The 11 Minute Error

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,966
8,710
I thought I would pass along a small piece of history that you would not know about. Hopefully, you will find it interesting. Keep in mind that I work during the day so I have not been able to check the tax records to confirm present property ownership. So for this post I am assuming they still own it.

Guy



You have heard me mention the Pine Crest Gun (Buck) Club here before, and if you have viewed my “Then and Now” gallery you have viewed a photo of it. You may have even visited there.

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=238&pos=23

This club owns ten acres of property around the cement slab where their club once stood. It is located just a short distance from the JCRR tracks at Pine Crest south of Apple Pie Hill.

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...478,-74.584519&spn=0.002955,0.007628&t=k&om=1


However, they also own 75.882 acres of property that stretches from the JCRR all the way to the property of the Bordentown Gun Club on 532. Most likely it was purchased to guarantee themselves easement rights to get as close as possible to their club, but that is just a guess by me. In any event, in November of 1949 they had it surveyed by Winfield H. Eldridge, a Surveyor from Pemberton NJ. His survey stated that he determined the line on the left was not a straight line, and where I have the blue circle on the below map, the property line angles off ever so slightly to it’s next location by 11 minutes. A very slight turn, but a turn none the less.


main.php




main.php




The property to the left at the time was owned by the Estate of Joseph Wharton, and if we fast forward 6 years it was being purchased by the State of New Jersey to become part of the Wharton Tract. The surveyors had assembled, and armed with surveys of Wharton’s property, they compared it to Mr. Eldridge’s and found a discrepancy. Apparently, the line according to Wharton’s records was straight, and did not have the 11 minute turn. They had a dilemma since they could not survey it until this problem was straightened out so to speak ;)

If you have visited the new library at Batsto, which is the room just off of the Visitors Center, you may have looked in and notice three paintings on the wall. One is of Beck, one of Pierce, and the middle one is of Joseph Truncer. Who is he you ask? Well, he was one of the surveyor’s of the Wharton property.

So on 6/1/1955 Joseph Truncer decided to have a conference with Winfield Edridge to find out why the discrepancy. Later he would hand write the below info on the very survey map the discrepancy was shown on.


6/1/1955- Conference with Norman Eldridge L.S. (Licensed Surveyor) Pemberton. N. Eldridge stated that he did the field work on this survey and that the draftsman must have made a mistake and established a corner where there was only a transit station. He stated he thought the west line of this tract should be a straight line from the C.R.R. To the Bordentown Gun Club. - J.J. Truncer

So the draftsman took the blame even though the survey shows an 11 minute turn which I guess he just made up in his head. The state had their answer and ultimately 7 survey monuments were placed on the line from the JCRR to the Bordentown Club.

So the next time you exit off of 532 at the curve, and pass the Bordentown Gun Club on your left, stop on the dirt road along the back property of the club and walk the edge of the incline right next to the road. You will see one of those state monuments, whose history you now will know a little more about.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,677
4,851
Pines; Bamber area
Pretty cool story Guy. Interesting. So, the property was supposed to be a rectangle with very long sides and short ends?

Who would sell such an odd piece? 75 acres of woods too narrow to even build on.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,058
3,328
Pestletown, N.J.
For every 1000', 11 minutes will throw you out 3.2'
Use the tangent function on a scientific calculator.
Tan 11' x 1000'=3.1998'
The angle must be expressed in decimals of a degree.
11'= 0.1833 degrees.
Scott
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,966
8,710
Pretty cool story Guy. Interesting. So, the property was supposed to be a rectangle with very long sides and short ends?

Who would sell such an odd piece? 75 acres of woods too narrow to even build on.

No. The property was supposed to be exactly like it is, just that the left line on his survey had a 11 minute turn at the blue circle when it should not have.

Guy
 
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