Friday, December 15, 2017

Interior of Waiting Room at Hoboken Railroad Station, Hoboken, NJ




Behind Newark Penn Station, Hoboken Terminal is the second busiest rail terminal in New Jersey. The waiting room, refurbished in 2009, originally built in 2007, is beautiful.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Space Farms Zoo, Wantage Township, NJ (Beemerville)




Beemerville Presbyterian Church



This iron cast eagle was from the Grand Central Station torn down in 1910

Small windmill

Herd staying together by the water's edge

The number of birds flying around is amazing

Prairie Dog

White-Tailed Deer

Sunrise Ridge

Space Farms Zoo and Museum is an interesting place on many levels. First and foremost, Space Farms is a zoo and actually the name 'Space' is a family name, being originally founded by a man named 'Fred Space' -- the zoo allows visitors to feed many of the animals which makes this zoo an ideal place to take young children. I was also taken by the vast numbers of birds which were either exhibits or indigenous to the area and simply living off the crumbs the zoo offers. Its almost like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." Space Farms' setting in Northwest NJ in Wantage Township is nothing short of stunning. Growing up in NJ, I fondly remember Space Farms being associated with bears and that is because the largest bear on record used to live there. Space Farms now has Goliath on display. Space Farms is also a museum and more pertinently its really several museums filled with most impressively, a fleet of antique cars, with the surrounding museums filled with curios, a fair amount of which would best be classified as 'Americana'

In this sense Space Farms is really a very eclectic place, in some ways this place doesn't necessarily know exactly what it wants to be, but then again where else can you look at a prairie dog and then glance up and see a 3 1/2 ton cast iron eagle that had once been atop the original Grand Central Station in NYC before being demolished in 1910?

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Lambert Castle Observation Tower and Garrett Mountain Reservation Woodland Park and Paterson, NJ












Views from Garrett Mountain Reservation in Woodland Park/Paterson, NJ. Views mostly of downtown Paterson.

Veteran's Memorial Park, Paterson, NJ



Veterans Memorial Park in Hayden Heights in Paterson, NJ

Hurd Park's "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Statute in Dover, NJ





The Town of Dover welcomes visitors along West Blackwell Street (US-46) with a ‘Spirit of the American Doughboy’ statue in Hurd Park

Bridget Smith House, Mine Hill, NJ




Bridget Smith House in Mine Hill, NJ. Built in 1855 this home was a two family home! Example how iron miners in the area lived in the 19th century.

Splitrock Reservoir, Rockaway Township, NJ







The pavement does end on Split Rock Road after which a dirt road continues



Splitrock Reservoir. According to another source the reservoir is in Rockaway Township and Kinnelon, but google maps does not show any portion of the reservoir in Kinnelon. The spot the pictures were taken from is in Rockaway Township. This post was updated 9/30/2018 because I erroneously placed the images in Boonton Township.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Clay Street Bridge and the Passaic River Waterfront of East Newark, NJ

Clark Thread Company Historic District





The Clay Street Bridge is a swing bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and East Newark, NJ. Originally opened in 1903, the Warren through truss rim-bearing bridge was substantially rehabilitated in the 1970s, It is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. As of  2015, it was determined that a replacement is the preferred option going forward.


NX Bridge spanning the Passaic River between Newark and Kearny, NJ




NX Bridge as seen from the Clay Street Bridge

The bridge has not been in use since 1977. It has been abandoned in its upright position. The tracks on the Newark side of the river are still an active freight line. The bridge is also known as the "Annie Bridge" since portions of the movie Annie were filmed near the bridge in 1982.