Years Ago Today

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
26,009
8,775
What is the exact date you have for this day?

Finally found them.

Bob_.jpg


Bob2.jpg
 
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Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
26,009
8,775
That oxbow and large tree both are within the bounds of "the old sawmill lands," originally a 712-acre tract dating to 1688. William Farr researched and wrote about the mill and its associated property. You can read Bill's text here:

http://www.westjerseyhistory.org/books/farrwatermills/W.shtml

The article to read is the second one in his "W" chapter, labeled as "Walker's Sawmill (Old sawmill)." History surrounds us and can be found under every step we take, but it is sometimes difficult to imagine the physical landscape of past centuries.

Best regards,
Jerseyman

Have you been in that area in the past year? It has changed so much you would not even know the area. I am not sure how I would even get to that oxbow now.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,721
4,908
Pines; Bamber area
The graffitti people are likely in their late 20's to early 30's now. I hope they see these pristine pictures and feel devastatingly miserable about what simple-minded idiots they were back then.
 
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Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
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Jul 31, 2004
9,892
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Also found these in my gallery backup - (literal) state of the art GPS from 2004, a Garmin StreetPilot 2620 with full US maps on an internal 2.5gb
IBM MicroDrive, cost me about $1000! Also bought their US Topo and installed part of it. A little smaller than a brick but just as heavy, on a cold morning you had to wait for the microDrive to warm up before it would start spinning!

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And here's an amusing old thread to accompany this 2004 screenshot :clint:

https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/gps.1004/#post-7468

And here's the same area on my Magellan Meridian Gold handheld GPS, which was later purchased by another member of the site.

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stiltzkin

Explorer
Feb 8, 2022
540
807
Medford
20 years ago this evening, over 13 inches of torrential rain fell on parts of Burlington County, in some places at a rate of more than 3 inches per hour. This led to a "100-year" flood event.

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Along the Rancocas Creek and Batsto River basins, 28 dams were damaged and 17 were completely destroyed, adding further to the flooding and emptying many man-made lakes in the area. There was about $80 million in damage and President Bush declared Burlington and Camden counties disaster areas.

Some photos from the following few days around Medford.

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bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,721
4,908
Pines; Bamber area
I've always found it interesting that, in a place like Medford, when the lake one lives on is full, it's a paradise to them. "Oh, the view!" But when the lake is drained, it's a stark world, shoddy and repelling. So, there is an illusion going on. But I'm not really making fun of them, I'd feel the same way. I'm just interested in how we as humans love seeing a body of water. I wonder why. What's behind that?
 
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c1nj

Explorer
Nov 19, 2008
290
188
My buddy was a Medford Lakes police officer at the time. He was driving a brand new Expedition the night the dams blew. He was by Flanagans gas station when the dam gave way behind the Settlers Inn. He saw this wall of water coming straight for him like an "Indian Jones" movie. He shifted into reverse peeled wheels and narrowly escaped.
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,892
3,046
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
I remember it well! Had just moved from one of the old log cabins in Medford Lakes to a home on Atsion Road in Medford. I was lucky, no real damage beyond a wet carpet around the basement door where some water seeped in. But didn't have to go far to see the effects of the flood. I remember watching radar (there was a Comcast cable channel that just showed radar 24/7 back then) and that storm just parked itself over the Medford area and didn't move.

One thing made a big impression on me following that storm. Out in the woods, the damage was pretty minimal. But as soon as you went in to an area that was developed and paved, it was a real mess. Nature has its own way of dealing with these events, but when man messes with it, then the trouble begins.
 
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Boyd

Administrator
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Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,892
3,046
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
 
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