Thanks to Doug over at the NJ State Office of Information Technology I was able to come up with a valid connection string for the new WMS server at the NJOGIS. I've added the new 2007-2008 high resolution orthography to maps.njpinebarrens.com.
Enjoy, if you're into that sort of thing!
Today I put the finishing touches on NJPB Live Maps version 2. What started as a Topozone.com replacement for my users has mushroomed into a pretty neat app that will let you view some historic aerial photography, topos, and upload GPX files that will display in the map.
Big thanks to Devin Heitmueller for giving me a hand with some of the Javascript. Also thanks to Google for making their excellent maps API available.
I went out today in search of Van Note Camp, a sawmill near Whiting that my distant family operated back in the early part of the 20th Century. While I was out there I also tried to find the ruins of the packing house of a pretty large cranberry bog near Mount Misery.
According to the imagery at historicaerials.com, the building disappeared sometime between 1972 and 1995. Today there's not a trace of this once substantial building. Assuming it was built at least partially of stone, someone must have carted it away. Knowing the state, if they acquired this part of the woods for Lebanon Brendan Byrne State Forest, they tore it down themselves. It's odd, though, for somone to do so thorough a job as to leave nothing remaining.
Found a few ticks -- got them all before I got bit. Thankfully the chiggers aren't out yet.
Check out the thread on NJPineBarrens.com for photos and a more detailed trip report.
This Saturday I hiked the bottom portion of the canal from Mount Misery Brook to Bisphams Mill Creek.
On the George Cook Topo Map of 1887 you can plainly see the canal, and the darkened area where it crossed Mount Misery Brook.
The lake down by Lower Mill does not exist anymore. When Henry Beck visited in the late 1920's he found the canal emptying out into the lake right in front of a dam. Looking at the NJDEP i-MapNJ aerial photography of 1931, you can see the lake is gone. Today Bisphams Mill Creek flows through normally, and the only thing that betrays the existence of that lake is a cedar swamp and a deep depression.
I won't re-write what I wrote on my site, so if you're curious to read about the days adventure, you should mash your mouse button on this link. Everyone that is, except for Jae. He's not allowed.