Writing is central to Jim’s work. It documents achievements and provides information to guide clients and to inform readers. Research, organization, organizing, applying appropriate techniques in a changing world.
Mary VanCampen: Her Short Life and Special Gravestones Mary VanCampen’s two gravestone markers. We know very little of Mary’s life. Dying young was not at all uncommon at that time, and her life was less than two years in duration. Hardly time to develop a full personality, yet something about her grave suggests that she […]
Calno VanCampen Cemetery Visit the Tocks Island/Water Gap Intro Page VanCampen headstones at Calno in 1966. The Effect of the Tocks Dam Threat on Local Cemeteries In the period while the Tocks Island Dam was still a real possibility, an often-overlooked concern was the estimated 6,000 graves that might have been affected by the massive
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Marl: Past and Present Marl is a product in the ground of historic natural forces, typically found where coastlines or shallow bodies of water once existed. It is found in various colors, often greenish, with a number of key mineral ingredients and other characteristics that were valuable to farmers, and later, to chemists. It often
Burlington Sand and Philadelphia Boodlers See other Burlington County History Philadelphia Inquirer sketches from 1906 court hearing on Torresdale Water Plant sand contracts From Birmingham to Torresdale By Jim Alexander From the August 21, 1906 Mount Holly News: “The puffing, snorting and blowing of a large mogul locomotive awakened many people out of a sound
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Miscellaneous Writings Since Jim writes across a broad range of topics, here are some that are not listed under specific other subjects on this site. A number of these were written in recent years for the Lumberton Chronicle. Main Writing Section:Other Subjects Book Reviews Billy Boyle-WWII Mysteries, by James R. Benn. Hidden Persuaders, by Vince
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South Jersey Solid Waste Atlantic County solid waste facility, Burlington County landfill and recycling plant. Current estimates are that each person in the United States produces about 4.9 pounds of solid waste each day, a figure that has been rising. This is generally what gets hauled away from homes by garbage or recycling trucks; there’s
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A Delaware Water Gap National Park? Evaluating the Redesignation Controversy By Jim Alexander, updated October 18, 2022 and October 25, 2024. See Our Full Tocks Island / Recreation Area History The Setting | The Park Proposal | The Opposition |Comparability Argument | National Parks Generally |Happening at the Water Gap | Lesson from the Past
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The Breakdown of Law, Order and Social Fabric During the Tocks Island Project The destruction of homes was accompanied by a breakdown in the established order. How it was before … “It seems that the only problem I have with this job is to find a place to move or build.” As John Uporsky settled
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A Legacy of Hurt:Eminent Domain at Tocks Island The dam was never built, but Annie Oftedal died alone at home because of it. “Why fight a losing battle?” commented Joseph H. Cook, Jr., chief of the Corps of Engineers real estate division in Philadelphia. “We wish we never heard of the damn thing.” “We uprooted
Tocks Island Project Resistance Publications The Minisink Bull was a periodic newsletter circulated in the area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey that would have been impacted by the proposed Tocks Island Dam construction. It was published by Joan Transue Matheson, a resident of Dingman’s Ferry, PA, with the assistance of unpaid local writers and supporters.
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