Bloody Ridge

[Boyd]

I wandered awhile in the Pasadena Fish and Wildlife Management area today, and my Magellan GPS with the US Topo map told me I was on "Bloody Ridge Road". The Garmin GPS only showed a portion of this road and did not have a name. The DeLorme 3d Topo maps don't show a name, and neither do the USGS maps. This is a section of the road http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=1...ize=l&u=7&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25. It crosses over Webb Mill Branch. You can get there by turning right from Rt 539 several miles south of Whiting. Nice drive, road was in very good condition and if you follow more or less straight you end up in Bullock right where Mt. Misery Rd. meets the tracks.

Anyone have an idea where the name "Bloody Ridge" comes from. One thing that crossed my mind as I hiked around at sunset, the setting sun looked very red on the trees along the ridge. Perhaps it's just that?

 

[Ben Ruset]

That's a new one to me. I suppose the "ridge" is somewhere in the area, since it looks like there's quite a bit of elevation around there.

I would imagine that it would have something to do with he revolutionary war, since there was some activity near that area.

 

[WaretownMike]

Ben, what information do you have pertaining to any battles around this area? Are you referring to what was fought in the Barnegat area?

 

[Ben Ruset]

The only one I know of is the one you're thinking of - Cedar Bridge, which was more of a skirmish than an actual battle.

Since the Topozone link in Boyd's post no longer works, here's a link to it on NJPB Maps: http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.87220903005822&lng=-74.38710224785461&z=14&type=terrain&gpx=

It's interesting to note that Bloody Ridge Road does not show up on the historic topo map layer, which dates from 1881-1934. The road does show up in the 1930s aerial though. On Historic Aerials the map shows up on their old topos sometime between 1916 and 1942.

 

[dogg57]

That is a Weird Area

 

[46er]

There was a Sgt John Basilone from Manville that earned the Medal of Honor in WWII for his actions holding off 3000 Japanese on Bloody Ridge in the fight for Guadalcanal in 1942.

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/valor/moh/basilone/index.html

There was also a major battle in Korea on a 'Bloody Ridge' in 1951; 'Heartbreak Ridge' was the next in line.

Perhaps one of these has something to do with the name;I would guess the first.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Anything is possible, but I think that even the great state of New Jersey could come up with a better way of honoring famous battles then naming an obscure dirt road after it.

I think Boyd's idea of the trees bathed in orange and red in the sunset is the best idea so far. Unfortunately this is something we may never know.

 

[Star Tree]

I was told it got the name for the ammount of deer killed along it.

 

[Boyd]

Funny to see this old thread get revived after so many years. I started it about a week after I joined NJPB. And, come to think of it, today is my 9th anniversary as a member (although I was a lurker before that).

 

[Ben Ruset]

9 years? Wow! Time flies.

 

[Boyd]

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a bananna.

-Groucho Marx

 

[Hewey]

I was told it got the name for the ammount of deer killed along it.

The Deer Clubs do beat that area up pretty good during six day.