interesting old book i found.

[bobpbx]

Wow - as someone who spent the bulk of his career working in opera, I have seen his other book but never realized it was the same person who wrote this little guide to the Pines.

Boyd, I have to ask. Did your working in opera lead you to enjoy opera?

 

[Boyd]

Well, "opera" is a pretty general term. I enjoy some operas and others.... not so much. I knew virtually nothing about opera when I took a job as designer/technical director for Syracuse Opera in 1980. But I learned quickly.

I left the field over 10 years ago, having climbed as high as I wanted on the ladder. I was burned out, it gets exhausing - rehearsing until 11:00 at night, meeting afterwards for notes, driving from center city Philadelphia to my home in the Pines.... then back onstage at 8:00am the next morning to supervise the crew. Of course, there were a few beers and some pizza in between which didn't leave much time for sleep. Am quite sure I'd be dead today if I kept that up much longer.

I have very little opera in my life anymore and that's fine. Funny, just now listening to Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte on the SiriusXM Metropolitan Opera channel. Was bringing back a lot of memories, that was the first show I did in Syracuse in 1980. But I very rarely listen to opera these days and never watch it. Was talking to my old boss last year and he invited me to a performance in Philadelphia. Tried to find a nice way of saying "not interested" without offending him, LOL (he was always great to work for).

 

[pinelandpaddler]

"In opera, there is always too much singing." - Claude Debussy

 

[enormiss]

His hobby was sailing, and it was while he was out in the Great South Bay off Bay Shore, New York, in July 1918, that a seaplane, coming down for a landing, struck his boat and killed him instantly.

That's nuts

 

[stiltzkin]

That's nuts

This is one of those old newspaper articles that just leaves you with far more questions than it answers:

The New York Times, July 28, 1918:

Gustav Kobbe, the music and art critic of the New York Herald, was killed instantly yesterday afternoon, when a naval hydroaeroplane, speeding over the water near Bay Shore, L.I., struck him when he stood up in a catboat as he prepared to dive to avoid being hit by the flier [...] Mr Kobbe, who was alone in the boat, evidently felt confident that the hydroaeroplane which was approaching did not place him in any danger. Kobbe made no effort to move out of the path of the flier, and the hydroaeroplane was within a few feet of him before he saw that a collision was imminent. It was so close that the critic, who was a man of 62 years, had no time to plunge into the water, and it was his attempt to avoid danger by this means which caused his death. For just as he reached an upright position the hydroaeroplane, whose speed he had miscalculated, was on the boat. Some part of the bottom of the aircraft, probably the planing boards, struck the top of the mast. It snapped off the mast and practically clove the man's skull in two parts. Not the slightest harm was done to the swift hydroaeroplane, and the jar was so slight that the naval pilot was not conscious that his machine had touched anything [...] [he] did not learn of the accident until his return to the station.

They strongly imply that Kobbe was at fault for being in the way of the plane, not the pilot for running over both him and his boat!

 

[bobpbx]

Gustav and the plane reminds me of something that really was not a problem 10 years ago when I was 59, but is a definite danger now. I often cross West Bay Avenue during my walks. Now, crossing a busy road when vehicles are traveling 55 mph, it''s shocking how quickly they approach you if you lag even a little bit.

 

[Boyd]

Here's something interesting on the Kobbe map. What are these labels "Randolph" and "Union" ? Not sure if they are two separate features or one -"Randolph Union"? They seem to be in the style of other township names.

 

[stiltzkin]

I just happened to read this Wikipedia article about Randolph Township (1870-1893) within the past few weeks. Union Township (1846-1977) was the original name for Barnegat Township.

 

[bobpbx]

Here's something interesting on the Kobbe map. What are these labels "Randolph" and "Union" ? Not sure if they are two separate features or one -"Randolph Union"? They seem to be in the style of other township names.


View attachment 19688

And, Brookville used to be Millville (above the "U" in Union.)

 

[Boyd]

I knew about Millville, it's on the Cook, Vermeule and USGS topo maps. But Randolph and Union are new ones for me - thanks!

This discussion has inspired me to scan another unusual vintage map I've had for some time. It's just a road map, not likely to help discovering any secrets in the Pines, but interesting from a historical perspective. Will start another thread, so as not to further hijack this one.

[update]Turns out there was a small copyright notice that I did not originally see on this map. So, unfortunately, I had to remove it.

 

[Teegate]

This is a Lacey/Union Township monument with the letters L and U in it with a line (arrow) in between them. I have found others but they don't have the letters. One of them is missing now and was on the road behind what use to be Barnegat Wreckers.

 

[M1 Abrams]

I came across this thread from April last night. Forgive me, Boyd, but after the opera discussion, it seemed like a shocking omission not to include the following clip:

 

[Boyd]

That is a terrific film. A friend gave me this poster more than 20 years ago, it still hangs on my wall.

I have a funny story about meeting Kitty Carlisle (Hart) while working for Syracuse Opera back in the 1980's. At that time, she was on the board of NYSCA (NY State Council on the Arts), taking a tour of our facilities along with some other VIP's like Al D'Amato. This was not the kind of fancy place you might imagine for a cultural institution like an opera company. It was an abandoned elementary school where we got permission to use a portion of the building as offices and scenery construction space. We gradually expanded into more of the building and made "creative" use of the space to actually rehearse on the sets before loading them into the theatre. Lots of fun back then, but it was sort of "ghetto" operation.

Anyway, I was introduced as the guy in charge of building the sets, running the crews and managing the facility. She was very flattering and said she was so impressed with what we had done, adding "...the Met doesn't even have anything like this" - which was pretty funny, considering their multi-million-dollar facilities and our abandoned schoolhouse. Trying to sound modest I said, "Well, I don't think we're quite in the same league as the Met..."

