Orange Reservoir Perambulation

Orange Reservoir from the north

I'm sure it is well known to regular visitors to South Mountain Reservation (Essex County, NJ), but has snuck up on me that Orange Reservoir, which sits at the north end of the reservation, is now generally open to the public and full of recent and upcoming "improvements".  Built in the late 19th century to supply water for the City of Orange it was abandoned for that purpose in the late 1990s (I venture a reason below).  Till a few years ago, one had to sneak through a fence to have a look.  Its long dormancy between water supply and public access was due to political and financial fights between the City of Orange, the Township of West Orange who own most of the property, and Essex County who has wanted it for its "South Mountain Recreation Complex".  Anyway, around July of last year things were settled at least to the extent that the county could lease the property and start to do things with it. I think the township is still grumbling about taxes, but I am not sure. It seems to have become one of County Executive Joseph DiVicenzo's favorite projects.

I decided to check it out about a week ago.  It is definitely a work in progress and definitely different from the rest of South Mountain Reservation (the reservation is adjacent to the reservoir - although I am not sure if the reservoir is technically part of the reservation, the two are so tightly coupled and both are managed by Essex County so it is probably best to think of them as a single entity).  

"Amenities"

While the reservation proper is dominated by rocky trails and unpaved carriage roads - more of a hiking experience if not an especially difficult one - the reservoir is looking much more "civilized", with paved paths, lighting, etc.  I'm of two minds.  With Turtle Back Zoo and the skating arena and all the other nearby amenities, I can see why Mr. DiVicenzo would want to expand recreational opportunities around the north end of the reservoir. And I won't complain about linking it all in a pedestrian friendly manner suitable to people with limited hiking skills or experience - it might even encourage some of them to walk ... a bit.  I just hope he does not go too far.  In any case, I like to walk just about anywhere and I found walking the new paths around the reservoir an enjoyable experience. And the serious hiking trails of the reservation proper are just a stone's throw away.


Path extending around the west side of the Reservoir.

Pedestrian Bridge over the Rahway River at the north end of Reservoir

Mr. DiVicenzo's new bridge on the way (I think the one on the left is already done)

As I said, it is also work in progress.  A county goal is a paved path circumnavigating the reservoir which means bridges to cross the Rahway River West Branch where it enters north and exits south.  The northerly bridge - at the busy end of the reservoir - is already in place.  The county has grand plans which are prominently displayed on giant posters for the bridge at the south end.   We saw the work taking place.  One of the news articles I found said it would be open April 2014, but this seems ambitious.  We'll see.



Muddy tracks at the end of the paved path on the east side

We started out by heading south on the east side of the reservoir.  The paved path soon turns to a muddy mess - presumably the old service road - the muddiness exacerbated by the recent thaw.  While we saw no restrictions to continuing, it was easier to turn back and head down the west side where we wanted to be anyway. And where the paved path is complete all the way down to the dam. 

Giant Mute Swans spotted by the Orange Reservoir

On the way we spotted waterfowl. The reservoir is good this time of year for waterfowl although this may be diminishing with all the recent development.  We saw a normal assortment of ducks - nothing special.  It was the Mute Swans which caught our attention.  Seems this aggressive Euro-invasive is evolving into a giant subspecies in its new home.  A bigger bird for a bigger country.  Someone suggested it was something in the water.  Perhaps the reason the City of Orange abandoned it for water supply?

Dam at the south end of the reservoir

The paved path on the west side ends at the dam.  It is quieter down there and I hope it will stay that way even with the new bridge.  A lonely old water tank hearkens to the municipal water supply days.  In the distance you see the workers building the new bridge.  Till that is finished you can't walk right the way around without fording the Rahway River - probably possible but the water was high and our plans took us deeper into the reservation.  From the dam a short road walk takes you to the Lenape Trail and the rest of the South Mountain trail network.  It all gets much wilder very quickly.

Given the newness of it all, many hikers familiar with South Mountain will not have walked the reservoir.  Many may not really want to given its relatively civilized character.  But for me it is interesting and pleasant enough and provides the sort of variety I look for in my perambulations. Most likely I will include it as part of our South Mountain traverse with the NY Ramblers in the third of the "Ramble Across New Jersey" series in April. 

Finally a note about public transit access.  The common and obvious way the car-less and car-adverse get to South Mountain is via the Millburn train station.  Which is great but lands one pretty much at the opposite end of the reservation.  Community Bus (Coach USA) route no. 77 provides reasonably frequent service, including weekends, directly from PABT.  Take it to the "West Orange Arena".  The bus stops just a few hundred yards from the north end of the reservoir.  Go into the arena/skating rink if it is open and you want to use the restrooms.  A useful alternative to the Millburn train not only for the reservoir but also for connecting many other interesting dots in the northern reaches of the reservation.  Complaints about this bus service might be noted (click here) but it was fine ... the one time I used it.  







