The Paulins Kill (also known as Paulinskill River) is a tributary of the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
in northwestern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
in the United States. With a long-term median flow rate of 76 cubic feet of water per second (2.15 m3/s), it is New Jersey's third-largest contributor to the Delaware River, behind the
Musconetcong River
The Musconetcong River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It flows throug ...
and
Maurice River
The Maurice River (Berkery, Sheri"Do you know how to pronounce these S.J. town names?" ''Courier-Post'', September 5, 2019. Accessed January 26, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Maurice River/Maurice River Township: MAW-ris, instead of More-eece. So ba ...
. The river drains an area of across portions of
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
and
Warren
Warren most commonly refers to:
* Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits
* Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named
Warren may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Warren (biogeographic region)
* War ...
counties and 11 municipalities. It flows north from its source near Newton, and then turns southwest. The river sits in the Ridge and Valley geophysical province.
The Paulins Kill was a conduit for the
emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
of Palatine Germans who settled in northwestern New Jersey and northeastern
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. Remnants of their chiefly agricultural settlements are still found in local architecture, cemeteries, farms and mills, and the area remains largely rural.
Flowing through rural sections of Sussex and Warren counties, it is regarded as an excellent place for
fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...
. The surrounding area is used for hiking and other forms of recreation such as observing birds and other wildlife.
Course
The main branch of the Paulins Kill begins to form immediately north of Newton, in the marshes that straddle the town. The headwaters start near Route 622 in Fredon Township. It flows southwest for the rest of its journey, through
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
* Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...
Kittatinny Mountain
Kittatinny Mountain (Unami language, Lenape: Kitahtëne) is a long ridge traversing primarily Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County in northwestern New Jersey, running in a northeast-southwest axis, a continuation across the Delaware Water G ...
, flows into the river near Middleville in Stillwater Township. Swartswood Lake feeds Trout Brook through Keen's Mill Brook. The Paulins Kill continues its course southwest, entering Warren County, where it initially forms the border between Frelinghuysen and Hardwick townships. It enters Blairstown immediately after, where it is joined by Blair Creek, named (as is the town) for
John Insley Blair
John Insley Blair (August 22, 1802 – December 2, 1899) was an American entrepreneur, railroad magnate, philanthropist, and one of the 19th century's wealthiest men.
Early life
Blair was born at Foul Rift in White Township, New Jersey, just s ...
(1802–1899), as well as
Jacksonburg Creek
Jacksonburg Creek is a tributary of the Paulins Kill located along the eastern face of Kittatinny Mountain in Warren County in northwestern New Jersey in the United States. It rises near the Warren County-Sussex County border in Hardwick Township ...
, Susquehanna Creek, Dilts Creek and Walnut Creek. Yards Creek, which rises at the Yards Creek reservoir in Blairstown, enters the Paulins Kill near the hamlet of Hainesburg in Knowlton Township. Finally, in Warren County its waters enter the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
just south of the
Delaware Water Gap
The Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.
The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Wa ...
at the hamlet of Columbia in Knowlton Township.
After the establishment of Swartswood State Park in 1914, a dam was built in the 1920s across the river in Stillwater Township to create Paulins Kill Lake. Summer cottages were built to attract vacationers from nearby New York City. Today, the lake is a private, year-round residential community with over 500 homes.
Watershed
The Paulins Kill drains a portion of the Kittatinny Valley watershed. Kittatinny Valley is bordered to the northwest by the Kittatinny Ridge segment of the Ridge and Valley Appalachian Mountains, and to the southeast by the New Jersey Highlands.High Point, near the northeastern end of the ridge, is the highest peak in New Jersey, reaching an elevation of .
The lower southern and eastern portions of the valley are drained by the Paulins Kill and the
Pequest River
The Pequest River is a tributary of the Delaware River in the Skylands Region in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002.
The Pequest, Native Americans in the United States, N ...
