Hike #1113; Spruce Run Turnpike
3/14/18 Spruce Run Turnpike with Dan Asnis and Ken Zaruni
This next hike would be a point to point on the former route of the Spruce Run Turnpike, another that I do typically every Winter when it looks like there might be a good amount of snow on the ground, but I still want to cover high mileage.
The route was originally the colonial road between the Oxford Furnace, built in Oxford in 1741, and the Union Furnace, built in 1742 in present day Union Township. Both provided munitions for the Revolutionary War.
The Spruce Run Turnpike itself was chartered in 1813 as a toll road between Oxford Furnace and Clinton. It was the predecessor to modern day Rt 31, which took shape in the 1930s with an act to number the highways. 31 was first designated Rt 30, but there was another Rt 30 in south Jersey, so it was re-designated Rt 69. The signs were all getting stolen, and so the highway was eventually redubbed Rt 31.
View on Mine Hill
We met right after I got out of work in Clinton, at the now closed A&P Supermarket, and then shuttled from there north to Oxford, at the lot across from the Central School. We used to park there, but new signs recently tell us not to.
We started our walk by going through town and checking out the Shippen Manor as I usually do. It’s very likely the finest example of a colonial ironmaster’s mansion.
We turned to the left and I pointed out the history behind the Oxford Furnace. We walked around back, and I discussed how the original furnace was the rear one.
View on Mine Hill
The newer furnace was put in front, and both were repointed in part with funds from the Warren County Municipal and Charitable Conservancy Trust.
I pointed out how the church there today was originally the mill associated with the furnace.
Historic image of Oxford Furnace
The wall of the church had recently been repaired because it was bowing out, and the building was in danger of collapse. When the original church was on property the mining company wanted, they offered to swap the mill and turn it into a church in return for the land. It was agreed upon, and the front windows were made into a handsome church window.
I also pointed out that the original Warren Railroad station was behind the furnace, and showed where the grade was from 1856 till 1862 with the completion of Oxford Tunnel.
We walked the former turnpike route up hill through the town, and then continued on Mine Hill Road. I showed where the Oxford Iron Mine Railroad crossed, as well as the original 1856 Warren Railroad again, and then the spur to the mines heading up hill.
New development in Washington, stalled for years.
I pointed out where the Warren Highlands Trail will come out when we get things in order, and we made our way up and to the top of the hill. Heading down the other side, there were more old mining roads going off to the right, and we still got a good view on the left where the trees had all come down during Tropical Storm Sandy.
Once we came over the crest of the ridge, it was a nice easy walk back down hill into Washington Township and past the Fairview Golf Course. We crossed Pohatcong Creek, then continued back up hill to the next tributary valley.
There’s a new development road on the right that’s seemed to be stalled for at least three years. The road is paved and lined with trees, but no clue what is going on there.
We started in the valley of the Furnace Brook, which is a tributary of the Pequest River, and in Washington we crossed Pohatcong Creek, which is it’s own tributary to the Delaware, although many seem to believe it flows into the Musconetcong.
We headed up hill and into Washington, where I pointed out the former Morris Canal and bridge site, and then the Cornish Mansion, the beautiful building from when Washington was the organ capital of the world.
We continued past the Quick Chek along Belvidere Avenue, across Rt 57 onto Broad Street and headed down hill to cross the Shabbecong Creek, which is a tributary to the Pohatcong Creek. We then headed up hill a bit more and out to Rt 31.
Old lime kiln
Usually when we do this hike, it’s not all that terrible to get across 31, but this time it was insanely busy. One of the reasons for this is the fact that this was the first time I’d attempted this hike after the time change. It was usually getting dark by this time.
We continued on the next bit of the former turnpike, Springtown Road.
We followed this section out to where it started going up a hill before new development area, parallel with the newer golf course. To the right, for the first time I noticed a very old lime lin in the woods. When I went in to look, I could tell it was a line of two or three of them.
Old lime kiln
I was rather impressed that I’d never seen there. There area couple of them integrated into the golf course just a little bit further down, and when the new Shop Rite was built on the same former farm, the largest ones were incorporated into the landscaping there.
Old lime kilns
Ken and I checked them out while we waited for Dan to catch up. We then crested the next bit of hill and made our way along the development where my friend Jenna lived in High School. We continued along the stretch of road toward Asbury-Anderson Road.
The Spruce Run Turnpike aligns funny with the present day roads just ahead. It turns right on Asbury-Anderson Road from Springtown Road, and then turns left on New Hampton Road. Still, if standing on either side of those roads and facing the other intersection, one can easily see how the original main road was different.
Golf course view
This time, even Asbury-Anderson Road was kind of busy.
There are some beautiful old homes right at the intersection. Maybe this was the area that was known as “Springtown”, but I’m not sure.
We turned to the left from Asbury-Anderson onto New Hampton Road, and then waited for Dan again so he’d know what turns to make. We then moved on along New Hampton Road with new houses around us.
