Clinton Township Newsletter

1 8 J u l y 2 0 1 6 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. ~ John F. Kennedy p o s t c a r d h i s t o r y s e r i e s O n c e U p o n A Ti m e i n a P l a c e C a l l e d " S p r u c e R u n " B y : Wi l l i a m E . H o n a c h e f s k y www.UnionForgeHeritage.org In the days of the 1940's, 50's and 60's, the landscape of Hunterdon County, including Clinton Township, was very much different from today. Farm fields seemed to stretch on forever or at least until the next horizon, their boundaries delineated most often by narrow hedgerows and on occasion by wire fencing. The crops on those fields differed seasonally and year to year, and provided a colorful array of golds, yellows, browns and greens to the landscape. Corn and alfalfa were popular crops, as were grains such as oats, wheat and rye. In between those crops lay close-cropped pastureland, for the grazing of robust dairy cows. Nearly every farm had its own herd. Black and white Holsteins were particularly favored for the amount of milk produced, followed by the smaller brown Guernseys with alleged higher butterfat content in their milk. In those days, farmers free-pastured herd bulls for breeding purposes, and they ferociously guarded those pastures against all intruders. If you crossed those pastures, you had to be fleet of foot and able to leap a barbed wire fence in a single bound. Harvested corn was still shocked (piled together) by hand and is often featured on contemporary Halloween or Fall scene gift cards. Once harvested, grains would go to the nearby Agway mill in Clinton for milling and conversion to mash and cracked corn (called "scratch") for chicken feed. It is here at the Mill that farmers met and discussed mutual concerns of weather and planting problems and argued over which dairy cow breed produced the best butterfat content. Collected milk went directly from cow to a cooler where it would be picked up by large stainless steel tanker trucks for further processing and pasteurization. Farm families often drank the milk directly, bypassing the safety of the pasteurization process. It's through this wonderful landscape that a little stream called "Spruce Run" wound its way southward out of the Highlands of Lebanon Township and beyond. The product of a multitude of shaded spring seeps discharging groundwater from the underlying bedrock below. By the time Spruce Run passed under the two lane Route 30 (now Route 31), concrete roadway in Glen Gardner and flowed under Hurley's bridge (now Van Syckle's Road bridge) into Clinton Township; the gradient of the stream became less steep and more meandering, lazily wending its way under the shade of ancient sycamore trees. Here its meandering pathway skirted the stone remnants of the historic, early 1700s, iron producing Union Furnace, part of Allen and Turner's vast Union Ironworks. Perched on a nearby bluff just above Spruce Run was the undisturbed 1747 grave of Nathaniel Irish, manager of the Union Furnace whose peaceful interment was about to change dramatically. By the 1950s the winds of change were already blowing in the State's capital – changes that would alter this bucolic landscape forever. To be continued… T h e w r i t e r i s a l i f e t i m e resident of Clinton Township and his most recent publication, "High Bridge," is available from Arcadiapublishing.com. L G B T Q o f G L B T o f H u n T e r d o n C o u n T y For youth, teens, young adults and adults. Meets the first Thursday of every month, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Clinton Library, 65 Halsted Street, Clinton. Call Matthew Loscialo for more information at: 908.300.1058 or visit: www.GLBTofHunterdonCountyNJ.com. L G B T Q o f S o m e r v i L L e For youth, teens, young adults and adults. We meet the first day each month, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, at the Somerville Library, 35 West End Ave., Somerville NJ 08876. Call Matthew Loscialo for more information at: 908.300.1058 or visit: www.GLBTofHunterdonCountyNJ.com. A S p e r G e r f r i e n d S Asperger Friends is a support and social group for teens, adults and parents who have, or are related to, persons who have Asperger Syndrome. We offer refreshments, speakers, information, discussion topics movies and occasional outings. Asperger Friends meets on the third Sunday of each month (unless otherwise noted on the website) at HealthQuest in Flemington (310 Hwy 31 North) from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. For more information, please call Carolyn or Matthew Loscialo: 908.236.6153 or visit: www.AspergerFriends.com.

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