, which flow generally south to the Delaware River watershed. The upper northwestern area is drained by the Big Flatbrook River to the Delaware River watershed in the south. The
Wallkill River
The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson River, Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk (New Jersey), Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset ...
drains the northeastern portion of the valley, flowing north to the
Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
watershed.
History
Origins of the name
The
U.S. Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...
Board of Geographic Names
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal gover ...
decided that the official spelling of the name would be ''Paulins Kill'' in 1898. Other spellings (''Pawlins Kill'' or ''Paulinskill'') have remained in common use. ''
Kill
Kill often refers to:
*Homicide, one human killing another
*cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death
Other common uses include:
*Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek
*Kill (command), a computing command
*K ...
'' is a
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
word for "stream".
Local tradition says that the Paulins Kill was named for a girl named Pauline, the daughter of a Hessian soldier. During the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, Hessian soldiers captured at the
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, crossing of the ...
and other skirmishes within New Jersey were held as
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
in the Stillwater area. Several of these Hessians are alleged to have deserted the British and taken up residence in Stillwater because of the village's predominantly German emigrant population. The assumption is that the name Paulins Kill was derived from "Pauline's Kill". However, the fact that the name Paulins Kill is present on maps and surveys dating from the 1740s and 1750s—two and three decades before the Revolution—negates the veracity of this tradition.
Two other possibilities for the naming of the Paulins Kill are more likely. First, that the wife of one of the area's first
settler
A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...
s, Johan Peter Bernhardt (died 1748), was named Maria Paulina and that she had died prior to the first settlement at Stillwater in 1742. However, very few records are extant detailing Bernhardt's family. The second and most likely etymological origin is that the Native American name given to the mountain on the valley's western flank, ''Pahaqualong'' (also spelled ''Pahaqualin'', ''Pohoqualin'' and ''Pahaquarra'') may have been corrupted and anglicized to a spelling such as "Paulins" by early white settlers or surveyors. Pahaqualong is roughly translated as "end of two mountains with stream between", from a combination of the words ''pe’uck'' meaning "water hole," ''qua'' meaning "boundary," and the suffix ''-onk'' meaning "place." This translation is thought to refer either to the valley of the Paulins Kill itself, or to the
Delaware Water Gap
The Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains.
The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Wa ...
. Local tradition does place an Indian village named ''Pahaquarra'' near the mouth of the Paulins Kill which is immediately south of the Delaware Water Gap. Likewise, the former Pahaquarry Township in Warren County derived its name from this origin.Snell, op. cit., 23
A village named
Paulina
Paulina or Paullina (, ) is a common female given name Latin. Paulina was a name shared by the mother, sister, and niece of the Roman Emperor, Roman emperor Hadrian.
Paulina Major, mother of Hadrian
(Domitia) Paulina (or Paullina) Major (''Ma ...
located a short distance east of Blairstown on Route 94, is said to have been named "from the stream upon which it is located." William Armstrong, a local settler, built the first grist mill there along the river in 1768, and the village took root.
The Paulins Kill was originally known as the ''Tockhockonetcong'' by the local Native Americans, who were likely
Munsee
The Munsee () are a subtribe and one of the three divisions of the Lenape. Historically, they lived along the upper portion of the Delaware River, the Minisink, and the adjacent country in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They were prom ...
, a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
or
phratry
In ancient Greece, a phratry (, derived from ) was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most Ionian cities and in Athens and it is thought that they existed elsewhere as well. Almost nothing is known about th ...
of the
Lenni Lenape
The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.
The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...
. The name ''Tockhockonetcong'' (or ''Tockhockonetcunk'') roughly translates to "stream that comes from Tok-Hok-Nok"—''Tok-hok-nok'' being an Indian village believed to have been within the boundaries of present-day
Newton, New Jersey
Newton, officially the ''Town of Newton'', is an Local government in the United States, incorporated municipality in and the county seat of Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County near which the eastern (main) branch of the Paulins Kill begins, and the
Lenape
The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.
The Lenape's historica ...
roots ''hannek'' meaning "stream" and the suffix ''-ong'' denoting "place".
