Renamed Rivers and Streams

[Lynn Cremona]

Does anybody know old river names in the Pine Barrens?
Specifically has the Dead River and Mare Run been renamed.
Do they appear on any old maps?
They are mentioned in Henry van Dyke's "Between the Lupin and the Laurel"

Thank you,
Lynn

 

[Boyd]

Don't know the answer, but I have compiled two historic topo maps that might help. You can download them from the links in this post and view them in Google Earth: https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/detailed-map.11129/#post-135605

 

[Lynn Cremona]

Thank you Boyd

 

[pinelandpaddler]

I don't k ow about the Dead River but Mare Run is named such on Gordon's 1828 map and still bears this name today.

 

[dogg57]

The Dead River is a tributary of the passaic river
http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?558

 

[manumuskin]

Drains into Great Egg Harbor River above Lenape lake.

 

[Spung-Man]

Lynn,

Dead River is just an abandoned mega-meander of the ancient Great Egg Harbor River – an oxbow. The toponym is well and alive in the oral tradition. I don’t remember ever seeing it put on a map, but many a paddler have taken a wrong turn to arrive at a dead end.

Mare Run (OED: means "a female horse" or "a frightening place") is very old, and can be confused with Miry (OED: means “full of mud”) Run down at Catawba. Ireland’s Mill was built near the confluence of Mare Run with the Great Egg Harbor River. I suspect today’s Watering Hole bar at the mill location might have been the second furnace-era tavern in Emmelville, its pair the brick tavern still standing as a private residence up the road and across from the campground.

Near the Mare’s head by Gigantic City was Blue Bent (OED: means “curved”) Pond, a perfectly circular spung that has long since dried up, as have the great winter ponds at the Lochs-of-the-Swamp. The c.1706 Steelman Plantation was nearby at the intersections of the Long-A-Coming and Cohansey trails, so Europeans were in the area very early in history.
.

​

Excerpt of Denny (c.1773) resurvey of the West to the West Jersey Society as copied in Clement (Volume 1, page 16, Historical Society of Pennsylvania).​

S-M

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Say, Spung-Man...is this the oxbow you speak of?

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.490307960708684&lng=-74.75523490112306&z=17&type=nj1930&gpx=

 

[Lynn Cremona]

I don't k ow about the Dead River but Mare Run is named such on Gordon's 1828 map and still bears this name today.

Thanks much !

 

[Lynn Cremona]

The Dead River is a tributary of the passaic river
http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?558

Thank you, I know of The Dead River tributary of the Passaic River. I am interested in one that is associated with the Pine Barrens.

 

[Lynn Cremona]

Lynn,

Dead River is just an abandoned mega-meander of the ancient Great Egg Harbor River – an oxbow. The toponym is well and alive in the oral tradition. I don’t remember ever seeing it put on a map, but many a paddler have taken a wrong turn to arrive at a dead end.

Mare Run (OED: means "a female horse" or "a frightening place") is very old, and can be confused with Miry (OED: means “full of mud”) Run down at Catawba. Ireland’s Mill was built near the confluence of Mare Run with the Great Egg Harbor River. I suspect today’s Watering Hole bar at the mill location might have been the second furnace-era tavern in Emmelville, its pair the brick tavern still standing as a private residence up the road and across from the campground.

Near the Mare’s head by Gigantic City was Blue Bent (OED: means “curved”) Pond, a perfectly circular spung that has long since dried up, as have the great winter ponds at the Lochs-of-the-Swamp. The c.1706 Steelman Plantation was nearby at the intersections of the Long-A-Coming and Cohansey trails, so Europeans were in the area very early in history.
.

View attachment 7459
​

Excerpt of Denny (c.1773) resurvey of the West to the West Jersey Society as copied in Clement (Volume 1, page 16, Historical Society of Pennsylvania).​

S-M

Thank you...that is helpful information!

 

[manumuskin]

I"ve canoed that oxbow.I knew it was a dead end though when I went up it.You can actually drag your canoe about 100 ft down a ditch at the Dead End and drop right back into the Great Egg.That whole area is one of the most gorgeous areas I"ve seen on a Pine Barrens river.From Weymouth down to lake lenape is definitely a scenic trip.

 

[Lynn Cremona]

Lynn,

Dead River is just an abandoned mega-meander of the ancient Great Egg Harbor River – an oxbow. The toponym is well and alive in the oral tradition. I don’t remember ever seeing it put on a map, but many a paddler have taken a wrong turn to arrive at a dead end.

Mare Run (OED: means "a female horse" or "a frightening place") is very old, and can be confused with Miry (OED: means “full of mud”) Run down at Catawba. Ireland’s Mill was built near the confluence of Mare Run with the Great Egg Harbor River. I suspect today’s Watering Hole bar at the mill location might have been the second furnace-era tavern in Emmelville, its pair the brick tavern still standing as a private residence up the road and across from the campground.

Near the Mare’s head by Gigantic City was Blue Bent (OED: means “curved”) Pond, a perfectly circular spung that has long since dried up, as have the great winter ponds at the Lochs-of-the-Swamp. The c.1706 Steelman Plantation was nearby at the intersections of the Long-A-Coming and Cohansey trails, so Europeans were in the area very early in history.
.

View attachment 7459
​

Excerpt of Denny (c.1773) resurvey of the West to the West Jersey Society as copied in Clement (Volume 1, page 16, Historical Society of Pennsylvania).​

S-M

Thank you,
Lynn