Stone Searching Fall/Winter 2023-2024

[Teegate]

All,

Spent the early morning in Medford and Shamong stone searching in the burned area. Some of the locations we came upon were really crispy and others were unburned and looked like Fall.

And along the way we stumbled on a Green Acres monument on the Medford/ Shamong border. The carsonite orange post was totally black from the fire. It is right on the edge of the digging for the Braddock stone hill from the 1800's.

 

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Spent some time this morning planning our searching and will be visiting an area again where I found this stone broken and repaired in 2011. It actually is the Parker Preserve but not an area where much goes on.

 

[Teegate]

Before stone searching we visited a place that we go to every year that has a few Gentians. Arriving there early we saw these as we walked up. Nobody was there so they had just left them.

Kayakers stop there and they apparently accidentally cut this Gentian off recently.

It is mushroom season for sure. These designs seem to be like snowflakes...no two are the same.

Then to Allen road which has been slightly widened and graded as mentioned by PinesBucks.

We crossed two streams and did not find any stones but we did find Bass River monuments.

It should be a nice winter for exploring.

 

[stiltzkin]

This was on Saturday at a very healthy spot for them. Most were still unopened, but it should look like a carpet of deep blue by now. Will check in on them again.

 

[Teegate]

All,

We were heading out today to stone search in Bass River and were notified by a member of the site about a post he saw along Martha Road. So we drove down Oswego Road to get there and checked out the progress they are making on widening the road and clearing trees along the edge. It looks to me that they are finished at least along the roads. They have not it appears moved into the woods yet.

Oswego Road.

The intersection of Oswego and Allen Road. We are on Oswego looking East.

Since the woods have been burned we checked again for an old former township stone deep in the woods and it is surely gone. We did find the property line for a few lots long ago purchased by the state.

And then to the posts I was notified about. They are concrete post either painted with some seriously thick paint or coated in some sort of plastic. There are 5 of them in a semi circle right off of Martha Road. I will have to research the property there to see if someone owned it in the past and who they were.

They have a plastic cone in the holes and the holes taper just like the cone.

 

[Teegate]

All,

Today we decided to revisit the Parker Preserve property that we were at a few months back. It rarely gets visited and much of the paths are filling in from lack of use. Our first stop was to see a stone I found in April of 2011 with Rob from work. The stone had been broken and someone had fixed it in the past.

Here is the stone in 2011 and today. Still looks the same.

The same day we found the stone in 2011 we visited a cranberry bog nearby and talked with the owner for an hour. The photos below show it in 2011 and today.

On our way we crossed this man made canal.

Bypassing a water hole.

A map that manumuskin gave me years ago mentioned a large monument so we tried to find it.

I suspect it is no longer there and this normal one is. I tripped over it and found it.

There are bald eagles in the area and from January to July one is not allowed to be in this area.

And we also visited an old concrete structure that in 2009 PBX visited. The next two photos shows it in 2009 and today.

If you have been reading about the Spartan gun club in Chatsworth you will know the place is collapsing and the town wants to tear it down. So we made a trip there to photograph it. The porch has collapsed taking part of the wall down and the roof with it. Or maybe the other way around.

 

[c1nj]

It would be nice to know what brand of adhesive was used to fix that stone.
Anything I glue together doesn't last an hour let alone a decade!

 

[Teegate]

Was out this morning early in Warren Grove by the FAA tower looking for a stone. Found nothing except solid black ticks all over us. I picked off 10 or more. Never saw a tick that dark before.

We did see a bald eagle at Chatsworth lake. Jessica at first thought it was a goose. And we saw the New Jersey Devil at Lucilles. Glad to see it is back. And we drove down 539 to Oswego Road and drove it all the way to Allen Road. They have cleared it all but have not removed all the downed trees towards 539 yet. I had to pull of the side at one point to let a car past and when back on the road my left front wheel was screaming. We had to jack the car up multiple times because the jack kept tilting on us. Finally I was able to remove the wheel and it was just a bent shield around the rotor. One pull and it was fixed.

Oswego road is sandy in spots and at one location it looks like if we get rain it may be quite muddy. Jessica and myself are off from work the week after this week so Jessica and I will be in that area quite a bit looking for Tucker stones for a few of the lots. I acquired an 1850 copy of a map showing some of the lots and have come up with some locations to look.

 

[Teegate]

Today. A little long and nothing special.

Motorcycles

 

[Teegate]

We were in Bass River today looking for property stones belonging to the Tucker family and other lots. We came up empty but while walking around and viewing the area I realized that some of my information was incorrect. I came home and have absolutely narrowed them down and will be visiting the area soon to find them. There are 5 in all I am looking for.

Here is one of them from an 1850 map.

 

[Teegate]

We struck out again today. We did have to cross Tommy's Branch which is named for Thomas Ridgeway. I have to assume it was the son of Thomas also named Thomas (1701-1786). It is void of water and an easy cross.

 

[Teegate]

Yesterday we explored again in Bass River. For a while we were across from the fire tower on Greenbush Road. FYI, The dirt road across from the tower is called Ben's Road and we parked there for a while looking for monuments to help us find some old stones. Found three monuments to help us out.

On my hands and knees I found this dead three blazed tree and the monument.

Today we traveled behind the Pleasant Mills church doing some exploring far from the area. We walked 4.9 miles according to Jessica's watch. That was after walking two miles with my wife at 6AM this morning.