Early settlement
The first human settlement along the Paulins Kill was by early Native Americans circa 8,000–10,000 BC at the close of the last
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
(known as the
Wisconsin glaciation
The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...
). At the time of the first settlement by emigrating Europeans in this region, it was populated by the
Munsee
The Munsee () are a subtribe and one of the three divisions of the Lenape. Historically, they lived along the upper portion of the Delaware River, the Minisink, and the adjacent country in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They were prom ...
tribe of the
Lenni Lenape
The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada.
The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...
(or Delaware) Indians. Artifacts (often of stone, clay or bone) of the Native American culture are often found in nearby farm fields and at the site of their ancient villages.
Typically, early European settlement along the Paulins Kill was by Palatine Germans who had emigrated to the New World via the port of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
from 1720 to 1800. Many had trekked north through the valley of the Delaware and settled along the Musconetcong, Pequest and Paulins Kill valleys in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and along the
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward ...
valley in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Areas along the Paulins Kill generally were not settled until the 1740s and 1750s. Often villages established and settled by German emigrants remained culturally German well into the Nineteenth Century, with German
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
and
Reformed
Reform is beneficial change.
Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
Places
* Reform, Al ...
churches (often as "Union" churches) established shortly after the first settlements (as was the case in Knowlton and in Stillwater). However, by the early Nineteenth Century, many descendants of these German settlers removed to newly opened lands in the West (i.e.
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...
, the
Southern Tier
The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York, Upstate region of New York (state), New York State, geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania. Definitions of the region vary wide ...
of New York) and those that remained had assimilated into English-speaking culture, and the German Reformed or Lutheran Churches often became
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
. The German cultural impact of this community can still be seen in local architecture—most notably in barns and in stone houses—and in cemeteries containing intricately carved gravestones often bearing archaic German text and
funerary
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
symbols. English, Scottish, and Welsh settlers located in the Paulins Kill valley throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century, often traveled north from Philadelphia, or west from
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, Newark, and Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth).Snell, op. cit., passim.
The area around present-day Stillwater was first settled by the family of Casper Shafer (1712–1784), a Palatine German who had emigrated to Philadelphia a few years earlier. Shafer, with his father-in-law, Johan Peter Bernhardt (?–1748), and his brother-in-law Johann Georg Windemuth (or John George Wintermute) (1711–1782), settled at Stillwater in 1742. Both Shafer and Windemuth were married to Bernhardt's daughters. Shafer, who operated a grist mill at Stillwater starting in 1746, transported flour, fruit, and other products by
flatboat
A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...
down the Paulins Kill and the Delaware River to the market in Philadelphia. Most of the New Jersey shoreline and cities such as Elizabethtown and Newark were practically unknown to the German settlers along the Paulins Kill who learned of the existence of these cities only through trade with the local Lenni Lenape.
The first road connecting Elizabethtown, and Morristown with settlements along the Delaware River, was the
Military Road
A military road is a type of road built by an armed force
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and ma ...
built by Jonathan Hampton (1711–1777) in 1755–1756. This road, which crosses the Paulins Kill at present-day Baleville, in Hampton Township, was built to supply fortifications built in the Delaware valley at this time to protect New Jersey during the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
. Very few passable, large roads were built in this section of New Jersey, then largely a sparsely populated wilderness, before the creation of turnpike companies in the early decades of the Nineteenth Century. During much of the mid-eighteenth century, trade in the northwestern reaches of New Jersey was conducted through Philadelphia by way of the Delaware River.Schaeffer and Johnson, loc. cit.
About the year 1760, Mark Thomson (1739–1803) settled in Hardwick Township (now Frelinghuysen Township) and erected a gristmill and sawmill on the Paulins Kill. The settlement that arose was later named Marksboro in his honour. Thomson, who removed to Changewater in
Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...
, became an officer in the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, and served two terms in the House of Representatives.
