New Jersey West Line

This wall of rocks, near the first sharp curve of Brookside Drive in Millburn’s South Mountain Reservation, is a stone abutment. It’s one of the last remnants of the New Jersey West Line Railroad east of Summit.

(Below is what this stone wall looks like from the road, if you’re NOT the type to go climbing up steep poison-ivy filled hills to get better photos of historical ruins [cough]. See it peeking through, there on the left?)

This stone abutment originally supported a wooden trestle locally known as the Ghost Bridge, so-called because there was never actually a railroad built on top of it.

There was never a railroad on it because east of Summit, the New Jersey West Line was never fully constructed.

Construction started in 1870. They bought the land for the right-of-way, and they graded the land, and they even laid tracks in some places… but construction was stopped by 1873, in part due to corporate politics, in part due to lack of finances (Panic of 1873, anyone?).

Before 1873, everyone was so certain it would be built that the railroad started appearing on several maps. Here’s an 1872 map with the Morris & Essex line highlighted in blue, and the proposed New Jersey West Line highlighted in red (hint: not the county boundaries). (Click to see it larger.)

(1872)

If part of the NJWL on that map looks familiar… that’s because WEST of Summit, the New Jersey West Line became the modern-day Gladstone branch of the Morris & Essex line!

(2012)

(As a New Providence resident, I use the Gladstone branch every day! Hooray for partial construction of the NJ West Line!)

This isn’t to say that NOTHING east of Summit was ever built on the NJWL. There was a quarry in the South Mountain Reservation that needed to export its rocks to the rest of the world. The solution? Reclaim an unused bit of the NJWL that conveniently connected to the Morris & Essex Millburn station! Here’s a map from 1906, showing the railroad spur in use long after construction had otherwise ceased on the line:

(1906)

And that’s all I know. Abandoned railroads are fun!

 

References:
Beers, F.W. (1872). “Topographical map of Hudson, Union, and Essex Cos, New Jersey.” State atlas of New Jersey based on State Geological Survey and from additional surveys by and under the direction of F.W. Beers. Beers, Comstock & Cline: New York, NY. From the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. http://www.davidrumsey.com/.

Lampe, O.W. (1999, 2000). Images of America: Millburn. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738504130.

The Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society. (n.d.). The Map Room. “1906 Atlas Map of Millburn, Plate 32.” http://www.mshhistsoc.org/map-room.

Wikipedia. (2010, last edit). “New Jersey West Line Railroad.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_West_Line_Railroad.

 

 

(P.S. Hey, speaking of railroads and history, Amtrak is sponsoring National Train Day this weekend, in honor of the completion of the country’s first transcontinental railroad in 1869. If you live near a city, and you’re into trains, why not check it out?)

The littlest park

This statue in Springfield of a Continental soldier has the distinction of standing on the smallest state park in New Jersey. How cool is that!

…It’s almost the sort of thing they’d make a sitcom episode about!

A slice of history

In the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, there’s a display with an old stump. It has numbers to point out which rings are associated with what years, and why those years are historically relevant— much like the famed Giant Sequoia in NYC’s Museum of Natural History, but on a much smaller and more local scale.

“19,” for example, is for 1968, when the Great Swamp was officially called a National Wilderness Area.

Almost all of the associated history is of local interest only, and even some of those local interests are questionable. (Since when does Morristown care about Atlantic City?) Here’s the complete list, in case you have some burning curiosity:

