Morgan, New Jersey

1886 Raritan Bay Survey.

From June 17 to August 29, 1886, a number of vessels criss-crossed Raritan Bay performing a survey to document its depths.  Another survey, similar in nature, was performed between August and November 1934.  Both of these charts are available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Bathymetry, Topography & Relief web site.  Steps on how to download these files are contained at the bottom of this posting. 

Hydrographic Survey (per NOAA) – Measuring of the depth and bottom configuration of water bodies to produce the nation’s nautical charts and ensure safe navigation.  The surveys also identify sea-floor materials (important for anchoring, dredging, and pipeline and cable routing), dredging areas, cables, pipelines, wrecks and obstructions, and fish habitats. They support a variety of activities such as port and harbor maintenance (dredging), coastal engineering (beach erosion and replenishment studies), coastal zone management, and offshore resource development. 

The mandate to create nautical charts of the nation’s coasts dates back to 1807, when President Thomas Jefferson ordered a survey of the nation’s coast. The Organic Act of 1807 authorized the newly formed coastal survey agency, then called the U.S. Coast Survey, to construct and maintain the nation’s nautical charts. 

Vessels or vessel types which participated in the 1886 survey, performed under the command of Lieut G. C. Hanus, U.S.N., were Endeavor, Steam Launch, Whaleboat, Daisy, and Gig.  Vessel names and types are not mentioned in the 1934 survey.  In the included images, note how the survey from 1886, which might have been the first survey of its type in Raritan Bay, differs from the survey of 1934.  The 1886 survey measured what are now the ship channels whereas the 1934 survey leaves these areas unmeasured.  The 1934 survey primarily did their measurements from east to west (or vice versa) whereas the 1886 survey did north/south and east/west measurements in the main part of the bay as well as diagonal measurements in areas.  In short, probably because it was likely the first survey and the ship technology was probably likely via sail, the 1886 survey appears to be “all over the place”.  The 1886 survey does not include Cheesequake Creek whereas the 1934 survey does. 

In previous postings, we discussed the 1883 creation of the two Cheesequake Creek jetties and channel for where it enters into Raritan Bay.  We also discussed that we have yet to be able to obtain a copy of the US Army Corps of Engineers 1879 survey which is expected to show the shore line configuration of Cheesequake Creek prior to the construction of the jetties & channel. In the mean time, the 1879 US Army Corps of Engineers report by Mr. R. H. Talcott gave a description where Cheesequake Creek (he called it “Cheesequakes Creek”) enters into Raritan Bay as “The general direction of the channel is northeasterly, but before entering the bay it takes a sharp turn to the northwest, and runs about parallel to the bluffs“.  

Though we don’t yet have a copy of the 1879 survey, a portion of the 1886 Geodetic survey of Raritan Bay does give an idea of what the mouth of Cheesequake Creek looked like just after the jetties and channel were constructed in 1883.  This image not only shows the northwesterly channel described by Mr. Talcott in 1879 but also shows the new jetties, channels, 550 foot long pile-dike closing off the northwestery channel of the Cheesequake Creek, and apparently bridges crossing the new channel and old channel. 

It is very exciting to finally see what the area might have looked like during the Revolutionary War times of Captain James Morgan. 

How to download the surveys from the NOAA web site: 

Please note the following:

• The name you will type in below for the 1886 survey is “H01712” and the 1934 survey is “H05636”.
• These files are very large and will take a long time to download, require you to have or download a special type of “Viewer”, and will take a long time to be able to load in order to view on your PC.  The 1886 survey is 130MB and the 1934 survey is 80MB.
• In order to be able to view the files, you will need have or find a software utility which is able to read files of type “.GZ”.  One such utility which has a 30 day trial available is called BitZipper.  There are other utilities available.  This is not an endorcement for or against BitZipper.  I used it and it worked OK for me.
• I used BitZipper to convert the file to a plain “.TIF” file and view it in Adobe Photoshop.  It’s all pretty convoluted but they are interesting files to view.
• Small snapshots of both charts are contained in this post.

