Mark Swanson 1999

HISTORICAL RESEARCH INTO A SELECT NUMBER OF POTENTIAL HISTORIC  ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AT EVANS AREA,
FORT MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY

DACA63-99-P-0690

Report submitted to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Fort Worth District
819 Taylor Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76102

Report submitted by:

New South Associates
6150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue
Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083
________________________________
Principal Investigator - Mary Beth Reed

Mark E. Swanson - Author and Historian
New South Associates Technical Report #635

May 28, 1999

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
The evaluation of nine cultural resources or clusters of resources, was performed for the Evans Area of Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, as part of the requisite assessment of cultural resources for areas subject to the Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-510).  The main task of this project was to augment the historical information available for these properties, which had been identified by previous researchers and to evaluate their archaeological potential.  These cultural resources ranged from nineteenth-century farms typical of the historic farmstead period, to structures built by the Marconi Wireless Company in the 1910s, to subdivision housing built in the 1930s.
In the course of this work, various chains of title were researched, covering the areas of these cultural resources and extending back in time to the early 1800s.  Additional historical research using historic views and maps, tax assessments, and information from a knowledgeable local individual was also conducted, which added to our understanding of these properties, and helped determine the need for further archaeological research.
While this report contains primarily refinement of the previously known data and presents approximations for locations of previously reported and sites newly recognized, the potential for preserved archaeological at these proposed locations is slim given the subsequent land uses, specifically later building episodes and road development related to the military occupation, that these locations underwent.  Newly identified resources include a well, balancing towers, early sewage plant, and married operator's cottages for the Marconi period.  Also, an extant resource has been identified as the Marconi Power Plant.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people must be thanked for helping to bring this project to a successful conclusion.  At Fort Monmouth, the work could not have begun without the assistance of George Fitzmaier and Robert Melascaglia at the Directorate of Public Works.  Many others at Fort Monmouth provided valuable assistance.  Among them were Dr. Richard Bingham, Mindy Rosewitz, Sue Nevin, and Chris Kensik.  An absolutely essential contribution was made by personnel at the Monmouth County Archives and Records Center.  In particular, the assistance of Mary Ann Kiernan went far beyond the call of duty.  Cindy Kiefer, an independent researcher at the Archives, also provided useful information.  Last, but certainly not least, was the assistance of Fred Carl, who donated articles and other materials on the Marconi period at Evans.  To all of these people, and others unnamed, I want to offer my thanks.
Mark E. Swanson, Author

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
LIST OF FIGURES iv
LIST OF TABLES v
I.  INTRODUCTION 1
II.  RESEARCH METHODS 5
III.  BACKGROUND 6
Evans Area Chains of Title 6
Early Area History 10
IV.  EVANS AREA OWNERSHIP AND PROPERTY INFORMATION 13
Allen(FME-1), Stanton (FME-2), and Bennet (FME-9) Residences 13
Marconi Era, 1912-1920 (FME-4) 16
Monmouth Pleasure Club Association, 1920s 23
Developments in the 1930s (FME-6, FME-7, FME-8) 25
Driscoll Residence (FME-8) 25
Rogers Residence (FME-6) and the Southern Third of Evans Area 25
Subdivision Lots (FME-7) and Post Marconi-Properties 27
Percy Crawford and King's College (FME-5) 29
Military Acquisition, 1941-1949 31
Later Real Estate Activity, 1950s 32
V.  CONCLUSIONS 33
REFERENCES CITED 35
APPENDIX A - CITED MAPS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
APPENDIX B -  SOURCES

LIST OF FIGURES

1-1.  Project Location Map Showing Properties to be Researched 2
1-2.  Project Location Map Showing Most Recent Plottings 4

Appendix A - Cited Maps and Photographs

A-1.  1951 Evans Signal Laboratory Real Estate Map
A-2.  Lightfoot 1851 Showing Approximate Evans Area Boundary
A-3.  Detail of Beers Showing Approximate Evans Area Boundary
A-4.  Detail of Wolverton 1889a Showing Approximate Evans Area Boundary
A-5.  Detail of Hall 1903, Showing Secondary Road on East Site of Belmar Blvd.
A-6.  Detail of Wilmer Atkinson 1913
A-7.  View Showing Marconi Hotel, Masts, and (on right) Balancing Tower
A-8.  View of Marconi Masts at Belmar, Possibly Taken from Glendola Road,  Looking NE
A-9.  Historic Photographs of the Belmar Hotel
A-10.  Building 9006, Marconi Power and Electric Plant at Belmar, New Jersey
A-11.  Detail of Birdsall 1928 Amended Map of Imperial Park Showing Approximate  Evans Area Boundary
A-12.  Birdsall's Map of Shark River Terrace, 1926
A-13.  Franklin Survey Company 1941
A-14.  Photo-Tone Postcard, Eagle Post Card View, Co., Inc., New York
A-15.  1941 Suggested R.P.F. Field Laboratory on Kings College Grounds
A-16.  Detail of 1941 Asbury Park 1941 Showing Approximate Evans Area Boundary
A-17.  Maps Showing Proposed and Completed Removal of Existing Farm Building,  Bennett/Campbell Residence, FME-9
A-18.  Detail of Fort Monmouth and Vicinity 1943
A-19.  Army Service Forces 1947
A-20.  1958 Map of Government-Owned Land at the Evans Area, Adjacent to Shark  River

