Conservation Resources, Inc.

bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,218
4,319
Pines; Bamber area
This entity was set up by experienced, professional, conservation land managers in NJ in order to have a pool of people willing to provide their experience and expertise in obtaining funding and then negotiating land deals in order to preserve land throughout the state. They help smaller conservation groups:

http://www.conservationresourcesinc.org/index.htm

Here is one of their projects. It intrigues me. Have any of you ever heard of it?

http://www.conservationresourcesinc.org/signalHill.htm
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
Bob,

I believe most people would know the name of the hill as "Pine Hill" or Ski Mountain since there was a ski slope there in the 60's and 70's. It was a popular place for people in this area to ski at. Since it is in Clementon and not Pine Hill, I think they are calling it "Signal Hill" to distance it from the town of Pine Hill. It had a geodetic marker placed there in 1838, one of the oldest ones in this area.

JU3013 HISTORY - Date Condition Report By
JU3013 HISTORY - 1838 MONUMENTED CGS
JU3013 HISTORY - 1951 GOOD USGS
JU3013
JU3013 STATION DESCRIPTION
JU3013
JU3013'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1838 (JF)
JU3013'THE ORIGINAL STATION PINE HILL APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED
JU3013'BY J. FERGUSON IN 1838 AND SINCE THAT TIME HAS BEEN RECOVERED
JU3013'AND/OR MARKED BY THE FOLLOWING PERSONS AND ORGANIZATIONS AT THE
JU3013'TIME INDICATED. F.R. HASSLER 1842. J. FARLEY, 1869. F.P.
JU3013'GERDES, 1880. M.P. PIERCE, 1881. E.A. BOWSER, 1889. W.T. MC
JU3013'CULLOUGH, 1900. U.C. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY AND STATE
JU3013'SURVEY, 1934. IT IS NOT APPARENT THAT ALL OF THESE STATIONS
JU3013'WERE THE SAME AND PINE HILL 2, AS RESET AND REMARKED BY THE
JU3013'STATE CONTROL SURVEY IN 1934, IS CERTAINLY NONE OF THE
JU3013'ORIGINAL ONES. FOR, ALTHOUGH AN OLD STONE POST, PROBABLY THE
JU3013'ONE SET BY E.A. BOWSER IN 1889 WAS RESET, THE UNDERGROUND
JU3013'MARK WAS NOT RECOVERED AND ACCORDING TO LOCAL INFORMATION
JU3013'OBTAINED BY THE STATE CONTROL SURVEY ORGANIZATION, IT
JU3013'HAS BEEN DESTROYED.

The developer of the Pine Hill ski slope built the newer homes in my moms development, and then moved on to build Ski Mountain. It is located right near Clementon Lake Park, and nearby is one of the highest rated golf courses in the country that many people do not know about. Presidents and pro gophers have played there.

It is located here:

http://topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4405359.00011493&e=500531&datum=nad83

While searching for geodetic markers in 2002 I walked the train tracks nearby and was amazed at how much it reminded me of the pines.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/983-1/4E1.jpg

Hopefully, I have this correct. There are a few other hills nearby that I may be confusing it with.

Guy
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
Bob,

I would have done it because we had a major excursion planned for today in Hammonton, and when we arrived I realized that the state property was just on the other side of private property, and all of my days searching was finished before we started. So I scrambled and drove back to Atsion and did some searching there from memory.

I was even going to do the Great Swamp, but as we passed the road we decided to wait.

Steve...my brother went there also in the summer for a few years. I will find out. A van came and picked him up and brought him home. Same for you??

At least I think it was the same place.

Guy
 
J

janwor

New Member
Apr 17, 2005
19
4
Pine Hill Golf vs Pine Valley Golf Club

Guy and Bob,

Interesting, there are two top rate golf clubs within a mile or two of each other. I believe that the one in the former Ski Mountain area on Branch Avenue is Pine Hill Golf. I would guess this is Signal Hill.

Behind Clementon Park and/or off of Erial Road is the exclusive Pine Valley. With enough money one may join Pine Hill, but not Pine Valley. This is the place where people such as Bob Hope, Michael Jordan, etc. may play if they know a member. The public,even women, can walk the course one day a year and that is the final Sunday of the Crump Cup at the end of September. The link shows the closeness of the clubs. Cllick on map.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=pine+...03,-74.972049&spn=0.021200,0.030770&t=k&hl=en

Janet
 
BEHR655

BEHR655

Piney
Feb 19, 2003
2,707
7
Merchantville, NJ
www.behr655.smugmug.com
TeeGate said:
Bob,



Steve...my brother went there also in the summer for a few years. I will find out. A van came and picked him up and brought him home. Same for you??

