History

A special interest is in history, with special interest on railroads and related social and economic factors. Also includes personal interest and local flavor.

Mary VanCampen

Draft – not for release. Mary VanCampen: Her Short Life and Special Gravestones Mary VanCampen’s headstone and footstone. 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 any personality, yet something about her […]

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Calno VanCampen Cemetery

Calno VanCampen Cemetery — This is an initial working draft. Not complete yet! —  Visit the Tocks Island/Water Gap Intro Page VanCampen headstones at Calno from 1966 Menzies “Before the Waters.” Overgrown even then. Some Background: Reactions to the Tocks Dam Threat In the decades following the abandonment of the Tocks Island Dam project, strong

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Marl

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

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Eminent Domain

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

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Dr. Ely’s Legacy

Dr. Ely’s Legacy: The Mount Holly, Lumberton and Medford Railroad James Alexander Jr. ©2018 Lumberton Station TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF A LOCOMOTIVE IN MOUNT HOLLY — LOSS OF LIFE — A HORRIBLE SCENE. — Excerpted from the Mt. Holly New Jersey Mirror. May 26, 1869. A train operated by the Camden and Amboy Railroad, running on

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