1. 1738 – Morris County is created by the state legistlature
2. 1738 – Colonel Lewis Morris of the province of colonial New Jersey becomes first governor
3. 1755 – The Morristown Green is first used and constructed to serve as the town courthouse and jail
4. 1777 – George Washington spends 5 months in Morris County with his troops
5. 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to join the Union
6. 1790 – Trenton is selected to become the state capital
7. 1816 – The First Presbyterian Church is founded in Morristown
8. 1835 – Morris and Essex Railroad Company chartered
9. 1861 – The Civil War begins
10. 1865 – The sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
11. 1879 – Thomas Edison invents the first light bulb
12. 1887 – Matilda Felinghuysen is born in New York City
13. 1891 – “Whippany Farms,” now known as Frelinghuysen Arboretum, is built as a summer home for the Frelinghuysen family
14. 1915 – Alison Turnbull Hopkins, Officer of the Women’s Political Union, campaigns for New Jersey’s suffrage referendum in Morristown
15. 1926 – Bell Laboratories converts a dairy barn into experimental radio station to develop high power broadcasting
16. 1929 – The Seeing Eye is originally incorporated into Morristown
17. 1930 – Charles B. Darrow develops the game Monopoly. Names in the game originate from Atlantic City street names
18. 1939 – More than 50,000 New Jersey residents join the WWII effort
19. 1968 – The Great Swamp is classified as a National Wilderness Area; it is a landmark event
20. 1969 – Matilda Frelinghuysen dies at the age of 82
21. 1971 – The Frelinghuysen Arboretum is dedicated
22. 1978 – New Jersey legalizes gambling in Atlantic City. One of four casinos opens to an enthusiastic response
23. 1975 – “Branching Out!,” the children’s gardening program, is started by the Garden Club of Morristown in conjunction with the Morris County Park Commission

Nike Road: Part 2

Remember when I was rambling about Nike Road yesterday? Do you? Today I intend to ramble about the Nike Road bridge.

For twenty years after the Watchung Reservation Nike base was deactivated in 1963, as far as I can tell, both the launcher and the control area lay abandoned and unused.

And then, in the 1970s, I-78 came along.

The interstate was originally supposed to cut right through the Watchung Reservation, but the locals were definitively not okay with that. For years, a war raged between angry locals and equally angry road-builders.

Eventually, in the mid-1980s, they came to an agreement: I-78 would be built, but it would just skirt the northern edge of the Watchung Reservation (which necessitated blasting through the Second Watchung Mountain, which was a pain), and several non-road-bearing land bridges would be constructed to allow wildlife from the Watchung Reservation to migrate across the interstate without interfering with traffic.

One of those land bridges, as I’ve already shown you, was the bunny bridge.

The other land bridge is Nike Road, a little one-lane maintenance road that ran from Glenside Avenue to the Missile Tracking Radar Station.

 

While the lore says that Nike Road has always been part of the Nike missile station, the Nike Road bridge is dated 1985; if the missile station was deactivated in 1963, and I-78 wasn’t constructed until the 1980s, there was certainly no reason to build an overpass for an unused road. And there was certainly no need to line it with the same tall grass that’s found on the bunny bridge.

 

So as far as I can tell, Nike Road bridge was wholly intended to serve as an alternative to the bunny bridge for a wildlife migration land bridge… and maybe some maintenance vehicles from time to time, because why else would they go to the trouble of paving it?

(I haven’t seen this explicitly stated anywhere, so this is my own conclusion; if you have additional information either confirming or denying this, please leave a comment below!)

But as I mentioned yesterday, it seems like vehicles aren’t really a priority, because the road is currently obstructed by logs (which are, generally speaking, not very friendly to things on wheels).

And that’s that. For additional information, refer to my sources below.

 

References:

Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – Nikesite Rd., Union Co.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/nikesite/.

Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – I-78.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/i-78/.

Bender, D.E. (n.d.). “Nike Battery NY-73: Summit, NJ.” Nike Missiles and Missile Sites. http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NY73.html.

Harpster, F. (2009). “Missiles in Mountainside: Nike Battery NY-73.” From the Hetfield House (newsletter). http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf (PDF).

LostinJersey Blog. (2009). “Summit Nike base.” http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/summit-nike-base/.

Troeger, V.B. (2005). Images of America: Berkeley Heights Revisited. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738537527.

Wikipedia. (2012). “Interstate 78 in New Jersey.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_78_in_New_Jersey#History.

Nike Road: Part 1

This is approximately where the Nike missiles in the Watchung Reservation used to be controlled!

You may recall when I wrote about the Nike missile launch site, which used to be located where the Watchung Stables are now. If you don’t (don’t feel bad, I don’t expect you to), here’s a recap.

In 1957, during the Cold War, the U.S. army declared that it would construct a Nike missile base on the Watchung Reservation. Despite locals’ loud protests, the base (NY-73) was completed in 1958.

The base consisted of two parts: the launcher (now the Watchung Stables), where missiles were assembled, tested, and stored in three underground magazines (each of which could hold ten Nike Ajax missiles); and the control area (near the present Governor Livingston High School), officially known as the Missile Tracking Radar Station.