 Here are the steps you can take to be able to download charts of both of these surveys. 

1. Go to the www.ngdc.noaa.gov web site.
2. Click on “Bathymetry & Global Relief” (on the left bottom of oval image).
3. Under “Bathymetry (Ocean Depths)”, click on “NOS Hydrographic Survey Data”.
4. Toward the bottom of the page in the area which says “Data products from NOS surveys”, click on “Hydrographic Survey Data Map Service” (this will take a little while to load).
5. Using the scroll bars on the right side of the screen, scroll down until you see “Text Interface”.
6. Click on “Text Interface”.
7. On the “Hydrographic Survey Database Query” screen, under “Select Data Where” and “SURVEY”, insure the dot is next to “includes” and in the box to the right, type “H01712” for the 1886 survey or “H05636” for the 1934 survey.
8. Scroll all the way down on this page and click on the “Select Data” button.
9. On the “Query Results” screen, in the leftmost box under “Survey ID”, click on “H01712” (the number you typed in previously) for the 1886 survey or “H05636” for the 1934 survey.
10. On the “Survey Product List” screen, in the left most column, click on “H01712.tiz.gz” (note that the file size is 80.2 MB) for the 1886 survey or “H05636.tiz.gz” for the 1934 survey.
11. In the “File Download” dialog box, select “Save”.
12. In the “Save As” dialog box, select the folder location where you want to put the file.
13. From this point, use your utility, e.g., BitZipper, to extract/view the file.  Sorry, you’ll have to figure out how to do this.

Ted’s Bar is another Morgan landmark which I have next to no information on and am looking to all you readers to please post what you know in the comments section below as you did so enthusiastically on the topic of “40 Horses”.  

Ted’s Bar is located at the intersection of South Pine Avenue and Liberty Street.  I believe I read some place that it used to be called the Morgan Hotel or Morgan Inn?  I do know the building was there as of 1930.  The building always struck me as being from earlier in the century or perhaps even from the late 1800’s.  Before the expansion and rerouting of Route 35 in the early 1940’s, South Pine Avenue used to be the main road between points north of South Amboy to points south of Laurence Harbor.  The Jersey Central Traction Company used to have trolley cars run on South Pine Avenue from 1905 to 1923.  Odds are the building was there during all of this time. 

During my childhood, I had never gone into Ted’s Bar.  I ran out of time this past summer to actually go into it to ask if they knew anything about its history.  I picture there would be early pictures in it of it.  There used to be a Jr. High & High School school bus stop in front of it.  One of my Selover class mates is asking on Facebook if anyone else had that stop at some point in time. 

It is quite a big building.  Is it more than just a bar these days? 

Please post what you know about Ted’s Bar and let me know if you have any early photos or brochures which I could scan and post.  If anyone is nearby to the building, would you please stop in for us and let us know what you find out?

I always knew that Coney Island was on the other side of the bay from our house on the bluff. On clear mornings, there would be a warm sunrise. On clear days, with binoculars, you can still see the 262 foot tall iconic Parachute Jump tower on Coney Island (“Coney” is a derivative of the Dutch word for rabbit). This tower was originally built for the 1939 New York World’s Fair which took place in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens (also the site of the 1964/65 NY World’s Fair). It was moved to Steeplechase Park amusement park in 1941 and, sadly, ceased operating in 1968. The Parachute Jump, along with the Cyclone Roller Coaster and Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel are now protected structures and remain Coney Island icons.

It took me a while to get used to the idea that in California, the sun set over the ocean and the ocean was to the west. In Morgan, NJ, it is just the opposite.

To this day, I have never been to Coney Island. It is on my “To Do” list for some future trip to NJ. Like so many other things leading up to the creation of this web site, it was only in the last few years that I realized Coney Island was actually part of Brooklyn. In fact, Coney Island is no longer an island though it is part of Long Island which is. Even better, it wasn’t until I wrote this post that I measured how far away the Coney Island buildings in the photo are from Morgan, NJ – 15.25 miles! I always wondered.