LIST OF TABLES
1-1.  Potential Historic Sites in Evans Area 1
3-1.  Chain of Title for Northern Third of Evans Area 6
3-2.  Chain of Title for Middle Third of Evans Area 7
3-3.  Chain of Title for Southern Third of Evans Area 9
4-1.  Marconi Properties at Belmar 21

I.  INTRODUCTION
Evans Area, a subpost of Fort Monmouth, is located in Wall Township, in southeastern Monmouth County, New Jersey, around 12 miles south of the Ft. Monmouth Main Post.  The Evans subpost consists of 217 acres on the west side of the Shark River, between Belmar to the east, New Bedford to the south, and Glendola to the northwest.  The coastal resort community of Asbury Park is about five miles to the northeast.  This work, designed to provide research on previously identified cultural properties within the Evans Area, is required by the 1990 Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), Public Law 101-510, which has mandated the closure of the Evans Area.
This project is designed to provide additional historical information on nine cultural properties or clusters of properties previously located in the Evans Area through archaeological and historical studies (Figure 1-1).  These properties were first identified in "An Archeological Overview and Management Plan for Fort Monmouth (Main Post), Camp Charles Wood, and the Evans Area," by Joel Klein et al. in 1984.  At that time, nine potential historic archaeological sites were identified within the boundary of the Evans Area from nineteenth and twentieth century maps (Klein et al. 1984:iii).  The nine potential sites or clusters are listed below in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1.  Potential Historic Sites in Evans Area (Klein et al. 1984:4.17-18, 31)
 

FME-1   Pre-1851 J.M. Allen residence

FME-2   Pre-1851 J. Stanton residence (later, G. Wooley)

FME-3   Pre-1851 J. Bennet [sic] residence (later, R.B. Campbell)

FME-4-1 through 4-3 Marconi Complex sites: receiving antenna (4-1); power  plant (4-2); and operating building (4-3)

FME-5   Unidentified pre-1941 frame structure

FME-6-1 through 6-6 Pre-1941 George E. Rogers residence and frame outbuildings

FME-7-1 through 7-4 Pre-1941 structures

FME-8-1 through 8-5 Pre-1941 Lucia Driscoll residence and outbuildings

FME-9   Unidentified pre-1941 frame building

 Figure 1-1.  Project Location Map Showing Properties to be Researched

 Later work, conducted by New South Associates and Geo-Marine, Inc., led to a site determination for FME-8 (the Driscoll place), which was designated 28-MO-248 (Reed et al. 1996).  Even though the 1996 report contained considerable background information on the military and pre-military history of the Evans Area, relatively little historical research was done on the specific pre-military properties listed above.  The present project, conducted by New South Associates of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was conceived to provide a coherent chain of title for these properties and place these properties in their proper historical context (New South Associates 1999).
As a result of this research, relatively few changes were made to the basic placement of the nine cultural resources or resource clusters previously identified at Evans (Figure 1-2).  Based on an 1851 map, the Bennett place might be better sited north of the Stanton place, rather than to the northeast.  Klein et al. (1984) clearly assumed that Bennett and later Campbell lived in the same place, and this was probably correct.  Klein et al. chose to locate the Bennett place where later more accurate maps located the Campbell place, and given the possible inaccuracy of the 1851 map, it was certainly reasonable to do this.  This location they identified as FME-3.  We would prefer to take this further.  Based on the location of the Campbell place on Wolverton's 1889 map, it seems likely that the Bennet-Campbell house was located at FME-9, which was a standing farmhouse as late as 1942, when it was removed.  This would eliminate the FME-3 location altogether.
This report also better defined the Marconi properties and identified new resources.  The power plant (FME 4-2), originally thought to have been destroyed, still stands in its original location.  It is Building No. 9006.  The functions of the hotel, bungalows, and operating building (FME 4-3) are better defined, as was the series of masts that supported the Marconi aerials (FME 4-1).  A determination was made of the approximate location of the six Marconi masts, based on published descriptions and historic photographs.  Other Marconi properties have been described, such as the balancing towers, the sewage area, the married operators cottages, and the well associated with the hotel.  All of these features, plus other cultural properties, are dealt with in greater detail in the remainder of the report.