Port Washington, NY History Seen Through Its Sewer Manhole Covers



Manhasset Bay from the Port Washington Waterfront Walkway

A week or so ago I joined a SW/OC/UTC hike in Port Washington, NY.  I had been there many times but not so much for walking.  Upon exiting the railroad station, I stumbled across a sewer manhole cover dated 1916.  I normally watch for manhole covers but only casually as they are only occasionally entertaining.  So I sort of dismissed this one as a mildly interesting reflection of early 20th century civic pride.  The railroad came in 1898 so that by 1916 Port Washington was a thriving bedroom community for NYC.  Which meant sanitary sewers.  It is possible the 1916 cover is from the town's first sewers, or may have reflected a need realized a bit later for expansion or improved maintenance access. The subject is fascinating and I refer you to www.sewerhistory.com rather than elaborating here.  Anyway it was from the very early years of the Port Washington sewer system.


Port Washington Manhole Cover Timeline

Then I noticed one from 1928.  Sensing a possible window into Port Washington's past, I started photographing manhole covers - unfortunately not being able to relocate the 1916 one rushing for the train at the end of the hike.  I managed to capture examples from 1928, 1929, 1946, 1948, 1960, 1961 and 1987.   None from the 1930s, 1950s, or the 1990s and later.  I'd like to think there was some deep significance to this (the great depression in the 1930s for instance) but it is almost certainly because my limited route simply didn't pass covers from these other decades.  Perhaps a scarcity of post-1987 covers reflects that Port Washington was largely built out by that time.

The geographical distribution of the manhole covers possibly illustrates the timeline of development for different parts of Port Washington.  A much more thorough survey than I will ever undertake would be required to properly test this.  But since my camera has GPS, it is easy enough to produce a map showing the locations of the ones I did photograph.  Click Here for the Map.   Trends are not obvious to me, but as noted the data set is rather limited.

 

Ghosts of the Past

Other manhole covers in Port Washington also harken to times past.  For example those of the often reviled and now extinct LILCO and Ma Bell.  And there are plenty of ordinary manhole covers about but I did not photograph any of them.
 
“Port Washington” itself is a curious entity, at least from a legal perspective. Wikipedia defines it as a hamlet and “census designated place”, or CDP, within the town of North Hempstead. In New York a hamlet would essentially be an unincorporated village (without defined borders) while a CDP is a census bureau abstraction created for statistical purposes (with defined borders). Further, despite what Wikipedia says, the CDP excludes four incorporated villages (with defined borders) – Manorhaven, Baxter Estates, Port Washington North and Sands Point. Manhole covers labeled “Port Washington” were seen in the CDP proper and at least two of the incorporated villages. Local residents think of all of these places as just the town of “Port Washington”. And the manhole covers tell us this has been the case since at least 1916 – probably earlier.

Sands Point Preserve

Of course the hike wasn't really about observing and photographing manhole covers.  Not surprisingly I was the only participant engaged in such activity.   Rather the main highlights were the waterfront walkway along Manhasset Bay and Sands Point Preserve with its Long Island north shore gold coast mansions, woodland trails, and magnificent views of Long Island Sound.  The weather was great if a bit cool and the hike well attended.  Thanks to Bill W. for leading a great hike.

As for manhole covers, don't expect a connect-the-dots hike anytime soon.  But there are precedents.  Artist Michele Brody has conducted manhole cover walks on 14th Street in Manhattan and provides an informative self-guided tour brochure (click here).  But for me,  manhole covers are best as adornments to peripatetic perambulations based on other themes.

Finally, here are a few more hike highlights:


Castle Gould at Sands Point Preserve

 

Long Island Sound from Sands Point Preserve

A Quirkier Side to Port Washington









Looking for Patrick Keely in Brooklyn

Brooklyn based Patrick Keely (1816-1896) was perhaps the most prolific church architect in US history.  He built quite a number in his hometown.  I've perambulated pass them a couple of times on  connect-the-dots hikes but not for some time now, the last being March, 2012.  Perhaps time for a reprise (with some differences of course).

Anyway, in January, 2012 I wandered about Brooklyn to see how Patrick's dots were faring.  Here is some of what I saw.



St. Mary Immaculate Conception (Williamsburg)

First to Williamsburg to see if St. Mary Immaculate Conception, which I had heard might have been demolished, still existed (my first Keely walk was in 2009).   On Maujer Street and called by some "St. Mary Maujer".  It did still exist, barely. Not sure what we would find in 2014.  Simple and unpretentious, I believe it is the oldest Keely church remaining in NYC. It was constructed in 1853, early in Keely's career - his first church (in Williamsburg, demolished) was 1847. I had thought this one might have been his oldest extant anywhere, but I have found at least one older in Newport, RI. 



