It's Empty Now
by Debra Fedchin
Title
It's Empty Now
Artist
Debra Fedchin
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This is an interior shot within one of the homes that was the victim of the Tocks Island debacle. A favorite of mine that I highly doubt I will revisit since the flooring has become far too spongy indicating it is far too risky to cross. It is a beautiful piece of property that sits along the Delaware. The wall of windows in this room overlooks the Delaware. This battered and abandoned house was once a home and a place that was once someone�s pride and joy.
Tocks Island, located upstream from Delaware Water Gap in the Delaware River was the controversial site of a dam, proposed in the 1950s, which would have created a 37 mile (60 km) long lake between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with depths of up to 140 feet. Although the dam was never built, 72,000 acres (291 km�) of land were acquired, which became the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
The United States government began seizing land from residents that lay within the boundaries approved for this unprecedented recreation area. Residents were offered a fraction of the price their land was worth and, if they refused the monetary compensation, their property was condemned. Today, there are few existing structures from the original town of Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania, and there are few remaining from Bushkill, Pennsylvania and other surrounding areas.
On the New Jersey side, much of the area of Pahaquarry Township was taken over, leaving the community with no more than a few dozen residents. On July 2, 1997, Pahaquarry Township, whose population had dwindled to fewer than a dozen people, was dissolved and incorporated into Hardwick Township.
The project eventually collapsed after protesters whose land had been acquired raised the issue of unfair acquisition of land to the American people. Two such individuals, Nancy Shukaitis and Ruth Jones, formed a group called the Delaware Valley Conservation Association. Along with other supporters, they attended government hearings and meetings of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Another individual who was instrumental in bringing national attention to the issue was Justice William O. Douglas, who fell in love with the area after visiting Sunfish Pond with his wife.
I am utterly disgusted that properties that have passed through generations of original settling families could in this day and age be bought up by the government for pennies on the dollar.
Some of the properties seized were originally titled and deeded Pre Revolutionary War.
Uploaded
February 2nd, 2014
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