Unfinished places.

N

no1one

Scout
Nov 2, 2007
38
0
I found lots of areas on google maps that look like they've been cleared out years ago but never built. Take a look and see if you know any of them.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...,-74.310923&spn=0.0264,0.072956&t=k&z=14&om=0

^ In this one look a bit to the left of 72 in the woods. It looks as if they cleared some streets. The wildfire in May was here, so the "ghost town" probably is gone. This is in Stafford Township, NJ.



http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...9.640364,-74.33075&spn=0.013219,0.036478&z=15

^ Some unpaved roads overgrown in Little Egg Harbor, NJ near 539. Look towards the center of the pic.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=....412656,-74.550562&spn=0.013262,0.036478&z=15

^ The intersection of the GSP & the ACE. Overgrown roads to the SE of the interchange.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...9.33204,-74.916372&spn=0.026556,0.072956&z=14

^ This place look big. A little east of Port Elizabeth. Not technically the Pine Barrens, but close.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=....500133,-74.838438&spn=0.026492,0.072956&z=14

^ idk if this is the pine barrens either, but it look like it's called "Gigantic City". Near Mizpah.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=....060764,-74.206638&spn=0.013138,0.036478&z=15

^ Lakewood. This looks like a big area. They are building some things in here recently.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=....563022,-74.895601&spn=0.026468,0.072956&z=14

^ Just northwest of "Gigantic City". "Unexpected Rd", which became famous in the past year or so after it was in an online poll for "wackiest street name", runs through here.


Thats it for now, but there are alot more like this. Does anyone know what these abandoned places are and why they were never developed?
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,661
4,838
Pines; Bamber area
Yes, they are all over. I think many of them might have been abandonded for various reasons: zoning issues, money, environmental restrictions, politics, death, taxes, etc.
 
Boyd

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,826
3,007
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Welcome to the site no1one. There are quite a few places like this in Atlantic County, remnants of big ideas for towns which never took off. I like the way Charles J. Adams III describes them in "Atlantic County Ghost Stories":

Look at a detailed map of Atlantic County, New Jersey, and you will see them. Scattered between towns such as Hammonton, Mays Landing, and Egg Harbor City are broad grids of streets that mark the existence of other places -- that do not exist.

The notion of ghost towns conjures up images of the boom/bust mining towns of the west. But, Atlantic County has more than its share of them.

They have names like Laureldale, Thelma, Finger Boards, and Gigantic City.

Many are so ghostly that they exist only on paper and in the fading imaginations of failed entrepreneurs. Some were the dreams of developers who hoped for a windfall of building along the highways and railroads that coursed the county on their ways from cities to shores. Others were classic "company towns" built to house and serve hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of workers at mills, mines, and munitioins plants.

At some places, the geographical ghosts manifest as gravel lanes with grandiose labels on weathered signs. It is not unusual to see a "15th St." or "Broadway" leading into the thick of a pine forest along Routes 40, 50, or other main roads of the county.
Click to expand...

If you're interested in these kinds of places then you should enjoy looking at the 1930 ariel photos discussed in these threads:

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=4129
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=4157
 
N

no1one

Scout
Nov 2, 2007
38
0
Some more:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...,-74.750376&spn=0.026522,0.0739&t=k&z=14&om=0

^ just west of Estell Manor Park in Mays Landing


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.706473&spn=0.013267,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ Right across the river from the above, but a little more south.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.765396&spn=0.013276,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ just west of the MacNarma wildlife area.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.683385&spn=0.013228,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ Mullica, NJ. A bit NW of Egg Harbor City.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.735999&spn=0.013226,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ Just west of the above. This look like it might be a train station of some sort.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.217582&spn=0.013195,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ This is in Barnegat. On both sides of route 9.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...-74.154711&spn=0.013173,0.03695&t=k&z=15&om=0

^ Forked River, just east of Pinewald.
 
jburd641

jburd641

Explorer
Jan 16, 2008
410
22
Port Charlotte, Fl.
Abandoned developements

Boyd and Bob are exactly right. These are mostly developements that just didn't happen. Someone jumping the gun on approval or running out of money or interest.
If you are really interested in these "ghost towns", you could go to the tax offices in the towns they are located in and see the tax maps showing some of these in great detail. Of course, they are just drawings but they were someone's dream at one time.
They are sometimes known as "paper streets". This means they basically only exist on paper somewhere, usually the local tax office.
The oval shaped one could be the remains of an old horse farm. That's a total guess on my part.:eng101:
 
Ben Ruset

Ben Ruset

Administrator
Site Administrator
Oct 12, 2004
7,619
1,878
Monmouth County
www.benruset.com
It's still unclear how much they are going to be able to develop it. Sarco was the place that I first went "offroad" in a Jeep. That was back in 1998 or so. They've knocked down some (all?) of the buildings and cleaned up the waste pile, but I'm not sure what the status of the development is now.

I do wonder why there are those neatly lined up firebreaks cut through the place. It does look like a planned development.
 
MarkBNJ

MarkBNJ

Piney
Jun 17, 2007
1,875
73
Long Valley, NJ
www.markbetz.net
A lot of the development by the big players like K. Hovnanian and Toll Bros. has just stopped up here. There are empty construction sites in a number of places. I suspect that their access to capital is pretty much non-existant at the moment. I'm sure that, assuming they remain solvent, they will return to these projects at some point.

no1one, Amatol and Amatol City (located a little southeast of the area where the plant was) are fun trips. You don't have to go far in to the plant area to get to some interesting sites. Only a small portion of it is driveable, so to see the good stuff you have to walk.
 
Jerseyman

Jerseyman

Piney
Sep 10, 2003
1,379
432
West New Jersey
www.jerseyman-historynowandthen.blogspot.com
no1one:

You seem to be asking the same question in at least two different threads on the forums here. If you want definitive information on any of these failed developments, I suggest you visit the clerk’s office in the county or counties where you find these developments and conduct some research in the filed plans. Most clerk’s office record these plans by township and all clerk’s offices maintain indices for these filed plans, so finding the drawings should not be too terribly difficult. Once you find the plans, you will learn when the developer presented the plans for filing and who that developer was that prepared the drawings. Based on the date and the name, you can then either conduct a title search of the property or visit a historical to review microfilmed newspapers for the time period you find on the plan. Once you have completed this research, you will know a heck of a lot more than most people can consistently provide to you here on the forums, unless, of course, someone like RednekF350 or another member who is a professional surveyor happen to work on laying out the parcels into streets and building lots.

Best regards,
Jerseyman
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,951
8,695
Jerseyman gives good info as usual. I will add that you may find that the clerk may be semi helpful at times depending on how their day went, or their personality. My experience with one clerk was that she guided me in a direction and left me to figure the rest out myself. This may be all well and good if you are experienced, but if not you may become frustrated. Do your homework and be prepared for some bumps in the road, or stone walls.

Guy
 
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