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xtruss · 5 months

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Home Demolition Uncovers Historic Log Cabin From 'Last Ghost Town in Morris County'

— William Westhoven | Morristown Daily Record | December 20, 2023

Rockaway, NJ — December 1, 2023 — Demolition job reveals historic log cabin hidden behind walls. Tucker Kelley, looking to demolish an old home on one of his rural properties, discovers a log cabin behind newer siding and drywall. He's working with the Green Pond Historic Association to date it and arranging for preservation. Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com-USA Today Network

Tucker Kelley found this sign when he tore down one of the walls covering the one-room cabin. which may have been the home of a mine worker. Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com USA Today Network

Owner Tucker Kelly, Cathy Finkel of the Green Pond History Association and Finkel's grandson beside a log cabin uncovered earlier this fall in Rockaway Township. "This is an amazing find," Finkel said of the cabin, which may date back to the 1820s. "It's history right in front of our eyes." Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com USA Today Network

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP — A recent demolition project has uncovered clues to the 200-year-old history of a once-thriving mining village here, offering insights into what historians call "the last ghost town in Morris County."

The 19th-century log cabin in the township's Hibernia section emerged during an aborted attempt to raze a dilapidated house off Green Pond Road. Peeling back layers of clapboard, shingles, aluminum siding and two additions, the owner discovered the rough-hewn, one-room dwelling that likely served as a mine workers' home in the 1800s.

"This is an amazing find," said Cathy Finkel, president of the Green Pond History Association. "It's history right in front of our eyes. There were 3,000 people living here, working those mines."

"Now it's a ghost town," added Joe Macasek, president of the Canal Society of New Jersey, during a recent visit to the property.

Through records, Finkel has documented much of the iron-mining industry that once thrived in the Upper and Lower Hibernia sections of the sprawling township. But little in the way of physical evidence of mining operations still exists.

"This is something I never thought we would ever see in my lifetime," she said of the tiny cabin and basement. "We thought we knew all the historical structures, so to see something like this discovered in 2023 is amazing."

Peeling Layers of History

The cabin sits on an elevated lot off Green Pond, with the rocky Wildcat Ridge forest preserve rising behind it. It's owned by Tucker Kelley, a lifelong Rockaway Township resident and former township councilman who owns more than a dozen residential and commercial properties in town.

Kelley bought the lot in 2007 from an elderly woman who lived in a small home there but moved away when she took ill.

"I wasn't interested in the house," Kelley said. "I just wanted the land to maybe develop at some point."

He subsequently built a home for his family up the road, but later drew up plans to build a farmhouse-style dwelling on the Green Pond site and make it his permanent address.

When he began the demolition earlier this fall, operating his own equipment, Kelley noticed a "weird beam" as he stripped away the yellow aluminum siding to sell as scrap metal.

Closer inspection revealed jointed, hand-cut logs in one corner of the building. Eventually, Tucker carefully razed the front and side additions that had been added to the structure, revealing the log cabin within that had been converted into a kitchen.

"I stripped the inside by hand to preserve it as best I could," Kelley said.

Relics of the Past

He also found a trove of newspapers, books and other items inside dating back to the early 20th century. Two dolls he discovered now decorate the exposed front window of the cabin, along with a makeshift Christmas tree decoration and an American flag.

Other relics, including a small "grapeshot" cannonball and antique nails and tools, were handed over to Finkel, of the history association. She has enlisted experts from Morris County and beyond to determine the building's exact age.

A historian at Columbia University estimated a "first guess" of its origin at 1820 to 1840, Finkel said, "but without further structural testing and other archeological evaluation we don't know yet."

"There's not a lot of written information on this area," she added. "You didn't have the town halls and counties keeping records like they do today."

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The experts, Finkel said, are examining the nails and other evidence from the cabin in what she terms "a very tedious process" that can cost "tens of thousands of dollars."

Hibernia Mines Armed Washington's Army

Macasek is another historian excited by the find.

"To appreciate this, you have to understand where you are," Macasek said. "It was a mining town. People have lived here since the 1700s. There was a blast furnace across the street. This was an economic and industry center of Morris County. Thousands of people lived and worked here."

Dating back to the early 18th century, Hibernia predates the incorporation of Rockaway Township by more than 100 years. As it did in many Northwest New Jersey towns, iron mining spurred growth in Upper and Lower Hibernia, especially after the Civil War, historical documents state.

By 1870, an "underground railroad" stretched from more than 2,500 feet inside the Hibernia mine and connected with rails along Green Pond Road to deliver iron ore to destinations as far away as Trenton and Phillipsburg. But flooding problems and competition from Midwestern mines led to a steep decline for the local industry by 1913.

The tale is told on historical markers scattered around the area, including at Hibernia United Methodist Church, the Kitchel Homestead and the Mount Hope neighborhood, where an ironworks made ordnance for George Washington's Army.

'Not Just a Cabin'

Macasek pointed out that Morris County is full of preserved historic homes of rich people.

"But how many working man's houses, in a working man's town, as simple as this, have survived into the 21st century?" he asked. "This kind of thing almost never survives. This is a working man's house, Very humble, but typical. It's not just a cabin in the woods."

Kelley said the discovery has slowed his home-building plans, "but it's worth it."

