Millville Bunkers Destroyed?

[Kevinhooa]

I've been meaning to drive down to the wildlife management area just south of the Millville airport to see the long lost WWII bunkers for some time. A friend was just asking the other day where the Millville Motorsports park was located and when I checked the map on their website I saw that Phase 2 of their construction meant the destruction of the WMA and bunkers on the south side of Buckshutem Rd. I looked all over google but I could not tell if any construction has actually taken place there yet. Different websites said construction was supposed to start in the summer of 2008. Does anyone know if the bunkers there have been destroyed yet?

 

[46er]

They are working on pieces of the Phase II construction, the two tracks are completed and in use. The area on the other side of Buckshutem Rd hadn't been started the last time I was down there. Not sure where the bunkers are located.

Maps and aerial views at the link.

http://www.njmp.com/overview.html

 

[Bachman's Ivory]

It's an absolute shame. One of my favorite birding spots down there. Really wild, big stinky (in the best way), old woods. Last May I was down there and there was assorted traffic pulling into the track. I was blown away to see that track sitting in the middle of the woods. I can remember going down there with my Father when I was a kid, nothing was out there!

 

[46er]

There has been a pretty nice sized airport there for quite a while, at least back to the '40s. Along with the track, there is a retirement community next door.

 

[manumuskin]

No fear,the bunkers should not be destroyed.Both sets are on state land.the racetrack has done nothingas of yet south of buckshutem road.The racetrack if it develops south of the road as they plan to will make it so you have to access the eastern bunkers from the east (555) instead of from the north (670) but they do not even have any plans posted to develop as far west as the western bunkers and the field that you normally access those through is state and I do not believe you have to cross motorsports property to access those,worst case scenario you could cross the swamp and access them from the south.The eastern bunkers are right on the edge of motorsports property but on stete land,you may have views of any carnage they create but the bunkers themselves should be safe.
Al

 

[Chrisr]

There has been a pretty nice sized airport there for quite a while, at least back to the '40s. Along with the track, there is a retirement community next door.

A little history (very little! LOL!!) on that airport on Buckshutem Rd.. My great grandparents, and grandfather (born in 1898) when he was a kid, lived on and farmed the land that airport is on. Back during WWII, the Govt. came along and bought it from them so they could build an airstrip to train pilots.

Talk about doing a title search. I'd love to do one on that piece of property, just for the family history aspect.

 

[Kevinhooa]

No fear,the bunkers should not be destroyed.Both sets are on state land.the racetrack has done nothingas of yet south of buckshutem road.The racetrack if it develops south of the road as they plan to will make it so you have to access the eastern bunkers from the east (555) instead of from the north (670) but they do not even have any plans posted to develop as far west as the western bunkers and the field that you normally access those through is state and I do not believe you have to cross motorsports property to access those,worst case scenario you could cross the swamp and access them from the south.The eastern bunkers are right on the edge of motorsports property but on stete land,you may have views of any carnage they create but the bunkers themselves should be safe.
Al

Thanks for clearing that up Al. I got sick to my stomach when I looked at the map on their website that showed part of phase two going south of Buckshutem Rd. I'm glad they will be saved, even with the development. It seems that so many places have been destroyed within the past few years. The house at Bulltown, the famous house in Atsion near the RR, the house on Rt. 9 near Tuckerton, the Atlantic Brickworks, and Wheatons partially burning down. And I'm sure there's been a lot more. Granted, most of these places are in a state of disrepair, and would have probably fell down on their own, it's still sad to see the ground leveled like they never existed (except for Wheatons). I figured this was one more thing ready to dissappear forever. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[manumuskin]

your not the only one who would cry if they tore those bunkers down.I wandered out to the eastern set when i was about 20 years old.never knew their were bunkers there but I seen the little building symbols on the topo map and figured i might find some old foundations.the fact they were in a row was odd.I was mesmerized when i walked up on those old buildings with the impring of the wood frames still visible on the concrete and swallow nests on the walls.found a dead small dog in one of the open areas across the road that had a collar on and was chained to a stake.nothing but a skel;eton.still wonder if someone left it there to starve or shot it and walked away.Those open area I was informed by my uncle who was heavy into metal detecting back then were target areas that were bombed while observers watched from the bunkers to report accuracy.there are thousands of bits of brass sparkiling in these areas from the shells and to this day nothing will grow in those zones.
Al

 

[Kevinhooa]

Rode out to Millville after work yesterday to see if I could find those bunkers. I approached from the east off of Rt. 555 and walked maybe 1/2 mile down a small trail and came to 6 bunkers on my right side. They're covered with trees pretty good, but it's easy to see them from the mapping sites. I was suprised to find that several of them had what looked like bullet holes (or marks rather) in their fronts like someone was using them for target practice with a high powered gun. After scanning the satellite photos, it looks like there is another set of 6 to the north west and possibly another set in the middle for a total of possibly 18. I might try to go back out this weekend and see if that is true. How amazing it is that these are just sitting back there almost forgotten in the woods. I wonder if any other airports in NJ had these for protection?

 

[manumuskin]

Rode out to Millville after work yesterday to see if I could find those bunkers. I approached from the east off of Rt. 555 and walked maybe 1/2 mile down a small trail and came to 6 bunkers on my right side. They're covered with trees pretty good, but it's easy to see them from the mapping sites. I was suprised to find that several of them had what looked like bullet holes (or marks rather) in their fronts like someone was using them for target practice with a high powered gun. After scanning the satellite photos, it looks like there is another set of 6 to the north west and possibly another set in the middle for a total of possibly 18. I might try to go back out this weekend and see if that is true. How amazing it is that these are just sitting back there almost forgotten in the woods. I wonder if any other airports in NJ had these for protection?

There are seven in the western set if I remember correctly.6 to the right ast the road bends right and one hidden one to the left.these are much cooler then the ones you were at in my opinion.more isolated and less visited.
Al

 

[davensj]

These bunkers/target placements were used for P-47 Thunderbolt target practice. This where the targets were raised and lowered. If you go there stand with your back to the open side of the bunkers and you’ll see sandy white areas. This is where the bullets were hitting the ground, you still find bits of copper bullets in the sand. There are 5 target areas that I know of out in there but only these 2 have the bunkers, the others were wooden target placement and all that is there is the white sandy ground clearings with the bits of copper.

 

[manumuskin]

abd to this day nothing will grow there.copper is poison.those areas are dead zones.neat but dead.
Al

 

[Kevinhooa]

Thanks for the info on the target practice, that explains the bullet holes in many of the bunkers. And yeah, I did see the clearings in front of some of them. There were berms all over the place behind the bunkers, I'm guessing to protect equipment or whatever was stored back there. Either way, thanks for the replies.

Here's a link to the shots I took - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinhooa/sets/72157624612958000/with/4842648226/