The church parking lot has been paved and it looks like a new roof is on the way. I could see some of the shingles missing.

The bridge is pretty bad.

Spent a mile with me.

On our way past we visited the misspelled Nescochague station that is still black from the fire.

And again this week we are swinging and missing for stones.

 

[stiltzkin]

I often wonder if that bridge will ever be rebuilt someday.

 

[Teegate]

I often wonder if that bridge will ever be rebuilt someday.

I seriously doubt that. The church certainly would not want that as the vehicles were driving by during church service interrupting it from what I heard. Imagine being in that building while 20 vehicles or motorcycles go by one after another. And the state sure has not been pushing to find a way to open it up from 206. And the road that can get one there from Rockwood have the plastic signs and is blocked on West Mill Road either by the state or Miller, not sure who. Plus, they now have hiking trails using West Mill Road behind the church so they won't want vehicles going down it.

It irritates me that while walking down that road I could see where vehicles are getting there by crossing the bridge on Millers property and they have well worn entrances all along the road where they obviously are setting up their hunting spots deeper in the woods. I have been on the road when multiple vehicle go by me after accessing it from the mentioned bridge. I had to walk 5 miles today to get to and from where I wanted to go and others can drive there.

 

[Teegate]

We were in Lebanon today stone searching so we decided to check this stone out. Since it is a walking or bike trail I had not visited it before. We try to stay away from people so we went early.

From the back it is obvious they reused the stone from a former location.

Pine Barrens Hall of Fame - Protecting the New Jersey Pinelands and Pine Barrens | Pinelands Preservation Alliance

2014 Hall of Fame Inductees Dave Moore Dave Moore is a visionary and a pioneer in the effort to protect land in New Jersey. He has helped create organizations like New Jersey Future, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, the Highlands Coalition and the Pinelands Preservation...

pinelandsalliance.org

 

[bobpbx]

It irritates me that while walking down that road I could see where vehicles are getting there by crossing the bridge on Millers property and they have well worn entrances all along the road where they obviously are setting up their hunting spots deeper in the woods. I have been on the road when multiple vehicle go by me after accessing it from the mentioned bridge. I had to walk 5 miles today to get to and from where I wanted to go and others can drive there.

Sounds ripe for a lawsuit by frustrated people.

 

[Teegate]

It was very quiet on Bulltown road today when we entered the woods. We heard voices and soon saw bicycle riders passing by occasionally as we skimmed the edge of the road looking for property stones. The sun was blinding us since it was so close to the horizon. We then went deeper and were surprised to find this stone at one of the corner locations. All of the information I have does not mention a stone.

When finished there we traveled to the Reeds Branch off of Prince Place Road in Chatsworth revisiting a few places to check on a few things. This chair is holding up much better than the tent that surround it. The hunter even left a sleeping bag.

It is really nice in that area once you pass through the briers and reach the swamp. It is dry there so we did all of our traveling using that route.

I have quite a bit of time off soon and have a few projects I am working on. One of them is the fact that I have an 1819 deed from the Atsion area that mentions an old cabin of Thomas Ballinger. I know the location but have to make it there and see if there is a well. I am always concerned when the cabin is from that far back but my Herd's cabin exploration from before 1819 proved a well still can be found in good shape. We shall see.

 

[Teegate]

You may remember back in 2015 a man from Tennessee ( On business in California ) wrote me and gave me a tip on a stone off of 206 across from the Pic-A-Lilli. He had hunted there with his father and they found the stone on one of their outings. I then visited the location the next day and found the stone with a crude scratching in the granite.

Fast forward to recently when I acquired a deed from 1816 that gives the description of the property. In the deed it mentions an old cabin near one of the corners.

I made plans to go back a few weeks ago but was really sick the complete weekend. The place floods and I wanted to get there before the rain and in the last few weeks it did just that. So today was finally the day since Jessica had to work and I had off. I decided this time to park in the Pic-A-Lilli parking lot rather than along 206 because the state police checked out my vehicle the last time we parked there.

So early this morning I parked at the very edge of the Pics parking lot and walked across 206 and headed in. It was a struggle but I finally made it to the stone again.

Click below to watch my video.

Click Here To Watch Me Travel To The Stone And Visit It

I then headed to my calculations of the other corners but the place is too flooded and full of briers. I have come up with another route to take and will try again soon. I am hoping to find a possible well where the old cabin was located. A long shot but you never know.


All of the stands out there are really high.

There are some really nice places out there.

I didn't realize until I was on my way back that the hunter had blazed a trail to his stand. Other than walking in a flooded stream for a while on the way back I was able to use his path some of the way.

I then went to Atsion and saw the news crews at the parking lot waiting for the noon news to report on the helicopter crash.

 

[Teegate]

I revisted a few places for better photos and I took this video of the Emma Broome Cramer stone. There actually are letters on both sides but I have to go back with a better shovel to get more photos. Some deeds also say Brooms and not Broome.

Click Here For Short Video

 

[Teegate]

I spent the morning in the woods around Buckingham trying to find a few of the property corners. That was a bust. On the way there I stopped again at the J.J.White bogs and took a photo.

I also found two of the property corners for the 13 Rod & Gun Club off of 70. This one is on the Woodland/Pemberton line. I am in Woodland. Quite a bit of old appliances or whatever from what may have been the club were nearby.