 

Eureka – and I don’t mean California! After a lot of searching, I finally found out when the Cheesequake Creek channel and jetties were constructed! You’ll note I didn’t know the answer to this in the November 15, 2009 posting on Morgan-NJ.org.

But first, here is some of the important info from that year’s US Army Corps of Engineers Chief Engineer Report to the Secretary of War. This first section is regarding the channel and the two jetties:

The lowest, bidder was Samuel R. Cummings; and his bid being thought reasonable, a contract, with him was entered into upon the approval of the Secretary of War.

The eastern jetty was completed for a distance of 925 feet, the western for a distance of 995 feet. A channel 1,600 feet long was dredged through the sand-bar for a width of 200 feet, with a depth of 5 feet at mean low water, in the middle 100 feet of it. This dredging extended about 500 feet beyond the outer end of the jetties to the 5-foot curve in Raritan Bay, and extended up to the 5-foot curve in the creek.

Here is confirmation that Cheesequake Creek did NOT always connect to Raritan Bay where the present day channel is. This was a totally unexpected finding:

The old opening of the creek to the westward was closed with a sheet-pile revetment 532 feet in length. The changing of the course of this outlet necessitated the county putting in a new bridge and rebuilding the turnpike.

So, what is the answer, when were they built? Work was begun in December, 1882, and was continued up to November 6, 1883. Therefore, the answer is 1883. This was reported in the 1886 Chief of Engineers Report.

Since 1883, there were some “touch ups” (and possibly others as well):

• Spring of 1884: Repairs were made to the sheet-piling, which was damaged by high water in a heavy northeasterly gale.
• July 17 to August 21, 1907: Dredging by Mr. Hawley Miller utilized a dredge, a tugboat, and three dump scows (I believe these can be seen to the left in this linked photo). The total amount of material (sand and gravel) removed was 8,236 cubic yards, and the total work done consisted in mating two cuts, 1,730 and 800 feet in length, respectively, each 30 feet in width and about 6 feet in depth at mean low water. This work sufficed to restore the channel from the Highway Bridge out into Raritan Bay to its projected dimensions of 100 feet in width and 5 feet in depth at mean low water. The length of this dredged channel, which lies partly between and partly outside of the jetties, became about 1,800 feet. This was an increase in length of about 200 feet and was necessary due to natural changes in the contours in the bay.

Of interest further from the 1908 report was the indication that the 1907 excavated material from the channel was dumped on the flats on the west side of the west jetty. I presume this means the triangular area currently boarded by Raritan Bay on the north, the railroad on the west, Cheesequake Creek on the south & east. Currently this triangular area is dominated by the elevated roadway for State Highway Route 35 connecting the Morgan Draw Bridge over Cheesequake Creek to the bridges crossing over the railroad tracks (see posting from October 9, 2009). The fill supporting this elevated roadway was put there for the building of the Pratt truss railroad crossing bridge in 1924 and probably added to for the 1945 Route 35 Southbound bridge. You would never know this was entirely landfill it if you just looked at it today.

According to the 1907 Chief of Engineers Report, sketches of Cheesequake Creek from the 1880 survey were printed in the 1882 report on page 680 and in the 1905 report on page 1051. Unfortunately I can’t find an on-line copy of the 1882 report. I did find a 1905 on-line copy and it looks like the sketch is actually on page 1050. Unfortunately – again – page 1050 only contains a partial image, not enough to determine anything. Probably the map was folded during the time of the Google scan so it doesn’t show!! While this is frustrating, it does give us something to continue to look forward to.

Raritan Valley
Farms Logo

His name was Bob Casey and, no, he isn’t my father or the father of any of the kids in our Morgan neighborhood – at least our part of the neighborhood! Mr. Casey was our milk man who delivered bottled milk from Raritan Valley Farms located in somewhat near by Somerville, NJ. While I don’t recall which days or how many days a week Mr. Casey would drive up the street with the goods, I do recall the glass bottles with the distinctive red circular Raritan Valley Farms logo and paper cap which would be placed in our silver Raritan Valley Farms door step milk box we kept on our porch.