 Figure 1-2.  Project Location Map Showing Most Recent Plottings

II.  RESEARCH METHODS
To establish a chain of title for the various parts of the Evans Area, and place the historic properties in their context, research began at the Directorate of Public Works at the Fort Monmouth Main Post.  All available records dealing with Evans land acquisition were examined, including military maps detailing the specific land tracts acquired by the U.S. Government between 1941 and 1949.  In addition, retired records of the Evans Area, now stored in Building 498, were examined for pertinent information.  Additional information was found at the CECOM Historical Research Collection.
Working from the military acquisition maps, the basic chains of title for the Evans Area were constructed at the Monmouth County Archives and Records Center, where the microfilm record of deed transactions was comprehensive.  Other historical records were also examined, such as census information, building contracts, the Index to Wills, and Estate Papers.  Additional information was found at the Monmouth County Historical Association and the Monmouth County Hall of Records.  In the latter, the oldest tax assessment books for Wall Township, dated to the 1930s, proved particularly useful.  A chance meeting with genealogist Cindy Kiefer provided information on Joseph G. Stanton and Jeremiah Bennett that might otherwise never have been uncovered.  Fred Carl, an expert on the local Marconi era, has also been instrumental in the plans for an "Information Age Learning Center" at the Evans Area.  Carl provided much valuable information on the Marconi era at Evans, including relatively rare issues of Marconi Company publications.
III.  BACKGROUND
EVANS AREA CHAINS OF TITLE
Because the cultural properties to be researched were scattered throughout the Evans Area, the various chains of title cover almost the entirety of the subpost.  Klein et al. (1984) divided the Evans Area into four subareas, labeled "A" through "D."  Historically, it is better to consider Evans as three areas: the northern third, north of Laurel Gully Brook (identified in Klein et al. as Subarea B); the middle third, south of Laurel Gully Brook (Subareas A and C); and the lower third, south of the area's "wasp-waist" constriction (Subarea D).
Because the history of these three areas is different, it is necessary to have three basic chains of title.  For ease of presentation, these chains will be organized from north to south, each beginning with the military acquisition in the 1940s, and working backwards in time to the early 1800s, a span that covers all of the cultural properties in question.  This information is presented below in Tables 2-1 through 2-3.  This basic information will be expanded in subsequent sections.

Table 3-1.  Chain of Title for Northern Third of Evans Area (FME-8)*
 

Owner	Date Received	Source
U.S. Government	February 6, 1943	Driscoll and USA 1943
Lucia C. Driscoll	March 15, 1922	Dd Bk 1178, p. 76
Seacoast Trust Co. (from Viola Humphrey)	February 28, 1922	Dd Bk 1194 or 1195, p. 190
Viola Remsen Humphrey (executor of Hugh Kinmouth will)	July 26, 1922	Dd Bk 1195, p. 6
Hugh S. Kinmouth	July 4, 1873	Dd Bk 251, p. 304
Edward Shearman	December 18, 1869	Dd Bk 221, p. 468
Charles S. Newman	May 3, 1834	Dd Bk G3, p. 200
David Aumock

*This corresponds to Parcels 76 and 77 on the military acquisition map (Appendix A-1) (Evans Area, Ft. Monmouth 1951).  Only Parcel 76, on the eastern side, is specifically covered here, since no historic cultural features have been identified on Parcel 77.

Table 3-2.  Chain of Title for Middle Third of Evans Area (FME-3, 4, 5, 7, 9) *
 

Owner	Date Received	Source
U.S. Government	May 16, 1942	Dd Bk 1893, p. 168; USA vs Young People's Association 1942
Young People's Association for the Propagation of the Gospel	November 8, 1941	Dd Bk 1882, p. 202
APOG Corp. (King's College/Percy Crawford)	1938	Assessment List 1938
William H. Kelly, Commissioner of Banking	July 11, 1932	Dd Bk 1598, p. 151
Wall Mortgage Co.	June 24, 1932	Dd Bk 1597, p. 55
Monmouth Pleasure Club Association	March 10, 1925	Dd Bk 1287, p. 444
Radio Real Estate Corp. ("Robinson" property, 91 ac)	June 11, 1923	Dd Bk 1228, p. 218
Radio Corp. of America ("Robinson" property, 91 ac, from Marconi)	March 27, 1920	Dd Bk 1127, p. 88
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America (from Robinson)	August 3, 1912	Dd Bk 933, p. 289
William L. Robinson(from Richard B. Campbell) 91 + 6 ac (97 ac)	November 1, 1910	Dd Bk 890, p. 427
Richard B. Campbell (6 ac coastal grasslds from Charles Parker)	Sept 28, 1894	Dd Bk 573, p. 144
Owner	Date Received	Source
Richard B. Campbell (31 ac, N part of tract, from Edmund Fields)	April 2, 1869	Dd Bk 217, p. 127
Richard B. Campbell (76 ac from Catherine Bennett)	February 4, 1869	Dd Bk 216, p. 16,18
Edmund Fields (from Geo. Woolly, exec. of Joseph E. Stanton will)	1869	Dd Bk 217, p. 132
Joseph G. Stanton (from Charles & Emily Copping)	February 1, 1859	Dd Bk 152, p. 214
Emily Copping [Joseph Stanton's niece] (from Joseph Stanton)	February 1, 1859	Dd Bk 202, p. 452
Joseph G. Stanton and Jeremiah Bennett	November 1,  1843	Dd Bk K4, p. 93
Ferdinand Shibla	March 24, 1804	Dd Bk A2, p. 518
Thomas Little

