Palmyra Cove

[aleahey]

Hey all.

I was wondering if anyone knew much about the natural history of Palmyra Cove. I know it is comprised chiefly of dredge spoil (I think they're currently dredging the Delaware and pumping the material inland) but there are some seeming old-growth trees on a few of the interior trails. I think I saw a pecan tree or two as well as several sizable sycamores. I'm trying to develop a mental image of what part of the peninsula is old and what is new, but it doesn't seem to follow any logical progression to my (admittedly untrained) eye.

Just wondering if anyone knew more than what the website has in terms of the history of the place. Thanks!

 

[Teegate]

There are a bunch of posts on this site about Palmyra Cove. If you haven't read them you may want to start there.

 

[Jerseyman]

Aleahey:

Herewith are details from the 1849 and 1859 County rolled maps and a detail from the 1876 County atlas. You will note that extensive tidal marsh lands once lined the Delaware River's east shore in the area of today's Palmyra Nature Cove. Beginning after 1666, Swedes first occupied this area. These included members of the Toy and Wallis/Wallace families. Later, descendants of Griffith Morgan, whose house and ordinary stood just across the Pensaukin Creek in present-day Camden County acquired land here. During the late nineteenth century, the Frankford Arsenal would testfire new ordnance across the river, resulting in the commandant receiving letters of complaint from Jersey farmers concerning dead cows, sheep, and hogs.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

 

[Tom Jenkins]

FYI, there's a lot of development going on around Palmyra Cove. There's now a huge warehouse where the flea market used to be, with another one under construction behind it. This article talks about it:

NJDEP boosts Palmyra's former flea market site as viable location - The Sun Newspapers

The township has dubbed the 182-acre plot of land next to Palmyra’s Cove Nature Park “a ticking time bomb.” The site – which has frontage on Route 73 – had at one time more than 300 unexploded military weapons known as ordnances. During World War II, the U.S. Army operated a testing range for...

thesunpapers.com

While all this doesn't seem to be affecting the park itself, this probably will: there are plans for a low-income apartment complex on land that has been part of the park, but is apparently owned by the same outfit that owns the flea market property. The woods have been cleared and some prep work has been done. This is within about fifty feet of the large pit used for dredge spoils. I can't help but think that, once completed, this has the potential to really impact the nature of the park as it is now.

 

[aleahey]

There are a bunch of posts on this site about Palmyra Cove. If you haven't read them you may want to start there.

I'll have to do a deeper dive, I couldn't find it mentioned more than a time or two. Weird!

 

[aleahey]

Aleahey:

Herewith are details from the 1849 and 1859 County rolled maps and a detail from the 1876 County atlas. You will note that extensive tidal marsh lands once lined the Delaware River's east shore in the area of today's Palmyra Nature Cove. Beginning after 1666, Swedes first occupied this area. These included members of the Toy and Wallis/Wallace families. Later, descendants of Griffith Morgan, whose house and ordinary stood just across the Pensaukin Creek in present-day Camden County acquired land here. During the late nineteenth century, the Frankford Arsenal would testfire new ordnance across the river, resulting in the commandant receiving letters of complaint from Jersey farmers concerning dead cows, sheep, and hogs.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

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Thanks so much, this is incredibly helpful and gives me a jumping off point in terms of the historic shoreline.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Aleahy,

Take a look here: https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer

You will see the original landscape in 1931 before the dredging began and can see the development throughout the decades.

 

[Boyd]

I'll have to do a deeper dive, I couldn't find it mentioned more than a time or two. Weird!

Sorry, I don't know anything about it. But putting quotation marks around the words you want to search for on this site will sometimes help. For example, this is what I get for "Palmyra Cove" but maybe you have already seen all of these?

Search results for query: "Palmyra Cove"

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