Mr. Casey’s truck was the classic milk truck (white in color I recall with a green painted front grill) which he would let us ride in for a little way down the street. The ice was crystal clear and we would get a chunk of it in the summer to lick. The melted water was virtually ice cold as it flowed down your hand. Guess if it was ice cold, it wouldn’t flow down your hand! His bottle carrier was, if memory serves me right, a pretty solid aluminum frame with a wooden handle, which would hold six or eight quart bottles.

One day there was a Jesse Selover School class trip to Raritan Valley Farms, I think it was during Mrs. Patrick’s 1st grade class. I can’t recall much about the trip save for two things. The first one was telling my close friend Eric (who lived down the street and was born the day after me) during the trip that the cows in the barn “sure were stinky”. The other memory was after we got back to Selover. I opened the camera I took with me (guess I had the interest even then) to look at the film to see the photos – but they weren’t there!!!

Mr. Casey was a very friendly man who we were all very fond of. I think there was usually a cigar near by or between his teeth though usually not lit. He was always great to the neighborhood kids.

Sadly we had to dispose of what was left of the Raritan Valley Farms milk box this past summer when we moved my Mom out of Morgan after 50 years of living there. I keep watching eBay for one of the bottles with the red logo to appear. If you know of one that is available, please let me know.

I still remember the first time I heard the phrase “a googol”.  It was in Jesse Selover Elementary School in Morgan, NJ probably in Mrs. Wilson’s 4^th or 5^th grade class or Mr. Kelly’s 6^th grade class.  It meant the number one followed by 100 zeros.  It looks like this:

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Guess by the time my son reaches my current age, this number will probably be the total of the US National Debt.

In March 1995, during a spring orientation of new Stanford University Computer Science Ph.D. students, two students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, met each other.  In ways similar to two other significant pairings of brilliant individuals in Silicon Valley, California (Bill Hewlett & David Packard of Hewlett Packard and Steve Jobs & Stephen Wozniak of Apple Computer), Sergey and Larry set up a new company in a Silicon Valley garage.  That company, founded only as recently as 1998, is pronounced the same way as “Googol” but spelled “Google” and is in very major ways allowing for some guy in Southern California to do research on and publish the findings about a neighborhood 2,900 miles away in New Jersey. 

While it is true that a lot of other technologies are also allowing for this Morgan-NJ.org web site to be possible (e.g., PC, Internet, web site authoring, digital photography, etc.), one Google product is important and another one makes it possible.  Google Books is allowing for the reading of books which would otherwise not be readily available and certainly not easily searchable.  For example, I have been able to examine US Army Corps of Engineers reports from 1874, 1880, 1886, 1905, 1908 from at least three different geographically dispersed libraries (Kentucky, Michigan, Northern California) while sitting on my living room couch watching “30 Rock” on TV (great show by the way).

The most essential Google product, truly one of the most significant information tools the world has today, is the beyond amazing Google Search engine.  In many cases, whatever topic you are looking for will be presented to you nearly instantaneously after typing in just a few keystrokes.  Information which used to literally take years and great expense to acquire can now take minutes – if even that long.  It is so unbelievable a capability yet it appears so simple.  The books scanned by Google Books were found utilizing this search engine.  Many maps relating to Morgan were found by this search engine.  Key topics were found – you name it.

What is very exciting now is something which wasn’t seen in August 2009 when this web site was started – getting high ranking search results for topics pertaining to Morgan, NJ on a web site named “Morgan-NJ.org”.  Pretty cool!

Certainly one of the extraordinarily unique things about certain sections of Morgan is the possibility of digging up a World War I vintage artillery shell in your back yard if you try to install a built-in pool.  This stems from the beyond enormous explosions which occurred in October 1918 at the T. A. Gillespie Shell Loading Plant.