"Most contractors or developers would just run it over, but I own it, so let's see what we can do," Kelley said. "Let's get as much information as we can and find opportunities to either preserve it here, move it or, at a minimum, document it for history."

#Daily Record #William Westhoven | Morristown Daily Record #Historic Log Cabin #Demotion #Morris County | New Jersey #Rockaway Township #Chris Pedota | NorthJesey.Com #USA Today Network

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thatssocheezy · 8 months

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littlejumpersnj · 3 months

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njhgc · 7 months

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Autumn means apples are everywhere!

By 1670, New Jersey's apple orchards were so productive that hard cider was plentiful and cheap. And by the 1770s, cidermaking thrived in the Garden State where its consumption was widely seen as healthful.

Several manufacturers from Morris County distilled their hard cider into Applejack, a popular liquor also known as Jersey Lightning. Richard Kimball from Harding Township was an early distiller, having purchased a 12 gallon copper still from England in 1773.

The Bryant family ran a successful Succasunna distillery built in 1809, that operated until Prohibition forced its conversion to plain cider in the 1920s.

#Apples #Hard Cider #Applejack #Jersey Lightning #Morris County #New Jersey #Autumn

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njzcmbie · 8 months

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#north jersey #sunset sky #morris county #neighborhood #street #ombre #pink #purple #dark out #sundown #New Jersey #lights #houses #suburban #street light #cars

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newjerseyisthebest · 10 months

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Zulu the zonkey at Tranquility Farm in Chester, New Jersey.

#zonkey #New Jersey #nj #chester #morris county #Tranquility Farm

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mocosocobirds · 1 year

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The 87th Boonton Christmas Bird Count Report – 2022

Red-shouldered Hawk, Troy Meadows, Morris Co., NJ, Dec. 26, 2022 (photo by Jonathan Klizas) Click on the photo for a larger image. The 87th annual Boonton Christmas Bird Count (hereafter, Boonton CBC) took place on Monday, December 26, 2022. Temperatures ranged from 14°F at 6 AM rising up to 26°F in the afternoon. It was cold, plain and simple although sunny most of the day. The frigid blast of…

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#birding #birds #Boonton #Christmas Bird Count #Essex County #migration #mocosocobirds #Morris County #nature #New Jersey #ornithology

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fairryland · 4 months

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#fairryland #fairrylandgroupnj #fairrylandforever #The bright lights of New Jersey shine through the holiday season #Hats off Morris County Essex County

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thebotanicalarcade · 10 months

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n348_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: Familiar trees and their leaves New York D. Appleton 1911 biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17024554 Happy Arbor Day! Tho commonly named Red Cedar is actually not a true cedar at all but a juniper species biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17024554 #bhlib

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sewersurgeons · 10 months

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thatssocheezy · 3 months

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Gio's Artisan Pizza - Rockaway Mall in Rockaway, NJ

I've been wanting to try Gio's for years now, but their early closing time (usually 7pm) has prevented this from happening...until now. At long last, I had my chance when I got out of work early. Unfortunately, it was still pretty close to closing so the selection was limited to a handful of slices, but there was still a chicken bacon ranch left so I jumped on it. Unfortunately, I was pretty underwhelmed. The ranch in particular brought it down. It was super heavy and creamy and the flavor just overpowered everything, especially with how much they dumped on. Honestly I couldn't even really tell you how the rest of the slice was because I couldn't taste much through the ranch besides the overly tough crust. For $4.50 this is an easy pass for me. Good mall pizza seemed too good to be true, and I guess it was. I still had plenty of time to hit Crumbl after for a chocolate chip cookie and let me tell you...THAT is a 6/6 cookie.

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littlejumpersnj · 1 month

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njhgc · 11 months

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Pride Month Activities from 1983

Forty years ago, the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County (GAAMC) planned a busy slate of Pride Month activities, including an annual picnic and rally, legal defense fundraisers and support for those with AIDS, a Reclaiming Our Freedoms trip to the Statue of Liberty, and a march on Christopher Street in NYC.

This GAAMC newsletter includes a re-print of a 1971 article recounting the raid on the Stonewall Inn and subsequent riots that spurred the movement to push back against anti-gay persecution and harassment.

This series of Challenge newsletters is among the materials the History Center collects from Morris County's non-profit, cultural, religious, and business organizations.

#Pride Month #GAAMC #Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County #New Jersey history #Morris County

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njzcmbie · 4 months

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#kinnelon nj #new jersey #morris county #cloudy sky #highway

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newjerseyisthebest · 3 months

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Sign post at Tranquility Farm in Chester, New Jersey.

#sunflower #sunflower field #New Jersey #nj #Allamuchy #morris county #Tranquility Farm

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mocosocobirds · 2 years

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Eurasian Marsh-Harrier in Morris County, NJ, Nov., 2022

Eurasian Marsh-Harrier, Melanie Lane Wetlands, Morris Co., NJ, Nov. 8, 2022, photo by Chuck Hantis A sight record and description from Chincoteague NWR, Virginia, December 4, 1994. Multiple observers and photographs from Maine, August 25-27, 2022 Six records since 2002 from the Caribbean and other islands in the Atlantic. The above list is of the only known and accepted records of the…

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#birding #birds #Chuck Hantis #Eurasian Marsh-Harrier #mocosocobirds #Morris County #nature #New Jersey #ornithology #Raptors

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