The photo of the week depicts the ongoing battle of farmer versus water, featuring a large pump located off Youngs Island Road in Allamuchy. The pump is taking water from this field’s drainage ditches and emptying it into a pipe, which goes under the old Lehigh and Hudson River railroad to begin its journey via drainage ditch to the Pequest River.  NOTE: the water in the distant field is not puddled water atop the field. It’s the water level of the field!! 

QUESTION:  Ever wonder how and/or why we have this large system of ditches throughout our Great Meadows??!!

ANSWER:  In the late 1950s, approximately 10 miles of the Pequest River, from Long Bridge in Allamuchy Township to below Vienna, Independence Township, was dredged and realigned by the then-United States Soil Conservation Service (now called Natural Resources Conservation Service).  This project also drained some of the surrounding “great meadows,” famous black soil or muckland areas, for cultivation. This was done by clearing the tributaries of the Pequest River and creating a system of large drainage ditches, which led into the Pequest River. 

Did you know? Dredging is a process where the bed of a river, harbor, or other waterway is cleaned out by scooping out mud, weeds and garbage.

The area can best be described by following the path of the Pequest River.  Flowing through Tranquility, the River runs along the northwestern side of the Allamuchy Mountain ridge in Allamuchy; here Trout Brook meets the Pequest.  Flowing through Bear Swamp, the Pequest then meets Bear Creek, where it begins its journey through the reclaimed swampy area known as Great Meadows.  Great Meadows is located between the ridges of Jenny Jump Mountain and Cat Swamp Mountain.  The infamous Shades of Death Road runs along the foot of Jenny Jump Mountain, forming the northern border of this valley.  The Pequest River exits Great Meadows in a long loop through the gap between Cat Swamp Mountain and Danville Mountain in the area of Route 46 and then continues on before entering the Pequest Wildlife Management Area. 

This man vs. water battle has been ongoing since the project began decades ago.  The Pequest River in this area is monitored and then cleared of snags, which would interfere with the flow of the river, which in turn could interfere with maintaining water levels in this large Great Meadows area.

We certainly live in an interesting and beautiful area!!  I know I’m repeating myself, BUT, this very area that we are talking about, The Great Meadows, The Pequest River, the mountains and valley ALL, in some way, were created by or shaped by the last ice age!! 

This entire area was covered by about 3,000 feet of glacier during the last ice age, known as The Wisconsin Ice Age.  Our area was near the very end of that glacier!!  Think of this: if you went back in a time machine over 20,000 years ago, stood in the area south of Route 46 and looked north, you would be looking UP at a 3,000-foot ice cliff!!! 

That vast ice sheet had gouged out the Pequest Valley, smoothed and polished the rocks we now see as cliffs in this region.  The glacier also created our Great Meadows as it began to melt.  Here is the process:

Glaciers push along and pick up debris over their lifetime.  The material pushed out in front and sides is known as moraine, consisting of rocks, clay, and mud.  Our glacier started to melt and recede, but its melted water was trapped behind the moraine and formed a vast lake.  The bottom of the lake began building up over thousands of years with decomposing leaves and other rubbish, then the moraine was eroded enough in places to let the water pass through, creating our Pequest River. Finally, over the last 5,000 years, a great swampy area was created we know as GREAT MEADOWS. This may be over-simplified but I hope it gives you an idea of what occurred!!

When you’re out and about enjoying our beautiful Open Space areas, and you perchance come across a huge boulder, a boulder that looks out of place, chances are you are looking at an ‘Erratic’, a boulder picked up by the glacier and carried along until the ice melted and left its traveler in place, where you came across it.

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran
Allamuchy Director Open Space
Township Environmental Commission – Chairman
Historical Society President