While growing up in Morgan, I would occasionally hear that someone playing in a dirt patch somewhere had uncovered one or more artillery shells.  That certainly didn’t make their parent’s day! In fact a number of readers of this Morgan-NJ.org web site wrote to me indicating that they were one of those kids.  Can you imagine?  In the mid 1990’s, I drove past Eisenhower School on Ernston Road and saw a lot of little flags marking suspicious spots on the campus where remnants of munitions were believed to be buried.  In 1918, the land underneath Eisenhower School was part of the world’s largest shell loading factory complex. Eventually the whole campus and surrounding area on the other side of Ernston Road was “cleared” of more than 5,000 bombs or bomb parts.

I found my self wondering what the Sayreville Police Department (SPD) does when a Morgan resident calls them up with a report of finding an artillery shell or, worse, a fuse.  So I asked my long time friend, The Dirty Copper, who indicated:

While it is rarer these days, SPD will still get the occasional call from area residents who recover shells or fuses from the explosion.  Twenty years ago, they would still see shells but in the last decade or so what is more commonly found are the fuses for the shells that were spread hither and yon from the event.  The fuses, while small, are unstable and contain small amounts of high explosives which were intended to trigger the bigger charge in the artillery shell.  There was one large cleanup operation in the area of Eisenhower School and the La Mer and Harbor Club Condos in the nineties as it was discovered that the area was loaded with these fuses.  Private contractors spent several weeks finding and removing the items to the area of Fort Grumpy located on Bordentown Avenue where, once the removal was completed, they were detonated en masse to get rid of them.

 Again 20 years ago, many of the older guys would relate stories about the development of the Oak Tree area.  They used to say that anytime someone would dig a foundation or in later years excavate for a pool, there would usually be an unwanted discovery.

 SPD protocols differ for civilian versus military explosives.  For all military ordinance (which clearly the fuses are), SPD cordons off the area and contacts the Army’s Explosive Ordinance Detachment (EOD) who responds and removes them to their disposal area.  For many years the EOD came from Fort Monmouth but since the Army has downsized that post, the EOD now comes from Fort Dix – a further distance away.

Per reports of the Army Corps of Engineers, it should be noted that none of the bombs or bomb parts found so far have had the fuses attached to them and none have detonated since the original 1918 explosions.  One of the people interviewed in Frank Yusko’s DVD about the Morgan Depot explosion (see earlier posting) shows a shell which came in his house through his roof!  These days, pretty much all of the 8-square-mile area which contained the T. A. Gillespie Shell Loading Plant has been developed.  That should mean the number of reported findings of artillery shells or fuses to the Sayreville Police Department should stay low.  Besides, you can only use a built-in pool for part of the year in New Jersey so why dig a new one?

Whether you are looking to charter a fishing boat to go into Raritan Bay or just to go fishing in Raritan Bay, the Misty Morn is available and docked on Cheesequake Creek right in Morgan next to the railroad bridge on historic Old Spye Road.

Statue of Liberty cruises are offered in the Summer!

Checkout the Misty Morn web site for times and availability and go out to catch some Stripped Bass, Fluke, Flounder or some rays on a great day outside. Here is another web site with great info.  The Misty Morn is owned and operated by the Bouchard family, has been located in Morgan for a number of years and has just had its 17 year old engines replaced to run for at least another 17.

This posting was created as the direct result of the discovery of an amazing 1879 US Army Corps of Engineers report located by my long time friend Ken. It is amazing how much effort it takes to both research a specific topic as well as to tie in related topics without going overboard. That doesn’t include the time it takes to write and self edit the posting. This finding by Ken, while opening up new questions, helped explain a lot of old questions. I am enormously grateful for Ken’s input on this as well as his extensive knowledge on the railroad which passes through Morgan.

Anyone sailing from any of the marinas located in the Cheesequake Creek Basin (Lockwood Boat Works, Brown’s Boat Yard, Morgan Marina, and Viking Marina) has to pass under the State Route 35 draw bridge (see earlier postings) and through “The Jetty” in order to get out into Raritan Bay. While growing up in Morgan, we actually used to incorrectly call the channel between the two jetties, “The Jetty”. Well, what did we know?