View showing how Springtown, Asbury-Anderson, and New Hampton Roads lined up.
We continued down hill and approached the Musconetcong River. The through truss bridge in place today replaced the earlier deck span with grated floor, which was interesting.
Another view of old Spruce Run Turnpike alignment
When we got to the bridge, Ken and I waited for Dan again. It was still surprisingly pretty light at this point.
Once he was caught up, we crossed the bridge, where I saw a path going to the right, which could have been an earlier road. Now, since it’s state wildlife management area, I could have hiked this route, but I wanted to stay on the historic turnpike, so we continued on up hill toward the little hamlet of New Hampton. It wasn’t long before the school was on the left, now the township museum.
The bridge to New Hampton
The old school is kept in very good repair, and there are new history markers in place I’d not yet noticed. One was for General Daniel Morgan, who was born in New Hampton in 1736. Morgan is regarded as the creator of the greatest tactical masterpieces of the war, which won key battles for the Continental Army.
New Hampton is of course a colonial town, and I always like to relate the story of how the nearby town of Hampton is actually much younger a town than New Hampton.
New Hampton School
When the Mansfield Woods Church burned down, which was on Cemetery hill where we passed earlier, the congregation split between Hackettstown and the new Musconetcong Valley Presbyterian Church built in 1837.
Typically, if a church was built, the town would start to grow around it, but such was not the case in the valley.
In 1853, the Central Railroad of New Jersey built roughly a mile east of this church, and in 1856, the Warren Railroad, which was to become main line for the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, made it’s junction there too. The town sprouted around this.
Historic marker
The town was named “Junction” for the prominent interchange between the two lines.
As time went by and more railroads were built all over, a vague and non-specific name like “Junction” wasn’t going to cut it for the town. There were junctions everywhere, and confusion would be inevitable. Another name was necessary.
Because the nearest settlement was New Hampton, the name “Hampton Junction” was adopted. The junction remained in operation even when the Lackawanna Railroad shifted it’s main line to the former Morris and Essex to the north.
General Morgan plaque
When the Lackawanna built the New Jersey Cutoff in 1909, even less traffic came to Washington, and therefore even less on what was now the “Hampton Secondary”.
As the railroads declined, the bit of the old Lackawanna between Washington and Hampton (which also passed through New Hampton up on the hillside) was decided to be abandoned. Service ended on the line in 1955, and so the town of Hampton Junction officially became simply “Hampton”. It was probably referred as such for a long time before the abandonment anyway.
New Hampton school
After checking out the school area, we continued on through the settlement of New Hampton, down hill past the old Shoddy Mill, and past the historic homes, many of them with the date of their construction on the doors.
As we walked, I looked off toward the river, especially after we passed the New Hampton Inn.
There was once a road that continued from Imlaydale, the little settlement on the Warren County side, and crossed the Musconetcong River on old through pony truss bridges like the others on the river.
Historic New Hampton
I remember when I was little, my grandfather was doing a survey in the area, and there was the remnant of a stone arch bridge that went across the river. Years later, in 2007 while I was working at Taylor Rental, I remember setting up a tent in Imlaydale and talking to a guy there about the old arch bridge. “Not many people know about that bridge...” he said to me. I was hoping since it was still not dark out yet that I might catch a remnant of that bridge if any still exists. I didn’t see anything of the arch, but I did pick out where the old road to Imlaydale had it’s truss bridge crossing, now part of a private driveway.
Old church in Hampton
We continued ahead, and I pointed out where the original Rt 31 (30 and 69) bridge over the Musconetcong was.
Ken had told me that whenever he drives these different places, he takes his wife on different routes based on where he’d been hiking with me, which I thought was pretty cool. This particular hike would be of great use to him since most the entire thing is an historic highway route that can still be driven today.
We continued across present day Rt 31 and entered the town of Hampton. I pointed out where my family had lived, where my great grandfather, George Prall Allen came to work on his uncle’s farm when he was disowned by his father for marrying his wife, Gladys Snyder. Apparently, because Gladys Snyder was raised by another family than her own as a border, it was a taboo thing to marry her.
We continued up the main street on the former turnpike, and passed the newer Presbyterian church, as well as the next one up the hill that’s now a residence. There are at least five churches in Hampton, and only three of them are still in use as churches.
We continued up under the former Central Railroad of New Jersey bridge, and I called my grandfather to tell him I was relating family stories and such. He added some history, stating that he remembered the locomotive coming into town at night, and that it would detach from the train and be turned around on the turntable. He said it only took one man to turn the locomotive on the turntable, because it was so balanced. The machine would be re-attached to the train and it’d be ready to go back to the city in the morning.
I pointed out where my great grandfather’s barber shop was, and where my grandfather was born. I then pointed out where the blueprint shop was where I used to go to pick up maps for my grandfather.
We continued over the top of the hill, which is where we left the Delaware watershed altogether and entered the Raritan watershed, and began descending toward the Spruce Run, which flows into the South Branch of the Raritan in Clinton.
