what is this location

[nipsey russell]

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zLcz6Hi5RESA.kvD3zanbMEaw

this is probably just an old bog, but i wonder if anyone knows if this is private or public property or anything about it.

on a trip to whitesbog i noticed this on the side of rt 70 and couldn't resist pulling over. my kids had a blast running around here and it is a coolspot. a bit spoiled (my kids wanted to know why someone would need to leave 20-30 whipped cream cans laying around- "whipped cream party?"). I posted this on a facebook site and someone said "The back portion of the pond is owned by the people in the house built on the pond next to that one. The front is probably owned by the state as part of the right of way of Rt. 70. " Although i didnt see a house there, on the satellite map you can see a big pond to the south with a house there.
i have no idea (yet) how you guys created the maps on this site (awesome), but i can see the same spot on the 1930 aerial map (it oddly looks like someone used a pencil eraser on the map, thats just the shape of the water).

if we were trespassing i apologize, but we left it as we found it, were respectful, and my kids loved it.

 

[bobpbx]

I've been up and down route 70 most of my adult life, and I've never been there. For some odd reason it creeps me out. Obviously man-made, maybe that's why. I don't like holes dug by people that fill with water. Don't ask me why, it just bothers me.

It likely had something to do with the construction of the bridge that used to be just west of there. There was a bridge on route 70 that crossed over the railroad.

 

[RednekF350]

if we were trespassing i apologize, but we left it as we found it, were respectful, and my kids loved it.

No need to apologize to us for trespassing, save that for court.
I am attaching a GIS overlay of the property lines onto a 2007 aerial. The red dot marks the home of the person that owns 94 acres with the house and the rear portion of the pond. There is some ortho error in these overlays but they are fairly accurate.
The right of way of Rte. 70 in this area is tremendously large at 520' and it includes most of the pond. There was obviously a long term vision of a north and southbound highway with a median.

 

[46er]

The right of way of Rte. 70 in this area is tremendously large at 520' and it includes most of the pond. There was obviously a long term vision of a north and southbound highway with a median.

As they are doing further west out near Marlton.

 

[johnnyb]

Ooops! Ro and I were in there a few weeks back, checking to see if Bladderwort/Utricularia we'd seen there years ago was still evident. It wasn't. Obviously a party site. Didn't realize back part is private property - no way to tell that
on site. From aerial it's pretty evident lake resulted from site being a borrow pit for embankment needed to supplement 70's bridge crossing the railroad. Bet Jerseyman with his humongous knowledge of local railroads could support/deny PBX's and my supposition.

 

[oji]

A large section of Rt.70 is a scenic highway. No buildings,signs and maybe power lines. That is the reason for the wide ROW. Possibly for expansion also.

 

[nipsey russell]

wow, this site is great.

So, what this means is that the front part of the ponds are "right of way" - i assume this means i am allowed to be there?

"it's pretty evident lake resulted from site being a borrow pit for embankment" - this explains the odd "pencil eraser" shape of the pond, i guess from digging machines. But i cant believe it would maintain that shape since the 30s, wouldnt it eventually even out into a more natural shape?

 

[Ben Ruset]

It just means that the state owns that sliver of land. Just like whatever town you're in owns 10 feet from the street into your yard. Can you be there? Maybe/kinda/probably. Could someone give you a hard time? Yeah, probably.

The shape would stay roughly the same. There's no flowing water there. I bet it's heaven for the mosquitos.

I wonder how deep it goes? If it's only one shovel scoop deep then it doesn't seem like it'd be enough dirt to raise and lower the grade of 70 to accommodate the bridge. If it's really deep then that would also explain why it still has water in it since the 30s. But the shape of the pits don't really scream out "deep" to me.

Oh, and the whipped cream cans are from kids doing whippets to get high.

 

[nipsey russell]

Well I knew what the whipped cream was for, my kids were the ones confused, I've been around the block

And I still don't see how a bucket scoop wouldn't even out over 80 years, but ... there it is!

 

[nipsey russell]

I think pretty shallow looking back at pictures

 

[johnnyb]

Comparing the 1931 aerial photo with recent Google Earth view there's been considerable smoothing of the shorelines of both ponds, especially the southern/western one.....