Commercial and industrial impact
Chiefly a pastoral river in a largely undeveloped area of New Jersey, the Paulins Kill has remained generally unaffected by industrial pollution. Dams were erected to power various small-town
gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
s,
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
fulling mill
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate (lanolin) oils, dirt, ...
s, and the electrical power plant at Branchville established in 1903. Columbia, a hamlet near the mouth of the Paulins Kill in Knowlton Township, was known for a large
glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
manufacturing factory. In recent decades, the dams have been breached or no longer impede the flow of the river.
Still, pollution reaches the Paulins Kill from nearby
residential development
A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resident ...
pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...
s and
fertilizer
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...
s. Several farms along the banks of the Paulins Kill produce alfalfa, wheat, corn, hay (and historically, barley, buckwheat and rye). Fruit trees in orchards produce cherries, apples, plums, peaches and pears, while native wild grape vines, and blackberry bushes are also found in the valley. New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection occasionally brings civil actions against local firms that pollute in the Paulins Kill watershed, such as a $121,500 fine for a Sussex County shopping mall sewage treatment facility which discharged pollutants into a tributary of the Paulins Kill between 1996 and 1998.
The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) has ranked the Paulins Kill as the seventh in a collection of rivers and creeks in a Top 30 listing of ''New Jersey waterways to Save'' The Paulins Kill is home to a wide variety of amphibians, including the
spotted salamander
The spotted salamander (''Ambystoma maculatum''), also known commonly as the yellow-spotted salamander, is a species of mole salamander in the family Ambystomatidae. The species is native to the eastern United States and Canada. It is the sta ...
American toad
The American toad (''Anaxyrus americanus'') is a common species of toad found throughout Canada and the eastern United States. It is divided into three subspecies: the eastern American toad (''A. a. americanus''), the dwarf American toad (''A. a ...
,
Fowler's toad
''Anaxyrus fowleri'', Fowler's toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. The species is native to North America, where it occurs in much of the eastern United States and parts of adjacent Canada. It was previously considered a subspec ...
,
American bullfrog
The American bullfrog (''Lithobates catesbeianus''), often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is a large true frog native to eastern North America. It typically inhabits large permanent water bodies such as swamps, po ...
and others. In 2000, a public sewer and water project in Branchville, New Jersey, was suspended out of concern for
dwarf wedgemussel
The dwarf wedgemussel (''Alasmidonta heterodon'') is an endangered species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
Distribution and conservation status
This is a rare species found solely ...
s (''Alasmidonta heterodon''), an endangered species, and restarted in 2002.
Near Columbia, the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of . The railroad was ...
built the Paulinskill Viaduct (known also as the ''Hainesburg Viaduct''), a bridge crossing the Paulins Kill, for the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail corridor. Begun in 1908, this bridge was deemed an
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
marvel for its use of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
. Spanning 1,100 feet (335 m) across the Paulins Kill Valley, the Viaduct rises 115 feet (35 m) above the valley floor, and opened for rail traffic in 1911. It was the largest concrete viaduct in the world until 1915, when the Lackawanna Railroad opened the Tunkhannock Viaduct in
Nicholson, Pennsylvania
Nicholson is a borough in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. The population was 698 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
History
The borough of Nicholson was incorporated on August 23, 1875 and was named after ...
, spanning over twice the Paulinskill Viaduct's length. Currently abandoned, several plans are underway by
New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...
to open the route as a passenger line to
Scranton
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. This site is commonly visited by adventure-seeking individuals.
Dam removal
Three dams have been removed from Paulins Kill, reconnecting 45 river miles:
* 2018: Columbia Lake Dam, an 18-foot-high, 300-foot-wide dam in Knowlton.
* 2022: County Line Dam, a 4-foot-high, 230-foot-wide dam in Stillwater.
* 2024: Paulina Dam in Blairstown.
Today
The Paulins Kill continues to maintain its rural character through both local concern and government policy. It is an excellent area for birdwatching, canoeing, hiking, hunting and fishing, and is considered to be one of the best trout streams in New Jersey.