I’m struggling with what to call the collection of creeks which feed into Cheesequake Creek which, in turn, feeds into Raritan Bay via the channel between the two jetties built as a result of the Corps of Engineers report. For now, I’ll call this collective system “The Cheesequake Creek Basin”. No matter what it’s called, the configuration of waterways leading into and including Cheesequake Creek apparently was not always as it is now.

On March 3, 1879, the US Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by an act of the US Congress to perform a survey of the Cheesequake Creek Basin from Raritan Bay to Whitehead’s Dock, the furthest point 3 miles inland. This survey, performed in August & September of 1879, resulted in a list of recommendations for improvements along with costs for their implementation and estimates of the economic benefits which would result.

On February 5, 1881, the State of New Jersey passed a law authorizing the United States to implement the modifications recommended by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The two major modifications listed are:

1. Change the channel of Cheesequake Creek where it empties into Raritan Bay.
2. Authorize Middlesex County to remove the present bridge at the mouth of Cheesequake Creek. I think the language also authorized building a replacement bridge after the new channel was completed but the wording used was hard to comprehend.

Interestingly enough because the survey was performed and report was written before Great Beds Lighthouse was completed (see earlier posting on Great Beds Lighthouse), the report indicates the nearest lighthouse to Cheesequake Creek is Prince’s Bay Light on Staten Island.

There are a number of items contained the Corps of Engineers report which I found very interesting. That information, combined with other information, leads to the following thoughts:

1. When did the dredging and jetty construction actually start and end? I don’t know! I know it was after 1880. Based on a post card I have recently seen, it was before 1912. I’m looking for maps of different years which would show this. If you run into any, please use the comment field at the end of this posting to let me know about them.
2. The report indicates that Mr. John Newton, Colonel of Engineers, submitted a sketch of the survey highlighting the proposed improvements with blue lines. It would be an awesome to get a copy of this since it would show what the Cheesequake Creek Basin looked like before the modifications. Please let me know if you happen to run across this.
3. The primary commercial use of Cheesequake Creek, before the proposed modifications were implemented, was for the transportation of clay based materials (15,000-20,000 tons per year) such as fire, potter’s and ordinary brick clay, moulding sand, as well as finished bricks. Locally grown and harvested produce was also transported via Cheesequake Creek. There were clay pits at the head of Cheesequake Creek some three miles in land as well as a brick-yard on Stump Creek. Though 1878 was reportedly a “dull season”, 546 vessels passed through the railroad draw-bridge.
4. The report indicates Cheesequake Creek had been navigated for half a century by the time it was written. That would mean since sometime around 1830!
5. The dredging and the building of the two jetties into Raritan Bay was to be done to increase commerce. The dredging would insure that boats would be able to freely navigate through the basin unlike the prior situation which had loaded vessels sitting idle waiting for the right conditions. Farmers eventually stopped utilizing Cheesequake Creek to transport their produce and instead went 6 to 8 miles further to Keyport. The report stated, “The business of the creek would be quadrupled if a channel was made across the bar” and “Millions of dollars’ worth of fire and potter’s clay would be shipped if the obstructions were removed.” A million dollars in 1880 was a lot of money!
6. It was envisioned that various factories and specifically a plate-glass works facility would be built after the modifications. I don’t think either actually occurred.
7. Cheesequake Creek and the creeks connecting to it didn’t always have the configuration they have now. At least one of the creeks identified in the two documents, Buck Creek, no longer shows up on maps. Possibly this means that it was incorporated into the current waterway designated as Cheesequake Creek or perhaps it was dammed and filled in. The docks identified in the two documents, i.e., Ernst Dock, Foreman’s Dock, Whitehead’s Dock, also no longer show up on maps.
8. The report indicates the Cheesequake Creek Basin drained into Raritan Bay in a different place than the current channel between the two jetties. The report states, “The general direction of the channel is northeasterly, but before entering the bay it takes a sharp turn to the northwest, and runs about parallel to the bluffs.” Mr. Otto Ernst adds, “After passing the point of land at Morgan Station [i.e., the railroad] the channel of the creek follows a peculiar course alongside of the mainland, being formed by a bank of sand and pebbles running parallel with said mainland for about half a mile.” Based on these descriptions combined with a photo showing the Jersey Central Traction Company trestle (not yet available for this web site), it looks like Cheesequake Creek used to empty into Raritan Bay right near where the current Route 35 bridge crosses over the railroad tracks. If true, that is something no one living in the neighborhood knows.
9. The two jetties in place today and the channel between them have many of the characteristics described in the report, “jetties of heavy stones running out into the bay about 1,500 feet, nearly at right angles to the present shore-line, and about 250 feet apart.”
10. Three transportation corridors currently transverse the Cheesequake Creek Basin: State Highway Route 35, the North Jersey Coast Line of the NJ Transit Railroad, and the Garden State Parkway.
11. There have been at least three, and possibly four, different road bridges crossing Cheesequake Creek starting some time in the early 1800s. Between 1903 and 1923, the Jersey Central Traction Company trolley system shared the bridge(s).
12. There have been at least two different railroad bridges crossing Cheesequake Creek (see previous posting).