At least I think it was the same place.

Guy
Click to expand...

Could be the same place but I went there in Boy Scouts for a week long camp. Did that 2 or 3 times.

Steve
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
Janet,

I have only been in that area to visit Clementon Park and to search for geodetic markers along the tracks, so I was never really sure which was which. I heard about Pine Valley for the first time while riding at the top of the waterslide at Clementon Park. I believe former President Ford had just played there a while before that and the man we were in the ride with mentioned it.

As for the exclusive Pine Valley, it is interesting to note that there was at one time a Pine Valley train station right at the parking log to the golf course. At least the USGS datasheets says that. So I was at the entrance to that golf course and the parking lot outside the gate is not so exclusive. It is actually dumpy.

Here is the datasheet for the marker there, along with my photo's of the parking lot outside the gate. The third photo shows it.

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/get_all_images.prl?PROCESSING=list&PID=JU0542

JU0542 STATION DESCRIPTION
JU0542
JU0542'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1963
JU0542'1.4 MI SE FROM CLEMENTON.
JU0542'1.45 MILES SOUTHEAST ALONG THE PENNSYLVANIA-READING SEASHORE LINES
JU0542'FROM THE STATION AT CLEMENTON, AT THE SITE OF THE FORMER PINE
JU0542'VALLEY WAITING STATION, ABOUT 72 YARDS SOUTHEAST OF THE CROSSING
JU0542'OF A BLACK TOP ROAD LEADING TO THE PINE VALLEY GOLF COURSE
JU0542'(PRIVATE), SET ON TOP OF WEST CORNER OF A 2 1/2-FOOT BY 2 1/2-FOOT
JU0542'CONCRETE FOUNDATION FOR AN ABANDONED SIGNAL, 134 FEET SOUTHEAST
JU0542'OF SOUTH CORNER OF THE CONCRETE FOUNDATION OF THE FORMER STATION,
JU0542'14 1/2 FEET WEST OF A TELEPHONE POLE, 8 FEET NORTHEAST OF
JU0542'NORTHEAST RAIL, AND ABOUT LEVEL WITH TRACK.
JU0542
JU0542 STATION RECOVERY (1983)
JU0542
JU0542'RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 1983
JU0542'RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION.
JU0542
JU0542 STATION RECOVERY (1995)
JU0542
JU0542'RECOVERY NOTE BY NEW JERSEY GEODETIC SURVEY 1995 (FAC)
JU0542'THE STATION IS LOCATED IN PINE HILL BOROUGH ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE
JU0542'NEW JERSEY TRANSIT RAILROAD RIGHT OF WAY, ADJACENT TO THE PINE VALLEY
JU0542'COUNTY CLUB. TO REACH THE STATION FROM THE JUNCTION OF GIBBSBORO
JU0542'ROAD, COUNTY ROAD 686 AND CLEMENTON BERLIN ROAD, COUNTY ROAD 534, IN
JU0542'THE BOROUGH OF CLEMENTON, GO SOUTHEAST ON COUNTY ROAD 534 FOR 0.15 MI
JU0542'(0.24 KM) TO THE TEE JUNCTION WITH EAST ATLANTIC AVENUE ON THE RIGHT.
JU0542'TURN RIGHT AND GO SOUTHEAST ON EAST ATLANTIC AVENUE FOR 1.35 MI (2.17
JU0542'KM) TO THE END OF TRUCK TRAVEL AT A BLACKTOP PAVED ROAD GRADE
JU0542'CROSSING. PARK TRUCK, PACK SOUTHEAST ALONG THE NORTH SIDE OF THE
JU0542'TRACK FOR 210 FT (64.0 M) TO THE STATION AHEAD SET FLUSH IN THE TOP OF
JU0542'THE NORTH CORNER OF A 2.5 FT (0.8 M) BY 2.5 FT (0.8 M) CONCRETE BASE
JU0542'FOR ABANDONED SIGNAL. THE STATION IS 8.5 FT (2.6 M) NORTHEAST FROM
JU0542'THE NORTHEAST RAIL OF THE TRACK, 15 FT (4.6 M) WEST FROM THE SECOND
JU0542'UTILITY POLE SOUTHEAST FROM THE GRADE CROSSING AND ABOUT LEVEL WITH
JU0542'THE TRACK.
JU0542
JU0542 STATION RECOVERY (2002)
JU0542
JU0542'RECOVERY NOTE BY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS 2002 (GJT)
JU0542'PORTABLE GPS READING
JU0542'39.47.30.6
JU0542'074.58.14.8



Guy
 
J

janwor

New Member
Apr 17, 2005
19
4
Guy,

Does the datasheet show that there was a Clementon station and also a Pine Valley station?