For reasons apparently unknown, the battery started shutting down in 1962, less than four years after they opened it. (It was officially deactivated in 1963.)

While there are reportedly no signs left of the launcher near the Watchung Stables, a little bit of barbed wire and a concrete slab still mark the former control area.

 

The interesting part of this is the long, winding, abandoned maintenance road that leads from Glenside Avenue to Governor Livingston High School.

 

When I visited the control-area road, there were a lot of fallen trees blocking the road, presumably left from Hurricane Irene (August 2011) and the Halloween Blizzard (October 2011). Since the road is currently impassible to vehicular traffic, and nobody has bothered to move the logs for 5-8 months, I suspect the road doesn’t get a lot of traffic.

 

I did see more joggers and pedestrians than I expected. So the road DOES get used.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Nike Road adventure tomorrow!

 

References:

Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – Nikesite Rd., Union Co.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/nikesite/.

Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – I-78.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/i-78/.

Bender, D.E. (n.d.). “Nike Battery NY-73: Summit, NJ.” Nike Missiles and Missile Sites. http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NY73.html.

Harpster, F. (2009). “Missiles in Mountainside: Nike Battery NY-73.” From the Hetfield House (newsletter). http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf (PDF).

LostinJersey Blog. (2009). “Summit Nike base.” http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/summit-nike-base/.

Troeger, V.B. (2005). Images of America: Berkeley Heights Revisited. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738537527.

Wikipedia. (2012). “Interstate 78 in New Jersey.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_78_in_New_Jersey#History.

Cannonball!

The Cannon Ball House in Springfield was:

• Built in either 1741 or 1761 (the second date is currently favored) by Dr. Jonathan Dayton
• Originally a farmstead
• Used as a hospital by the British during the Battle of Springfield in 1780
• Pierced by a cannonball in its west wall during the Battle of Springfield (hence the name “Cannon Ball House”)
• Operated as a tavern, briefly
• A residence again, for many many years
• The home of the Springfield Historical Society (and still is, ever since 1953)
• Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 (as the Hutchings Homestead)

Here’s what it looked like in the early 1900s:

 

In case you’re wondering why I keep misspelling “cannonball,” it’s because I’m using the spelling on the sign out front.

 

Also in case you’re wondering, two of my references were bronze plaques nailed near the front door:

 

Just to confuse things, there’s another historical Osborne Cannonball House in nearby Scotch Plains (also Union County), which was ALSO built c.1760, and ALSO pierced by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. This is NOT that house.

 

References:

New Jersey State Chapter: Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. (1957). “The Cannonball House.” (Sign marker). Documented April 2012.

Sanfranman59. (Last edit April 3, 2012). “National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Registered_Historic_Places_in_Union_County,_New_Jersey.

Turner, J. and Koles, R.T. (2004). Images of America: Springfield. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738536180.

United States Department of the Interior (n.d.). “National Register of Historic Places.” (Sign marker). Documented April 2012.

The abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad: Part 3

You may or may not remember that I went hunting for the Rahway Valley Railroad a few weeks ago (as I mentioned in Part 1 and Part 2 of this saga).

To recap, the Rahway Valley Railroad was a short set of tracks that shuttled between the modern-day Morris & Essex line and Raritan Valley line. It was formed in 1904 and closed in 1992 after a long decline.

Morris & Essex in green; Raritan Valley in orange; Rahway Valley (defunct) in pink

 

When I explored a few weeks ago, I did not succeed in finding the tracks.

But this week, I took a roundabout route, all the way through the long Hidden Valley Park (which lies adjacent to the area of interest, and it is an official Union County Park and therefore legal for me to traverse. Look, they publish a PDF map and everything, it’s got to be okay).

Success!

Incidentally, now that I’ve traveled the path, if I were to do it again, I’d start behind the Knights of Columbus; there’s a sort of a trail head behind their parking lot, which is much closer to the tracks. I’d also bring a friend; I got a really creepy vibe from those woods. (No human remains [that I saw], don’t worry.)

———-

 

(This is part 3 in a series of posts on the Rahway Valley Railroad. Click here for Part 1, or click here for Part 2.

Short Hills station

The original Short Hills train station was built in 1880.

