Tag: Montgomery Township

Sylvan Lake

Whenever the Montgomery Friends of Open Space Farmers Market is in session Shaan works as the assistant farmers market manager. The market normally runs from the summer into the early fall but sometimes they host a winter market. Today's winter market is in the Montgomery Municipal Centre not far from their previous location in Skillman Village Shoppes. Due to the many suggestions from market customers, the market will be held at the new location for the foreseeable future.

After I dropped Shaan off, I drove over to Skillman Park hoping to find something interesting to photograph. The sky was overcast and the air was cold. Fortunately, there was no breeze.

Before Skillman Park transformed into the green space I enjoy today, it had a beginning as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics. Opened in the early 20th century, Skillman Village was designed as a self-sufficient community specifically for the care and support of individuals with epilepsy. The village, nestled in the Skillman area of Montgomery Township aimed to provide a nurturing environment where residents could live, work, and receive medical care.

Sylvan Lake, Skillman Park
Skillman Park · 24 February 2024 · FujiFilm X-T3 · XF27mmF2.8 R WR

The location was chosen for its countryside charm and proximity to transport links, ensuring a community-like setting for the residents. The plan was for the village to be self-sustaining, with residents playing a key role in its maintenance. They managed a variety of agricultural operations, including a dairy farm, pigsty, and poultry farm. The village boasted orchards filled with apple and peach trees, alongside fields of tomatoes and other crops.

Sylvan Lake, Skillman Park
Skillman Park · 24 February 2024 · FujiFilm X-T3 · XF27mmF2.8 R WR

To support such a large community, the village was equipped with all necessary systems right on site. A sophisticated water system with wells, a water tower, and a treatment plant was established to meet the needs of the residents. Before the era of refrigeration, ice from Sylvan Lake was harvested and stored in a large ice house by the lake to keep food fresh.

Regardless of the time of the year, I am usually drawn to the area near Sylvan Lake.

Doctors Row

The houses on Doctors Row were built to accommodate these key staff members and their families.

Skillman Village was also known as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics before the buildings were demolished and repurposed as Skillman Park. Doctors Row is a non-functional road in a section of old Skillman Village where the doctors and higher-ranking staff lived.

The houses on Doctors Row were built to accommodate these key staff members and their families, reflecting a higher status within the community hierarchy. These homes were typically larger and more architecturally distinct than the housing provided for other staff members or the patient facilities.

I was drawn to the overall mood of abandonment. This place was once part of a thriving community. I think the black and white enhances the mood.

There is a tall, solitary street lamp standing prominently in the centre of the frame. The street lamp creates a vertical line that draws the eye upwards.

Behind the lamp is a large, coniferous tree, standing against the otherwise barren treeline in the background. The area is overgrown grasses and weeds, indicating the space has been left untended for some time. There is a patch of asphalt from the old road. The asphalt is cracked and partially reclaimed by the vegetation.

Opie's Grist Mill

The Opie's Grist Mill in Bridgepoint Historic District, Montgomery Township during a rain storm in March.

It rained all day. I spent Saturday morning watching the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. Normally on a cold rainy day like this, I would just sit inside and stream a movie or engage in a photo editing session. I wanted a few more cans of the Mittelfrüh Pilsner by Source Brewing. I made a trip out to a package store in Libby's Liquors in Lawrenceville. The roadways in Lawrenceville were like streams and flooded in many areas. When I left the Libby’s I got water inside my sneaker from the puddle in the parking lot.

On the way home, I realised that the weather might provide some interesting opportunities for photography. On Hollow Road at the northwestern border of Montgomery Township, I stopped at Rock Brook near the bridge at Grandview Road. Without a tripod, it was challenging to get long-exposure photographs with my Fuji X-T3 or iPhone 11 Pro.

The Rock Brook runs southeast to Bessie Grover Park at Camp Meeting Road. My friend Chris once lived in a house across from Bessie Grover Park. I tried using some small rocks to balance the camera but without a tripod it was challenging. As I drove slowly along Camp Meeting Road back toward home I remembered Opie's Grist Mill on Dead Tree Run Road.

The photograph showcases Opie's Grist Mill, a historic structure perched by the side of Dead Tree Run Bridge in the Bridgepoint Historic District of Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The mill, clad in red panelling, stands out against a winter backdrop with its vibrant colour. It is a multi-story building featuring a prominent balcony overlooking the river. The foreground is dominated by the muddy waters of The Rock Brook, displaying a smooth texture with ripples and reflections that suggest a rapid flow. The bare trees surrounding the mill create a stark, almost solemn atmosphere. The sky is overcast, casting a diffuse light that softens the entire scene, enhancing the mill's prominence. This tranquil setting captures the essence of historic rural America, where such mills were once the heart of local communities.
Opie's Grist Mill in Bridgepoint Historic District · 2 March 2024 · FujiFilm X-T3 · XF27mmF2.8 R WR

Opie's Grist Mill is located on Dead Tree Run Road in the Bridgepoint Historic District in Montgomery Township. The mill and the one-lane stone bridge were built in the early 1800s. A prominent, richly coloured red structure, the mill has retained most of its historical architecture, with its traditional wooden build and gabled roof. With the deluge of water from the incessant rain, the water of the Rock Brook had expanded right up to the edge of the Dead Tree Run Road and the mill almost seemed surrounded by water.

I stood on the southern side of the bridge, using small rocks to steady and level the camera. The iPhone 11 Pro was wedged between two rocks for stability with a flat rock underneath to level the frame. I used the Reexpose app from Reeflex to make a 7-second simulated (stacked image) exposure. The app was made for use with their line of iPhone camera lenses, none of which I own. I used a 3-second timer to reduce the effects of any camera shake from pushing the shutter button in the app.