Gigantic City

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BarryC

Guest
Gigantic City- the city that never existed. It still can be seen on
some maps, including the USGS Survey maps. Click this link to see it
on the map:
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4371670&e=515142&s=25&size=l
It is/was (or never was) located just a bit west and south of
Weymouth and Makepeace Lake.
Here's what the pine barrens site from the Press of Atlantic City has
to say about it:
In Atlantic County, two minutes' travel west from Mays Landing brings
you to Gigantic City. Yes, southern New Jersey contains a place
called Gigantic City. Gigantic City appears on the Champion Map,
about a mile west from Mays Landing along Route 40.

The town is stupendous - in conception. Wide streets are named after
great American cities - Los Angeles, Baltimore, San Franciso,
Cincinnati. These transect big-city avenues: Strand, Broadway,
Market, Fulton, Venice.

The briefest visit to Gigantic City will show you the mayhem of
downtown. The noise, the congestion. The souped-up pedestrians and
rocketing taxies.... Actually the only crowd is of mosquitoes, the
only noise from the breeze, the only congestion is clouds. If nothing
else, Gigantic City illustrates how plans may come and go, but names
abide forever. "What happened with Gigantic City," said Doddson, "was
that at one time it existed as a proposed development, but the plans
never panned out. And the place itself was taken over by Mizpah."
Here's the main site which is listed in our links section:
http://pressplus.com/pinelands/

Barry
 
B

BarryC

Guest
bruset said:
Sounds like their author didn't do their homework. Gigantic City (really Mizpah) has those streets.
Click to expand...
I believe you can infer from that article that the author knows those streets are there, since Mizpah expanded to include the proposed site of Gigantic City. I believe Mizpah has been around a long time. I gather that the city was proposed and they got as far as building the streets and that was the end of it, but since Mizpah was nearby, the streets ultimately got used. I think it's possible some of Mizpah's existing numbered streets coincided with those proposed for Gigantic City, so they used the names.

But I've driven there in the last month, and Renee has also. Those streets exist, but I'm not sure *all of them* do. And there is more woods along those streets than houses, in many cases. If someone were to go there expecting something based on looking at Mapquest or other maps, I think he might be disappointed or shocked in what he found.
It's interesting in any case, since nobody has ever heard of Gigantic City, except those who pay attention to the topo maps, and a handful of other maps that might exist. I'll check out the place more next time I'm down there. You've got me more interested.
And then there's that place up to the east or northeast of Calico. The streets show up on some maps, yet they don't even exist, and there's no town name to go with them. I wonder if there is anyone who has heard of a town name to go with those streets. My Patton county map shows the streets, but I don't think the USGS topo map does. I'll check topozone.
Barry
 
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