Fishing
The Paulins Kill is a popular fishing destination for various species of trout, such as
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
,
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
and
brook trout
The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...
. Trout are stocked each year during the spring fishing season by New Jersey's Division of Fish & Wildlife. Hardly any wild trout are found. This is due to the river getting shallow in summer and warm. The river owes its
fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...
reputation largely to the prolific populations of various species of the
mayfly
Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the orde ...
and
caddisfly
The caddisflies (order Trichoptera) are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis ...
. Historically, the Paulins Kill was known to be populated with
American shad
The American shad (''Alosa sapidissima'') is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. T ...
, but with the construction of mill dams across the river in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the shad were unable to spawn in the river. Shad can still be found in the Delaware River.
Protected areas
The Paulins Kill valley contains many protected areas. Swartswood State Park, established in 1914 as the first and oldest state park in New Jersey, is on just north of Paulins Kill Lake in Sussex County. Along Kittatinny Ridge in the northern part of the watershed are parts of
Worthington State Forest
Worthington State Forest is a state forest located in Warren County, New Jersey within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, just north of the water gap in the Skylands Region of the state. It covers an area of and stretches for m ...
(west),
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a national recreation area administered by the National Park Service in northwest New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania. It is centered around a stretch of the Delaware River designated the ...
(central), and
Stokes State Forest
Stokes State Forest is a state park located in Sandyston, Montague and Frankford in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. Stokes comprises of mountainous woods in the Kittatinny Mountains, extending from the southern boundary of High ...
s (east).Worthington State Forest official website, no further authorship information given, accessed December 20, 2006 In addition to these state forests, the Paulins Kill valley is host to a variety of common
coniferous
Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
and
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
trees, which have been harvested for
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
in the past, including:
white oak
''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...
buttonwood
Buttonwood or Buttonwoods may refer to:
* "Buttonwood", a finance column in ''The Economist''
* Buttonwood Agreement, 1792 effort to organize securities trading that created the predecessor of the New York Stock Exchange
Plants
Buttonwood or bu ...
,
eastern red cedar
''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico an ...
,
eastern hemlock
''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...
,
American chestnut
The American chestnut (''Castanea dentata'') is a large, fast-growing deciduous tree of the Fagaceae, beech family native to eastern North America. As is true of all species in the genus ''Chestnut, Castanea'', the American chestnut produces Bur ...
,
black walnut
''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to central and eastern North America, growing mostly in riparian zones.
Black walnut is susceptible to thousand can ...
,
tamarack larch
''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland (island) ...
,
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
, and
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
. Trees that add to the beauty of the fall foliage include
maple
''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
,
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...
,
hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''.
Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...
,
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
, and
crab apple
''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 32–57 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples (sometimes known in North America as crabapples) and wild apples.
The genus i ...
.
New Jersey's
Green Acres
''Green Acres'' is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first br ...
program has targeted the Paulins Kill and its surrounding valley as an excellent natural resources for open space and farmland preservation and recreational opportunities. The state, working together with agricultural development boards in Sussex and Warren Counties, and with the ''Ridge and Valley Conservancy'', a local nonprofit land trust, share land acquisition costs to enter tracts of real estate into the program. Since 1983, several farms across New Jersey have sold development rights to the county programs. Sussex County has permanently preserved of woodland and farmland. Likewise, Warren County has preserved 100 farm properties, comprising over .
In addition, four Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are in the Paulins Kill valley area: Bear Swamp WMA, Trout Brook WMA, White Lake WMA, and Columbia Lake WMA. Together they comprise 6,564 acres (2656 ha) of protected lands, mostly acquired through "Green Acres" funds. Hunting and trapping are permitted in season in many of these protected areas. Common game animals include
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...
,
eastern coyote
An eastern coyote in the snow near the Virginia.html" ;"title="West Virginia–Virginia">West Virginia–Virginia state line
The eastern coyote is a wild North American canine hybrid with both coyote and wolf parentage. The hybridization likely ...