St. John the Baptist Church (Bedford Stuyvesant)

On to Bedford-Stuyvesant for Keely's 1870 St. John the Baptist church. I had left it out of the 2009 walk mainly because I found out about it too late to fit it in. Probably his largest NYC church, the AIA Guide describes it as "a vigorous Renaissance Revival hulk". The term hulk certainly applies. Too bad about the boarded up windows but I suppose it stabilizes the structure as an alternative to demolition where restoration money is lacking. The parish was still active - they had a website - but I don't know what use they make of the church itself.  For its bulk alone, and to connect other interesting dots, it was included in the 2012 walk.




Patrick Keely home in Fort Greene

Next I walked past the Fort Greene home where Keely died in 1896.  Its not that I have an abiding interest in Patrick Keely or ecclesiastical architecture for that matter. Irish-born, Brooklyn-based, and untrained formally in architecture, Keely is said to have built some 600 (no one knows for sure) mostly but not exclusively Catholic churches across eastern North America, riding the great waves of 19th century immigration - much of it Catholic (Irish, Italians, Poles, etc.). So things associated with his life, his churches mainly, make for great dots to connect in a peripatetic perambulation across the Brooklyn neighborhoods built by those immigrants many of whom went to his churches.


But I would also like to put in a good word for Patrick. He is often dismissed as a hack by architectural historians, due in part to his lack of formal training in the profession (although his dad in Ireland may have been an architect, or at least was a builder). Indeed some of his churches are pretty dull. I take the more nuanced view of Francis Morrone ("The Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn", and many others) - that someone as prolific as Keely could not have produced something fine every time and that when he was good, he was very good. The 1875 St. Anthony of Padua in Greenpoint, one of Morrone's favorite Keelys, makes this point. I also like what the AIA Guide has to say about it: "Attired in red brick and white limestone, a quasi-cathedral on this religious block offers fancy dress for this mostly dour neighborhood. Its 240-foot spire, at a bend in Manhattan Avenue, is a visual pivot not only for Milton Street and Manhattan Avenue but for all of Greenpoint."

Saint Anthony of Padua (Greenpoint)


In 2012 we walked passed 16 Keely sites in Brooklyn mostly churches, and one in Hunters Point, Queens.  The only site I know about we missed was his grave in Holy Cross Cemetery because it was just too far.  His son-in-law, Thomas F. Haughton, continued Keely's practice after his death and designed several fine Brooklyn churches, but we gave those a miss.

(Note:  some of the names I have used for the churches may not be strictly correct today.  As parishes close and consolidate, the names are changed.  I think the names I have used are the ones the churches have historically been known by).



Union Township (NJ) architecture on the cheap?

Connecticut Farms Elementary School (1941)

They are not identical but you would be forgiven for thinking that Union Township used the same

blueprints with minor revisions for their municipal building and Connecticut Farms Elementary School.   You might be right.  To save money. NYC built five essentially identical high schools during the depression using the same plans due to fiscal austerity (I've thought about connecting them on one hike but they are too far apart). 

 

Union Township Municipal Building

Connecticut Farms Elementary School was built in 1941, which is sort of depression-era, and I would guess the municipal building around the same time (although I did not turn up a date upon very cursory googleing).  Both in the Georgian Revival style so popular at the time.

 

The buildings aren't next to each other but within an easy walk and are worthy dots to connect in a Union Township perambulation, along with other stuff including some Revolutionary War sites and concrete houses associated with Thomas Edison.  Plus what has been purported to be the tallest spherical water tower in the world!

Abraham Burton Cohen Apartment Building in East Orange, NJ



Photo by Craig Nunn.

The East Orange, NJ apartment building where Abraham Burton Cohen was living when he died in 1956. Who was A.B. Cohen you may ask? Only the greatest builder of railroad grade eliminations in US history (over 200 I believe). As an engineer for the Lackawanna Railroad, he was a pioneer in reinforced concrete construction and was responsible for the design of the Paulinskill and Tunkahonnock viaducts (1910 and 1915 respectively). Both I believe were the largest reinforced concrete structures in the world when built - the latter remaining so for some 50 years.





 

The Hobart Gap (ca. 2014).

Actually March 11, 2014.  Considerably more prosaic than in the past, this is the view looking towards the highest point of the gap on US. Route 24 from Hobart Gap Road on the border between Millburn and Summit, NJ.  With the obligatory security fence.

 

A major pass through the Watchung Mountains, the Hobart Gap has been crossed by Indian trails, colonial era roads, early railroads, and today a limited access highway. 

Of special significance during the Revolutionary War since the British held the lowlands to the east and George Washington's troops hung out just the other side.  A couple of times the British tried to send German mercenaries through the gap and if successful might have wiped out the Continental Army.  But as we all know, they only managed to get a few troops killed and provide locations for historical plaques many years later.  Also as a consequence, the Hobart Gap is not in Canada today.


Here is one of those plaques nearby.   Been around since 1896 and in its present location since 1908, so it is not so easy to read.  It commemorates a signal beacon and a cannon.