Pieces Of Hampton Park History
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
Jerseyman,
Thank you for the clarification. A primary source is exactly what is needed! I'm looking forward to your relocating that folder and posting your response.
Cheers,
Lost Town Hunter
Thank you for the clarification. A primary source is exactly what is needed! I'm looking forward to your relocating that folder and posting your response.
Cheers,
Lost Town Hunter
Turtle and I did some more extensive exploring at the mill site, and I walked away a bit more confident about my understanding of the site. I will recant my previous assertion that there were two mills here. I mistook for a raceway what I now think was simply an overflow channel, as I could find no suitable high ground for a mill. There are still some mysteries to be solved, however, including a pond immediately below the dam that appears to have been dug out, as well as a network of drainage ditches throughout the swamp below the dam. Uncle Budd has agreed to join me soon on another trip to the site.
Guy,
Don't be fooled by the absence of "high ground." Saw mills were sometimes located directly on the edge of stream corridors or even over water on pilings.
Lost Town Hunter
Don't be fooled by the absence of "high ground." Saw mills were sometimes located directly on the edge of stream corridors or even over water on pilings.
Lost Town Hunter
Thank you, Ted. Do you know of any examples offhand of pine barrens saw mills which were situated as such?
Gabe,
I went back today (dressed for the weather) and did quite a bit more exploring on the other side, crossing over and going through to the river. Ted's mention of mills in post #64 is interesting. The "diversion" canal I'd originally seen in the past is connected to another that merges with the big one we discussed. There is a spot of "higher" ground where this canal opens at the river channel.....
Overall, almost as puzzling as the channels we saw yesterday. I'm interested to hear what you and Budd come up with.
Terry
I went back today (dressed for the weather) and did quite a bit more exploring on the other side, crossing over and going through to the river. Ted's mention of mills in post #64 is interesting. The "diversion" canal I'd originally seen in the past is connected to another that merges with the big one we discussed. There is a spot of "higher" ground where this canal opens at the river channel.....
Overall, almost as puzzling as the channels we saw yesterday. I'm interested to hear what you and Budd come up with.
Terry
I don't know whether this helps, but since I've got the data handy, here's the full resolution LIDAR image of the general area. The scale on the left is the color code representing elevation.
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Gabe,
The Indian sawmill at Indian Mills was situated over water, as were two adjacent early saw mills at Wells Mill.
Lost Town Hunter
The Indian sawmill at Indian Mills was situated over water, as were two adjacent early saw mills at Wells Mill.
Lost Town Hunter
I've pieced some of the puzzle together with regards to the locations of the mills and bridges on the West Branch of the Wading River.
As LostTownHunter previously noted, Braddock-Rogers stated that the Skit Mill was located a 1/4 mile downstream from where the Tumbling Dam was, which would place the Skit Mill here:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.675368785792095&lng=-74.54262256622314&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx
Enoch Hammel's 1836 map of McCartyville (see pg. 322 of Heart of the Pines) names this site "Smith's Old Mill." A Daniel Smith surveyed the property in 176o and likely established a Saw Mill soon thereafter. But it was supposedly Ive (Evi) Bellangee (Bellanger) Jr. who built the Skit Mill on the West Wading sometime around 1750.
I originally guessed that Bellangee's Skit Mill was located here:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.661824818586396&lng=-74.52960848808289&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
As of now, I think this is the most reasonable guess I can make. The land straddling the river here was owned by Thomas Bellangee in 1793, and there was a road that led between this site and Bellangee's Saw Mill on the Oswego just upstream from the present day dam at Harrisville Lake. Moreover, Arthur Pierce seems to have agreed that this was the site of the Skit Mill, as he describes it as being located not quite 1/2 mile upstream from present confluence of the East and West Branches of the Wading. But I ask myself: Would it have been likely that there were two mills on the same river so close to one another?
Moving along...
This was called the "Sooy-Weeks Bridge" in the 1836 map of McCartyville:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.673634645532346&lng=-74.53575611114502&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
This was where the old road to Martha Furnace crossed the river:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.66934865499569&lng=-74.53707575798035&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
This was called "Burnt Bridge" in the 1836 map:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.66322063059212&lng=-74.52930808067322&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
And this of course is where the Tuckerton State Road crossed the river at Bodine's:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.6545479692621&lng=-74.52508091926575&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
I'm going to do some more extensive exploring around these sites this summer, especially underwater. Maybe I'll find some more clues to help piece it all together.
As LostTownHunter previously noted, Braddock-Rogers stated that the Skit Mill was located a 1/4 mile downstream from where the Tumbling Dam was, which would place the Skit Mill here:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.675368785792095&lng=-74.54262256622314&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx
Enoch Hammel's 1836 map of McCartyville (see pg. 322 of Heart of the Pines) names this site "Smith's Old Mill." A Daniel Smith surveyed the property in 176o and likely established a Saw Mill soon thereafter. But it was supposedly Ive (Evi) Bellangee (Bellanger) Jr. who built the Skit Mill on the West Wading sometime around 1750.
I originally guessed that Bellangee's Skit Mill was located here:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.661824818586396&lng=-74.52960848808289&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
As of now, I think this is the most reasonable guess I can make. The land straddling the river here was owned by Thomas Bellangee in 1793, and there was a road that led between this site and Bellangee's Saw Mill on the Oswego just upstream from the present day dam at Harrisville Lake. Moreover, Arthur Pierce seems to have agreed that this was the site of the Skit Mill, as he describes it as being located not quite 1/2 mile upstream from present confluence of the East and West Branches of the Wading. But I ask myself: Would it have been likely that there were two mills on the same river so close to one another?
Moving along...
This was called the "Sooy-Weeks Bridge" in the 1836 map of McCartyville:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.673634645532346&lng=-74.53575611114502&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
This was where the old road to Martha Furnace crossed the river:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.66934865499569&lng=-74.53707575798035&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
This was called "Burnt Bridge" in the 1836 map:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.66322063059212&lng=-74.52930808067322&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
And this of course is where the Tuckerton State Road crossed the river at Bodine's:
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.6545479692621&lng=-74.52508091926575&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=
I'm going to do some more extensive exploring around these sites this summer, especially underwater. Maybe I'll find some more clues to help piece it all together.
On my way home this evening from exploring the Skit Branch, I was walking back to my truck from Hampton Park to Carranza Road via Hampton Road. I was tired and day dreaming, thinking about the history of the area and tripped over a wire in the woods. Teegate had mentioned, in one of his posts, that the cranberry operations had a phone and electricity. Could the lines have been run as simple as hanging them from the trees?
The pine is one of the largest standing and the eyelet is about twelve feet off the ground.
This section of wire went to a large bolt buried in the pine needles. It is also attached to the eyelet anchored in the tree.
The pine is one of the largest standing and the eyelet is about twelve feet off the ground.
This section of wire went to a large bolt buried in the pine needles. It is also attached to the eyelet anchored in the tree.
Teegate, you have driven past this spot many times. I was surprised to find it where I did. It is hard to see from the road unless you know where to look. I deleted my track by mistake but I'll plan on returning sometime this week and will PM you when I do with the coordinates.