,
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
,
gray fox
The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener (biology), congener, the diminutive island fox ...
,
opossum
Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...
,
eastern cottontail rabbit
The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America.
Distribution
The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubby ...
,
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
,
gray
Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
and
red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia.
Taxonomy
There have been ...
,
beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
,
muskrat
The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America.
The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
, and
woodchuck
The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.
A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...
or groundhog. Common game birds include
ring-necked pheasant
The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for ...
American crow
The American crow (''Corvus brachyrhynchos'') is a large passerine bird species of the family (biology), family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. American crows are the New World counterpart to the carrion cro ...
, and
Canada goose
The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...
.
The Paulins Kill watershed is home to a variety of other animals. Other mammals include
eastern chipmunk
The eastern chipmunk (''Tamias striatus'') is a chipmunk species found in eastern North America. It is the only living member of the genus ''Tamias''.
Etymology
The name "chipmunk" probably comes from the Ojibwe word (or possibly ''ajidamoonh ...
,
porcupine
Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...
striped skunk
The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus ''Mephitis (genus), Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern ...
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
. Common northeastern American reptiles found there include snakes such as the American copperhead,
northern water snake
The common watersnake (''Nerodia sipedon'') is a species of large, nonvenomous, common snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to North America. It is frequently mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth (''Agkistrodon piscivorus'').
Co ...
milk snake
The milk snake or milksnake (''Lampropeltis triangulum''), is a species of kingsnake; up to 24 subspecies are sometimes recognized. ''Lampropeltis elapsoides'', the scarlet kingsnake, was formerly classified as a 25th subspecies (''L. t. elapso ...
, and turtles, including the
eastern box turtle
The eastern box turtle (''Terrapene carolina carolina'') is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. ''T. c. carolina'' is native to the Eastern United States.
The eastern box turtle is a subspec ...
, and
common snapping turtle
The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the Family (biology), family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far eas ...
rail trail
A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...
s along abandoned railroad beds of the
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway , also referred to as the Susie-Q or the Susquehanna, and formerly the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad, is an American Railroad classes#Class II, Class II Rail freight transport, freight r ...
—have been transformed and maintained for hiking, horseback riding, and other recreational uses, stretches for from Sparta Junction in Sussex County to Columbia in Warren County, roughly following the entire length of the river. After the New York, Susquehanna and Western decommissioned the route in 1962, the right-of-way along this corridor was purchased by the City of Newark the following year. Newark hoped to use the bed for a water pipeline connecting to the proposed dam and reservoir project on the Delaware River. However, this project—controversial from the start because of environmental concerns and the federal government's abuse of eminent domain—was canceled during the 1970s. Newark sold their claim to the corridor in 1992 to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for $600,000, and the Paulinskill Valley Trail was created. The
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...
follows the top of Kittatinny Ridge at the northern edge of the valley.
Birdwatching
Birdwatchers
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
have sighted a variety of common and endangered species of birds that inhabit New Jersey. More common species include:
American robin
The American robin (''Turdus migratorius'') is a migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not clos ...
,
barn swallow
The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply f ...
,
field sparrow
The field sparrow (''Spizella pusilla'') is a small New World sparrow in the family Passerellidae. It is about long and weighs about . The head is grey with a rust-coloured crown, white eye-ring and pink bill. The upper parts are brown stre ...
,
blue jay
The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations ar ...
,
black-capped chickadee
The black-capped chickadee (''Poecile atricapillus'') is a small, nonmigratory, North American passerine bird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a member of the Paridae family (biology), family, also known as tits. It has a distin ...
,
northern cardinal
The northern cardinal (''Cardinalis cardinalis''), also commonly known as the common cardinal, red cardinal, or simply cardinal, is a bird in the genus ''Cardinalis''. It can be found in southeastern Canada, through the eastern United States fro ...