She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Young man: I am quite familiar with the Met and can assure you that they don't have anything like this!". Put me right in my place!

 

[Trailwalker]

Does anyone know the origination or history of the two "heads" on this and other period maps in the western environs' of Colliers Mills? Head of Woods and Head of Snag?

 

[Boyd]

Sounded familiar but I had to look it up again. FYI, here's a map

https://boydsmaps.com/#14.00/40.040998/-74.456553/historic62k/0.00/0.00

Funny, this is right on the border between two different Cook maps, so "of Snag" doesn't appear on my version because of the seam.

https://boydsmaps.com/#14.00/40.040998/-74.456553/cook/0.00/0.00

Same problem with the Kobbe map, apparently they put the seam in the same place.

https://boydsmaps.com/#13.00/40.040998/-74.456553/kobbe/0.00/0.00

As far as the meaning... good question, I'm sure we will get some good explanations! And a "head" discussion will be a good companion to our recent neck discussion!

 

[Oriental]

Does anyone know the origination or history of the two "heads" on this and other period maps in the western environs' of Colliers Mills? Head of Woods and Head of Snag?

Head of Woods must be short for "head of Wood's Swamp". The 1885 Cook map shows Wood Swamp a little to the west so presumably the area represents the so-called headwaters (or most upstream portion) of Wood Swamp. I am sure I have seen old deeds that confirm this assumption but can't put my hands on them right now. I will continue to look.

I would bet that there was either a Snag Swamp or a stream that was once called Snag Branch in the vicinity of Head of Snag. We should look at the stream that flows west toward Brindletown or the one that flows east toward the old Success Mill for clues.

Bear Head Road in Medford ends at a small pond that old deeds called "Bear Head" presumably for the headwaters of either a Bear Swamp or Bear Stream that originates there.

Many, many deeds reference the "Head" of some swamp, millpond, or stream. Head of Shourd's Mill, Head of Great Swamp, Head of Bull Creek, Head of Tulpehocking Swamp, Head of Dudley Hole, and Head of Swago Swamp, are just a few of the references I have come across.

I am very curious to know if there is another possible explanation.

Indeed, this topic is quite reminiscent of our discussion of "Necks".

 

[Oriental]

 

[bobpbx]

Head of Woods must be short for "head of Wood's Swamp". The 1885 Cook map shows Wood Swamp a little to the west so presumably the area represents the so-called headwaters (or most upstream portion) of Wood Swamp. I am sure I have seen old deeds that confirm this assumption but can't put my hands on them right now. I will continue to look.

I would bet that there was either a Snag Swamp or a stream that was once called Snag Branch in the vicinity of Head of Snag. We should look at the stream that flows west toward Brindletown or the one that flows east toward the old Success Mill for clues.

Bear Head Road in Medford ends at a small pond that old deeds called "Bear Head" presumably for the headwaters of either a Bear Swamp or Bear Stream that originates there.

Many, many deeds reference the "Head" of some swamp, millpond, or stream. Head of Shourd's Mill, Head of Great Swamp, Head of Bull Creek, Head of Tulpehocking Swamp, Head of Dudley Hole, and Head of Swago Swamp, are just a few of the references I have come across.

I am very curious to know if there is another possible explanation.

Indeed, this topic is quite reminiscent of our discussion of "Necks".

I wonder...perhaps local citizens, wanting to head (no pun intended) into the swamp from where they lived, always went to a certain entry point. Since back then it was more common to walk and roam (often for economic reasons such as trapping), going to the head of the swamp was simply that point most people drifted to when they did go there. I think this may be a stretch, but it's just a thought.

 

[Spung-Man]

I grew up a farm in the Calfs Head at Buckhorn, a series of spungs where the Cape (Tuckahoe or Lake) trail intersected with the Boundary and other trails. Buckhorn's a Swedish settlement, where the Tomlins raised cattle and cut cedar. The trails followed the rims of spungs so as not to get your moccasins wet, thus heading the waters of Calf Pasture Branch. Calfs Head farm at crosshairs—

https://boydsmaps.com/#16.00/39.469197/-74.880364/lidar2022hd/0.60/53.60​

Head and other geographic terms are covered in Soggy Ground: A Geography of Pine Barrens Wetlands (Demitroff 2024). In example, I wrote in Footnote 8,

“There were at least three Bears Head ponds and Bears Head Branches along a trail by the same name (today’s Bears Head Road), one at Cornucopia Avenue (Fig. 4.8A), one at Doughtys Tavern, and one at Baker Road. Likewise, the head pond on Calf Branch (Milmay) is the Calfs Head. A 'head' is the source or headwaters of a stream. To 'head' a stream or water body is to go around it (OED 2013). Bear also relates to wood so poor that is not worthy of a day’s labor (Moor 1823: 505), cf. Littleworth for Petersburg (Gordon 1850)."

According to deeds in my archives, The Hartman map misplaced Calf Branch to the East Branch of the Manumuskin. Up-trail on the Cape from our farm is Manumuskin Head, the source of the West Branch of the Manumuskin, where Hance (of Hance Bridge Road) had dripping pans for tar kilns. Manumuskin Head, too, is at a series of spungs where we owned land destined for turkey range. Manumuskin Head property at crosshairs—

boydsmaps.com

S-M

 

[Boyd]

Head of River also comes to mind. But the origin of the Tuckahoe River is nowhere near there. I guess they meant this was as far upstream as boats would go?