you recall those bogs I took you to off of 70 where they had the deer fence? The cedars are doing well in there also, although in some spots it is maple and blueberry dominant to the exclusion of most other trees and bushes.

Jeff

 

[Teegate]

Guy, What a difference. Do you recall that there was an overgrown blueberry field to the south of the mill? I don't evidence of that on either photo. Maybe it just didn't come out.

Yes there was. I will look the map over more. But if you notice for some reason the 1931 map shows a dark line going across it, and I think that is a development error. Notice the cuts in the white area below it that seem to end right at the dark line. That seems odd and that is my reason to believe there are film problems.

Guy