,
red-winged blackbird
The red-winged blackbird (''Agelaius phoeniceus'') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and ...
and the
American goldfinch
The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch Family (biology), family. It is Bird migration, migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of th ...
. Also sighted are several species of woodpecker, including red-headed, red-bellied, and
downy
Downy, also known as Lenor in Europe, Taiwan and Japan, is an American brand of fabric softener produced by Procter & Gamble that was introduced in 1960.
Brand history
Lenor is a brand name of fabric softener and dryer sheets, also produced by ...
, and the
pileated woodpecker
The pileated woodpecker ( ; ''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, crow-sized woodpecker with a prominent red crest, white neck stripe, and a mostly black body. These woodpeckers are native to North America, where it is the largest confirmed extant ...
, as well as the
yellow-bellied sapsucker
The yellow-bellied sapsucker (''Sphyrapicus varius'') is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States.
Taxonomy
The yellow-bellied sapsucker was described and illustrated using a hand-coloured plate by the ...
. Often sighted are water fowl such as the
mute swan
The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...
, the
wood duck
The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a partially migratory species of perching duck found in North America. The male is one of the most colorful North American waterfowls.
Taxonomy
The wood duck was Species description, formal ...
, and the
mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
, wading birds such as the
killdeer
The killdeer (''Charadrius vociferus'') is a large plover found in the Americas. Its shrill, two-syllable call is often heard, sounding like "kill deer". It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 1 ...
, and predators such as the
red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...
. More rare birds sighted in the Paulins Kill valley include:
purple martin
The purple martin (''Progne subis'') is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is the largest swallow in North America. Despite its name, the purple martin is not truly purple. The dark blackish-blue feathers have an iridescent ...
,
scarlet tanager
The scarlet tanager (''Piranga olivacea'') is a medium-sized American songbird. Until recently, it was placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), but it and other members of its genus are now classified as belonging to the cardinal family (Card ...
,
indigo bunting
The indigo bunting (''Passerina cyanea'') is a small seed-eating bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is bird migration, migratory, ranging from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to ...
,
Baltimore oriole
The Baltimore oriole (''Icterus galbula'') is a small icterid, icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the Flag of Maryland, coat- ...
,
purple finch
The purple finch (''Haemorhous purpureus'') is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. It breeds in the northern United States, southern Canada, and the west coast of North America.
Taxonomy
The purple finch was formally described in 1789 by ...
, and a variety of owls, notably the
barn
A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...
northern saw-whet owl
The northern saw-whet owl (''Aegolius acadicus'') is a species of small true owl, owl in the Family (biology), family Strigidae. The species is native to North America. Saw-whet owls of the genus ''Aegolius'' are some of the smallest owl species ...
.
In art, literature and popular culture
* Essayist, poet and children's author
Aline Murray Kilmer
Aline Murray Kilmer (August 1, 1888 – October 1, 1941), was an American poet, children's book author, and essayist, and the wife and widow of poet and journalist Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918). The couple attendeRutgers College Preparatory School ...
(1886–1941), the widow of poet
Joyce Kilmer
Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American people, American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees (poem), Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in ...
(1886–1918) lived in
Stillwater, New Jersey
Stillwater Township is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in the Kittatinny Valley, Stillwater is a rural farming community with a long history of dai ...
, for the last 13 years of her life. Her 1785 house, "Whitehall," was built along the Paulins Kill by Abraham Shafer (1754–1820), son of Casper Shafer. It is thought that the setting of her children's book, ''A Buttonwood Summer'' (1929), was inspired by Stillwater and the Paulins Kill valley.
* The 1980
slasher film
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...
''
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year ...
'' was filmed at Camp NoBeBosCo north of
Blairstown, New Jersey
Blairstown is a Township (New Jersey), township in Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 5,704, a decrease of 263 (−4.4%) from the 2010 Uni ...
, in Hardwick Township. The camp's Sand Pond, which stood in for the movie's "Crystal Lake," feeds the
Jacksonburg Creek
Jacksonburg Creek is a tributary of the Paulins Kill located along the eastern face of Kittatinny Mountain in Warren County in northwestern New Jersey in the United States. It rises near the Warren County-Sussex County border in Hardwick Township ...
