Old Mine Road

Old Mine Road is one of the oldest continually used roads in the United States. The 250-year old route is made up of several roads that form a north-to-south passageway in New Jersey.

The origins of the road are shrouded in mystery. One theory is that in the 1600s Dutch miners discovered copper ore in a beautiful ravine located about seven miles north of the Delaware Water Gap. To access the ore and to transport it to Kingston, New York, they constructed a road, now known as the Old Mine Road, following trails used by the Lenape Indians. Primitive by present standards, it was a major undertaking in its day. Legends of the road and its Dutch miners have persisted for over two centuries. Old Mine Road runs about 40 miles through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, along the northwestern edges of Warren and Sussex Counties on its way to Kingston.

In August 1955, the remnants of Hurricanes Connie and Diane caused record flooding of the Delaware River Basin which killed 99

people and caused millions of dollars of damage. After the flood and the increasing need of fresh water east of the river basin, the federal government developed a plan in the 1960s to dam the Delaware River at Tocks Island. This became the Tocks Island Project. 

In order to accomplish this, most of the properties were seized through eminent domain for pennies on the dollar and residents from New Jersey, as well as the Pennsylvania side of the river, were forced to leave with most of the structures demolished. After over a decade of court battles and environmental studies, the project was defeated, the dam was never constructed.  In the 1980s, a law was passed in the US Congress to permanently shelf the idea of a dam across the Delaware River. The 76,000 acres became the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

The photos within this collection are of the buildings and properties that survived the failed project - some with significant historic value, most falling to ruin. Standing as silent witnesses to a government's overreach.