Janet
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
janwor said:
Guy,

Does the datasheet show that there was a Clementon station and also a Pine Valley station?

Janet
Click to expand...


I would assume from the 1963 report in that post that there was a Clementon Station and a Pine Valley waiting station. I guess a waiting station is the same as a station, so I would say there were two. I will look over other datasheets and see if they say anything else.

Guy
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
I talked to a man at work who told me that Ski Mountain is in Pine Hill and not Clementon as I thought. And it is owned by the non elite golf course and is used by them. So the location I said is most likely not the location of Signal Hill. He also said he has never heard of Signal Hill and he grew up just two towns away from there.

Guy
 
RednekF350

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,956
3,114
Pestletown, N.J.
Come on Guy, I thought you were a better detective than this!
Punch in Clementon in Maptech and check out your highest points of elevation.
BM 199 (Lat 39d 47m 52s x Long. 74d 59m 36s jumped out at me)
Then look at the footprint of the roads as shown in the Conservation Resources map.
Bingo. A direct match for "Signal Hill" when you look at the road network..
It is located just west of Erial Road as head south out of Pine Hill.
Friends of mine used to sled there as kids on the hill and on the streets leading back to it.
Ski Mountain is not Signal Hill and it was redeveloped about 9 years ago as Pine Hill Country Club. It sucked up a few hundred acres of prime pine woodlands including the local topographic high point which is now occupied by their clubhouse and restaurant.(open to any Jose Schmoe that wants to go eat there)
I have been there a few times for weddings and dinner and it is very good and yes, you can see Philly from there too.
Scott
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,652
8,264
RednekF350 said:
Come on Guy, I thought you were a better detective than this!
Punch in Clementon in Maptech and check out your highest points of elevation.
BM 199 (Lat 39d 47m 52s x Long. 74d 59m 36s jumped out at me)
Then look at the footprint of the roads as shown in the Conservation Resources map.
Bingo. A direct match for "Signal Hill" when you look at the road network..
It is located just west of Erial Road as head south out of Pine Hill.
Friends of mine used to sled there as kids on the hill and on the streets leading back to it.
Ski Mountain is not Signal Hill and it was redeveloped about 9 years ago as Pine Hill Country Club. It sucked up a few hundred acres of prime pine woodlands including the local topographic high point which is now occupied by their clubhouse and restaurant.(open to any Jose Schmoe that wants to go eat there)
I have been there a few times for weddings and dinner and it is very good and yes, you can see Philly from there too.
Scott
Click to expand...


Scott,

I already pointed out that location as what I though it was. However, I was told that hill is now used by the golf course. And what are you talking about when you mention the "Conservation Resource map"? I never use Maptech, but just did, and I do not have that map. The map I see is the same map I see on Topozone.

Guy
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,218
4,319
Pines; Bamber area
TeeGate said:
Scott,

I already pointed out that location as what I though it was. However, I was told that hill is now used by the golf course. And what are you talking about when you mention the "Conservation Resource map"? I never use Maptech, but just did, and I do not have that map. The map I see is the same map I see on Topozone.

Guy
Click to expand...

Guy, I believe Scott means the map (photo map) I posted above when I first answered you:

http://www.conservationresourcesinc.org/signalHillMap.htm
 
RednekF350

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,956
3,114
Pestletown, N.J.
BobM said:
Guy, I believe Scott means the map (photo map) I posted above when I first answered you:

http://www.conservationresourcesinc.org/signalHillMap.htm
Click to expand...

Yes, the photomap in the Conservation Resource site link is the map I was referring to that depicts the road network footprint.
Ski Mountain, now Pine Hill Golf Course, is west of Branch Ave. (el. 209)
Their facilities are contained within Branch Ave.to the east, Hickstown Road to the southwest and Little Mill Road to the west.
The Signal Hill tract west of Erial Road remains undeveloped primarily due to the erodable, steep slopes.
Those slopes have precluded development up until now, but developers are hard pressed to find any land today and that is what has made it a candidate for preserveation.
It took a lot of vision and private cash to turn the abandoned Ski Mountain property around into what it is today.
I am very familiar with that property's history through my work and the conditions there just 10 yeas ago looked like a movie set for a Mad Max film.
That same kind of vision with a good financial backing can easily do the same to Signal hill.
 
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