I had been meaning to go back out to Colliers Mills for some time now. Having recently picked up some software that will let me calculate longitude and latitude on the historic maps (with some degree of innacuracy, though) I wanted to load the GPS up with some spots to look at and do some exploring.
First off, I wanted to find Success. Beck decided that it more or less didn't exist anymore. As much as I was hoping that he was wrong, I have a feeling that he was right on the money with this one. It turns out that Success was built around a sawmill, and that they were virtually guaranteed success by the large amounts of cedars nearby. Well, for one reason or another the mill failed, and the land was bought by Dr. Edward Smith. Smith tried various enterprises in the area, culminating with the digging of Success Lake by steamshovel and stocking it with carp.
From what I can tell, Success was located near where High Bridge Road comes out near Success Lake. Having only the old 1885 USGS Cassville map to go on, it appears that Success was located right around 40.058394N, 74.393054. This puts it on this little peninsula that juts out into Success Lake. Needless to say, there isn't anything there today. Another possibility is that the site of the sawmill was dug up when the lake was made, which I believe to be the most plausible theory.
Also on the map were two very odd sounding places. "Head of Snag" and "Head of Woods." If you do a Google search for Head of Snag you'll see someone's geanology page that mentions that someone was born there. The location today coincides with the location of the Halfway House bar on 539, just past the intersection of Colliers Mills Road. "Head of Woods" was named for the "Wood Swamp". Unfortunately the location of it is off in the woods on Fort Dix property. With no evidence of roads leading into the woods around the location, I think it's safe to say that there was never anything there.
Head of Snag:
40.051130N, 74.455643W
Head of Woods:
40..030063N, 74.459752
Without any luck finding those locations, I decided to drive down the road that leads past Colliers Mills WMA. It's a dirt road that leads down past the WMA and brings you right to where Lakehurst Air Station and Fort Dix meet. In fact, I'm not sure if the road is even legal to drive on. It appears that they are putting a fence right down the middle of the road in one part. There's nothing too interesting about the road, except that it drops you out to 539, and it's really bad sugar sand. I would NOT go down it unless you have 4WD and good tires.
Guy, I have a feeling that the road that I drove up is part of the Lawrence Line. I haven't checked, but it just reminded me of the part that we drove down the other day.
First off, I wanted to find Success. Beck decided that it more or less didn't exist anymore. As much as I was hoping that he was wrong, I have a feeling that he was right on the money with this one. It turns out that Success was built around a sawmill, and that they were virtually guaranteed success by the large amounts of cedars nearby. Well, for one reason or another the mill failed, and the land was bought by Dr. Edward Smith. Smith tried various enterprises in the area, culminating with the digging of Success Lake by steamshovel and stocking it with carp.
From what I can tell, Success was located near where High Bridge Road comes out near Success Lake. Having only the old 1885 USGS Cassville map to go on, it appears that Success was located right around 40.058394N, 74.393054. This puts it on this little peninsula that juts out into Success Lake. Needless to say, there isn't anything there today. Another possibility is that the site of the sawmill was dug up when the lake was made, which I believe to be the most plausible theory.
Also on the map were two very odd sounding places. "Head of Snag" and "Head of Woods." If you do a Google search for Head of Snag you'll see someone's geanology page that mentions that someone was born there. The location today coincides with the location of the Halfway House bar on 539, just past the intersection of Colliers Mills Road. "Head of Woods" was named for the "Wood Swamp". Unfortunately the location of it is off in the woods on Fort Dix property. With no evidence of roads leading into the woods around the location, I think it's safe to say that there was never anything there.
Head of Snag:
40.051130N, 74.455643W
Head of Woods:
40..030063N, 74.459752
Without any luck finding those locations, I decided to drive down the road that leads past Colliers Mills WMA. It's a dirt road that leads down past the WMA and brings you right to where Lakehurst Air Station and Fort Dix meet. In fact, I'm not sure if the road is even legal to drive on. It appears that they are putting a fence right down the middle of the road in one part. There's nothing too interesting about the road, except that it drops you out to 539, and it's really bad sugar sand. I would NOT go down it unless you have 4WD and good tires.
Guy, I have a feeling that the road that I drove up is part of the Lawrence Line. I haven't checked, but it just reminded me of the part that we drove down the other day.
