Mannington Marsh

[johnnyb]

This past weekend Ro & I were privileged to be taken on a tour of Featherbed Lane and Mannington Marsh by Karl Anderson and his wife. While not in the Pines, these places are in West Jersey Province. Saw roosting Bald Eagles, maybe a White Fronted Goose, several Harriers, and up close a pair of Sandhill Cranes. Went on line this morning to NJ tax map site <http://njgin.state.nj.us/oit/gis/NJ_TaxListSearch/>, (mucho thanks to whomever posted that earlier on this forum) to see exactly where public and preserved lands are in that area. Shocked to discover that Mannington Marsh, the tidal water area, is divided into irregularly shaped, privately owned, taxable lots. Only non-taxable area was what appears to be the course of a stream thru it.
Since when has property under tidewater been deeded and taxed?
Property lines end at waters edge on Delaware Bay, which is the state boundary.
The rivers leading inland are not taxable property, but the tidewater streams and ponds bordering them are taxable, privately owned. How do “they” decide where to start and stop tax lines?
How do they survey irregularly shaped lots in Mannington Marsh that are completely surrounded by other taxable lots, all of them under water - i.e., who knows who owns what - how do you put boundary stones on underwater land, how do they do deed descriptions?

 

[manumuskin]

I know of several underwater stones but most have been covered by rising sea level. One I know of in Wading river was no doubt standing on the edge of the creek at one time,it has now fell over and is underwater and you'll never find it unless you know right where it is at.It is huge but lying on it's side and covered with mud so not easily seen but can be walked on like a table.

 

[amf]

Practically all of Mannington Meadows was diked privately owned farmland well into the 1930's. A combination of factors led to the failure of the dikes, both changing farm economics and the construction of a "dam" by DuPont that diverted the entire flow of the Salem River to their Deepwater plant. So although the meadows reverted to tidal flow after the dikes failed the locals retained ownership, which was still desirable for hunting and trapping rights. Lots would change hands for cash and any subdivision made by written amendment to the original deeds, so the existing lot lines shown are vague at best. It was considered prime hunting and trapping land until being over-run with phragmites in the early 1960's.
As an aside, at one time there was a plan to construct a dam at the south end of the meadows near Salem. It would have created one of the largest bodies of water in the state, but if was quickly realized that the shallow depth and heavy nutrient load would make any such water body exceedingly eutrophic.

 

[dogg57]

 

[johnnyb]

Thank you amf and dogg57. I would never have guessed what you described, which explains so much of what we saw.

 

[turtle]

I know of several underwater stones but most have been covered by rising sea level. One I know of in Wading river was no doubt standing on the edge of the creek at one time,it has now fell over and is underwater and you'll never find it unless you know right where it is at.It is huge but lying on it's side and covered with mud so not easily seen but can be walked on like a table.

thank you. BTW, have you seen the lower part of the Wading since Sandy's visit last year? It has been re-designed somewhat..... Best seen at low tide.

Terry

 

[Spung-Man]

My favorite account of Mannington Meadow is about the Hackett mastodon, which is the centerpiece of the Rutgers Geology Museum in New Brunswick. It was discovered in 1869 in a series of spungs formed in windblown silt called loess that blew off the Ice Age Delaware River floodplain. Two ex-slaves found the skeleton while digging a soil conditioner called marl, although the Salem County marl is technically a pseudo marl. In Eastern Europe, mammoths would leave wet floodplains in summer and migrate to higher loess covered banks where the ground was firm enough to support their great weight. Perhaps the same occurred here.

Old view of Hackett Mastodon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/castleladyg/3808962361/​

Contemporary view of Hackett Mastodon.

http://news.rutgers.edu/sites/medre...-open-20100122--GeologyMuseum03NR6_screen.jpg​

Video of Geology Museum open house.

​

​

S-M

 

[manumuskin]

Turtl The only lower wading I have seen since Sandy is from the 542 bridge.Didn't notice any changes. What am I missing?

 

[manumuskin]

Turtle
The only lower wading I have seen since Sandy is from the 542 bridge.Didn't notice any changes. What am I missing?