Original Short Hills station, c.1906

 

It was deeded to the Lackawanna Railroad twelve years later, in 1892 (although Millburn owns it nowadays).

As far as I can tell, the original station was replaced by the current station around 1908.

Current Short Hills station, c.1910

It’s also home to the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society!

And here’s a final couple of photos for context, because why the heck not:

For information on parking and schedules, check out NJTransit’s website.

 

References:

Lampe, O.W. (1999, 2000). Images of America: Millburn. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738504130.

No more missiles!

These are the Watchung Stables, former home to U.S. Army Nike Missile Battery NY-73!

In 1957, during the Cold War, the U.S. army declared that it would construct a Nike missile base on the Watchung Reservation. Despite the loud protests of both local officials and residents, the base— NY-73— was completed in 1958.

The base consisted of two parts: the launcher, where missiles were assembled, tested, and stored in three underground magazines (each of which could hold ten Nike Ajax missiles); and the control area, officially known as the Missile Tracking Radar Station, which was not actually located within the Watchung Reservation (or at least not within the present boundaries of the reservation).

(The launcher was in Mountainside where the Watchung Stables are now; the control site was next to Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights).

For reasons apparently unknown, the battery started shutting down in 1962, less than four years after they opened it. (It was officially deactivated in 1963.) Point of interest: the underground cables connecting the launcher and control areas were severed just days before the Cuban Missile Crisis.

For the next twenty years, I’m not sure if anything constructive happened to the site, but it seems like local kids enjoyed trespassing to check it out. (There are at least two accounts that the control room had flooded.)

Construction on the Watchung Stables began in 1983, and the stables officially moved onto the former launch site in 1985, where they’ve remained since. There might be some concrete bunkers tucked away underneath the buildings, but there are no longer any obvious remnants of the missile base.

For information on the modern-day amenities of the Watchung Stables, check out their official website.

 

 

References:

Bender, D.E. (n.d.). “Nike Battery NY-73: Summit, NJ.” Nike Missiles and Missile Sites. http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NY73.html.

Harpster, F. (2009). “Missiles in Mountainside: Nike Battery NY-73.” From the Hetfield House (newsletter). http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf (PDF).

LostinJersey Blog. (2009). “Summit Nike base.” http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/summit-nike-base/#comments (comments used extensively).

Troeger, V.B. (2005). Images of America: Berkeley Heights Revisited. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738537527.

UCNJ.org: County of Union, New Jersey. (n.d.). “Chronology of the park system: 1921-1987.” http://ucnj.org/community/parks-recreation/chronology-of-the-park-system/.

The abandoned Rahway Valley Railroad: Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, the Rahway Valley Railroad operated only between Summit and Roselle Park, connecting the Morris & Essex Line to the Raritan Valley Line. It was formed in 1904 and finally closed in 1992 after a long decline.

Morris & Essex in green; Raritan Valley in orange; Rahway Valley (defunct) in pink

But there are still remnants of it lying about.

Although the majority of those remnants (in Summit, anyway) are secured behind fences with daunting “NO TRESPASSING” signs, I did find an unofficial entrance near the Summit chapter of the Knights of Columbus. But after climbing to the top of the embankment (which I was SO SURE must have been for the railroad), all I found was a maintenance road, as seen in the top photo. No rail tracks, and it’s probably too curvy to be repaved tracks.

According to an old map, that area apparently used to be a quarry.

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After I got home and compared aerial photos to an old map of the region, I discovered that apparently I’d been walking all over the former railroad at the base of the embankment. If there are any tracks still there, they’re apparently either buried or so far off the beaten path as to be invisible.

 

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For more information (and for where I got my sources), here are some links:

Cunningham, J.T.* (October 1950). “New Jersey’s Streak o’ Rust.” Trains Magazine. http://trainsarefun.com/rvrr/streakofrust.htm.

King, R.J. (2009). “Rahway Valley Railroad History.” Trains are Fun {personal website}. http://trainsarefun.com/rvrr/rvrrhistory.htm#pass%20history and (to a lesser extent) http://www.trainsarefun.com/rvrr/rvrr.htm.

Wikipedia. (2012, last edit). “Rahway Valley Railroad.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahway_Valley_Railroad.

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(This is part 2 in a series of posts on the Rahway Valley Railroad. Click here for Part 1, or click here for Part 3.)