, a tributary of the Paulins Kill.
* Artist and
Queens College
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing.
Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...
professor
Louis Finkelstein
Louis Finkelstein (June 14, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio – 29 November 1991) was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Conservative Judaism.
Biography
Louis (Eliezer) Finkel ...
(1923–2000) created a painting entitled ''Trees at Paulinskill'' (c.1991–97) that was among his later
pastel
A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...
works and critically compared to works by French artist and
Post-Impressionist
Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...
painter
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...
List of New Jersey rivers
This is a list of streams and rivers of the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The list of New Jersey rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers, as well as smaller streams such as branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc. found throu ...
* Armstrong, William C. ''Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey'' (Lambertville, New Jersey: Hunterdon House, 1979). NO ISBN (Privately printed) Reprinted version. * Cawley, James S. and Cawley, Margaret. ''Exploring the Little Rivers of New Jersey'' (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1942, 1961, 1971, 1993).
* Chambers, Theodore Frelinghuysen. The early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies ' (Dover, New Jersey, Dover Printing Company, 1895). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Cummings, Warren D. ''Sussex County: A History'' (Newton, New Jersey: Newton Rotary Club, 1964). NO ISBN (Privately printed).
* Cunningham, John T. ''Railroad Wonder: The Lackawanna Cut-Off'' (Newark, New Jersey: Newark Sunday News, 1961). NO ISBN (Pre-1964).
* ''Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey itle Varies Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st-2nd series.'' 47 volumes. (Newark, New Jersey: 1880–1949). NO ISBN (pre-1964)
* Gleason, June Benore. ''Historical Paulinskill Valley, New Jersey: Blairstown's neighbors.'' (Blairstown, New Jersey: Blairstown Press, 1949). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Honeyman, A. Van Doren (ed.). ''Northwestern New Jersey—A History of Somerset, Morris, Hunterdon, Warren, and Sussex Counties'' Volume 1. (Lewis Historical Publishing Co., New York, 1927). NO ISBN (pre-1964)
* Richman, Steven M. The Bridges Of New Jersey: Portraits Of Garden State Crossings '. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2005).
* Schaeffer, Casper M.D. (and Johnson, William M.). Memoirs and Reminiscences: Together with Sketches of the Early History of Sussex County, New Jersey '. (Hackensack, New Jersey: Privately Printed, 1907). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Schrabisch, Max. Indian habitations in Sussex County, New Jersey ' Geological Survey of New Jersey, Bulletin No. 13. (Union Hill, New Jersey: Dispatch Printing Company, 1915). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Schrabisch, Max. Archaeology of Warren and Hunterdon counties ' Geological Survey of New Jersey, Bulletin No. 18. (Trenton, N.J., MacCrellish and Quigley co., state printers, 1917). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Snell, James P ''History of Sussex and Warren Counties, New Jersey, With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers'' (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1881). NO ISBN (Pre-1964)
* Stickney, Charles E. ''Old Sussex County families of the Minisink Region'' from articles in the ''Wantage Recorder'' (compiled by Virginia Alleman Brown) (Washington, N.J. : Genealogical Researchers, 1988). NO ISBN (Privately printed).
* Viet, Richard F. "John Solomon Teetzel and the Anglo-German Gravestone Carving Tradition of 18th century Northwestern New Jersey" in Markers XVII ' (Richard E. Meyer, ed.), Journal of the Association for Gravestone Studies, XVII: 124–161 (2000).
* Wintermute, Jacob Perry. Wintermute Family History '. (Columbus, Ohio: Champlin Press, 1900). NO ISBN. eprinted: Salem, Massachusetts: Higginson Book Company, NO ISBN(Pre-1964)
* Wintermute, Leonard. Windemuth Family Heritage '. (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1996). NO ISBN (Privately printed).