Misty Morn Fishing Boat at Dock



13. After the modifications were made, it was thought that Morgan Beach was going to become a very popular bathing and excursion location, “At the mouth of Cheesequakes Creek is one of the finest beaches on the coast, the nearest one to Newark, Elizabeth, Railway, and the large towns of Northern New Jersey for sea-bathing” and “If the proposed improvement is made this will become an extensive bathing place and excursion depot, second only to Coney Island.” While this too was never fully realized, there were a number of bungalows built on Morgan Beach and used from some time in the 1920s (or earlier) to about the summer of 1958. My grandparents used to own one – but not the land under it. That is an entirely different story to be covered in a later posting on this web site.
14. The T. A. Gillespie Shell Loading Plant (also known as the Morgan Plant), which blew up in 1918, utilized Cheesequake Creek for transporting munitions and supplies.
15. Interestingly enough, these days, excluding pleasure boating, some day fishing on the fishing boat Misty Morn, and any business Zuback’s Heavy Metal Marine, Inc. has, I don’t think there is any commercial commerce which passes through the Cheesequake Creek Basin anymore.

I have read that stagecoaches used to be able to cross Cheesequake Creek at low tide near the Old Spye Inn (previously known as Morgan Inn). Looking at this area today, that is pretty unimaginable (see the photo in the September 28, 2009 posting). The dredging of the Cheesequake Creek Basin recommended by the 1879 report and later performed would easily explain why crossing Cheesequake Creek at low tide via foot or stagecoach is not possible in the present day. Besides, who has a stagecoach these days?

One of my long time school friends – we met in 7^th grade Spanish class where he sat in front of me (‘G’ comes before ‘J’) – is a recognized authority in NJ Land Titles; an expert in Early Colonial, Free African American and Antebellum history of New Jersey, and is one of only nineteen individuals in the State of New Jersey who hold the designation of Certified Title Professional.  In fact, he is so modest and understated in his many accomplishments that I have to resort to searching the internet in order to be able to see them.

Joseph Grabas gave a seminar on 5 November 2009 at the Wyndham in Mt. Laurel, NJ through the Grabas Institute for Continuing Education on the following topic:

The Lenape, The Dutch & The English:
A History of New Jersey Land Titles

This topic has direct relevance to Morgan, NJ – I sure wish I could have been there to hear it!  It is a very interesting study to see how ownership of the land making up present day Morgan transitioned through these entities to the Morgan family & other early area families and ultimately to the current residents of Morgan.  Joe has done some preliminary research for us on Morgan, NJ about these early land titles and early New Jersey (Nova Caesarea) history the results of which I will be including in future posts.  Additionally, Joe has inspired me to do a great deal of additional research about the early history of NJ.  I am so grateful to still have Joe in my life – even if it is not often enough and too far away.

Click here to get to the Grabas Institute web site to see upcoming seminars and to sign up.