We headed down from town to cross 31 again on the historic route, into Glen Gardner. We had to dash across at that point, which was kind of busy. The road into Glen Gardner had almost no traffic at all.
We continued through town past Humprey’s Tavern, which is named for the founder of Glen Gardner. I think the name Gardner comes form a later quarry owner, but I can’t quite remember for sure.
We walked the main street and I pointed out roughly where my great grandfather’s last barber shop had been, now a residence. I really like walking the Glen Gardner segment because it’s so pretty. I did take one side trip out to 31 and got some more drinks at one of the stores before moving onward. We were going to go to Hot Rod’s Hot Dogs, but the grill was closed for the night, so we moved on again.
We continued through Glen Gardner to where the road comes back out to Rt 31. We immediately crossed over the Spruce Run and passed a sort of ramshackle house on the left. It had gotten in pretty bad shape after the snows of this past winter, because the southern part of the roof had collapsed and was covered with at tarp, but someone was still living there.
We continued ahead, through the Irishtown section where the Spruce Run Turnpike moves away slightly from the present 31 again. This was an area of question lately, because Lebanon Township maintains the road, but thinks NJ DOT should be maintaining it.
We continued next further down 31 and reached where the old road turns away slightly again at the intersection of Buffalo Hollow Road. I gave Dan the option of staying on 31 while Ken and I followed the historic route. He was falling behind, and so he’d be able to keep up better by staying on the highway.
Ken and I crossed and walked through the car dealership lot, where the original road went, and then crossed Van Syckles Road to the entrance road to the NJ Fish, Game and Wildlife building. The Spruce Run Turnpike skirts the edge of the reservoir and is during normal water levels under the water. At this point, although reservoir levels were coming up, the old road was still well out of the water and easy for us to walk.
Old Spruce Run Turnpike in the dark
We continued across the old bridge across Willoughby Brook where it joins the Spruce Run, still in reasonable enough shape to walk, and then I pointed out where Van Syckles Corner Road, predecessor to modern day Van Syckles Road, used to intersect. This was originally a four way intersection, with Van Syckles Corner to the west, and Cregar Road to the east, which still connects to 31 adjacent to us.
We headed away from the reservoir and stated heading up hill, and I pointed out the old spring house ruin to the right, where motorists used to stop to fill water jugs and such.
Once we got back up to present 31, Dan was right there. We crossed over directly and picked up another abandoned bit of the old turnpike. There’s still a stop sign on the north end of it, because it is apparently used on occasion to get to the golf course. I recall a house used to be on it, and I used to drive the entire former routing before the south side was cut off to traffic.
It remained clear to the top of the hill, but then got rather overgrown. We still managed to get through it, and the ambient light from the highway provided enough for us to see.
Once off of this section, we had no choice but to continue on 31.
Clinton at night
We walked north along the highway, and I made a stop at the Valero Station on the right. They have really good made to order food at the place, and I frequent it on my lunch breaks at work because they’re so good and accomodating.
This time, I decided to grab one of the only things left: some chicken bites. They were actually quite hot. I shared them with Ken and Dan, which was a good thing because I could barely handle them myself. They also got cold pretty fast because the temperature was way down.
Clinton at night
We headed to where Rt 513 broke off to the right, the old road route, and headed down hill into Clinton. We turned and kept to the sidewalk after passing across a little water authority property.
Soon, we were in Clinton, and we could see the Old Red Mill to the right along the South Branch of the Raritan at the bridge.
The Old Red Mill was originally known as Hunt’s Mill, and dated to the early 1800s. The town of Clinton was known during and before the American Revolution not only due to it’s location close to the Union Forge and Furnace, but because of Bonnel’s Tavern, quarries, mills, and other businesses.
Hunt's Mill
John W. Bray went into business with John B. Taylor, son of Archibald Taylor of the Taylor Iron and Steel Company, and the latter’s father helped purchase and set up the business of Bray and Taylor, which built upon and renamed the town Clinton in 1828.
Old Red Mill at night
Governor Dewitt Clinton of New York had just died, and he was famous for being sort of the father of the Erie Canal, and so the town was named after him (similarly, Port Clinton PA was named for the same man). The town continued to grow from this point forward.
We walked from here along the main street, having pretty much finished Spruce Run Turnpike.
We simply had to walk from this point through town to the old A&P to finish. We walked a block or two, and noted a pedestrian route called “Dickens Alley” as I recall, which I’d never walked through before, so we took that route.
Dickens Alley
It was a nice little enclave that actually felt rather British. We continued from here to Rt 173, the main street, and followed it out to the old A&P where I was parked.
I always enjoy walking through Clinton at night, because the streets are so well lit and it makes for a really pleasant walking experience to close out a night.
Ken gave me a ride back to my car. It was one of the last really cold night hikes we’d have for the year, and I was glad to have done this one again, even though it wasn’t really necessary for the route since there wasn’t snow on the ground. The Winter had seemed long, and I can’t wait for the warmth to come back.
No comments:
Post a Comment