*This basically corresponds to Parcel 72 on the military acquisition map.
 

Table 3-3.  Chain of Title for Southern Third of Evans Area (FME-1, 2, 6)*
 

Owner	Date Received	Source
U.S. Government	December 21, 1948	Rogers et al. and USA 1948
George E. Rogers (from RCA)	October 22, 1921	Dd Bk 1159, p. 443
Southeastern Part
Radio Corp. of America ("Hance" property from Marconi Co.)	March 27, 1920	Dd Bk 1127, p. 91
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America (from Hance)	July 16, 1912	Dd Bk 934, p. 104
Henry C. Hance (from John M. Allen, executor)	April 1, 1905	Dd Bk 752, p. 159
James M. Allen (from Gaskill)	March 24, 1849	Dd Bk I5, p. 148
Samuel R. Gaskill
Northwestern Part
Radio Corp. of America ("Woolley" property, 31.81 ac)	March 27, 1920	Dd Bk 1123, p. 190
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America (from Woolley)	June 25, 1912	Dd Bk 933, p. 292
George P. Woolly (31 ac, S part of tract, from Edmund Fields)	April 2, 1869	Dd Bk 217, p. 130

*This corresponds to Parcel 70 of the military acquisition map.  Before the 1920s, when this area was reorganized into the shapes known today, this portion of Evans was divided into two parts.  The southeastern part is the oldest, and traces back to James M. Allen; the northwestern part, originally part of Shibla's property, goes back to Woolley.

These three chains form the major part of Evans Area, and cover most of the cultural properties in question.  There are, however, a number of smaller transactions that could not be shoe-horned into the chains of title presented above.  The structures associated with FME-7-1 through 7-3, for example, were constructed in the 1930s, and fit into that category.  Because these alternate chains are so ephemeral, and specific to the cultural properties, information related to them will be presented as required in the sections to follow.

EARLY AREA HISTORY
The chains of title presented above trace property ownership in the Evans Area back to the early years of the nineteenth century, which covers the cultural properties to be researched according to the scope of work.  However, historic settlement in the general area goes back further to the late 1600s.  Some of this general information is presented here to provide a setting for the discussion of the cultural properties mentioned above.  It is also a means to discuss the development of the local road system, knowledge of which is vital to understanding the location of individual properties mentioned in the nineteenth century deed records.
Earliest recorded European settlement in the general area dates back to the late 1600s, when Dutch and English settlers began exploiting the rich farmlands along local rivers like the Manasquan and Shark.  Areas along the Manasquan, for example, were purchased from the local Indians as early as the late 1600s.  among the first settlers there were John Hance, Judah Allen, Ephraim Allen, and John and William Wooley, just to mention some of the family names that would later be found in the Evans Area (Lewis Historical Publishing Co. 1922, vol. II, 473-474).  Settlement was soon found along the upper reaches of the Shark River, a relatively small waterway that empties into a sizable embayment open to the Atlantic.  In the vicinity of the Evans Area, the Shark River estuary is brackish, if not salty.  By 1693, when Monmouth County was organized into its three original townships, the project area was considered part of Shrewsbury Township (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:7).
With the 1700s came the development of the first towns and roads.  Manasquan, adjacent to the Manasquan River, was one of the first communities in southeast Monmouth County, and this was followed by Hamilton (or Shark River Village) by the end of the century.  Some of the earliest settlers around Hamilton and the Shark River had family names like Webley, Chambers, Havens, Woolley, and Allen (Martin 1914:8-15).  Another early settler was David Knott, who established a large farm northwest of what is now the Evans Area in 1749 (Ellis 1885:809 cited in Klein et al. 1984:4.19).  It was during this time that the first local road became established.  Extending from Shrewsbury in the north to Manasquan in the south, it was known as the Old Squan Road.  In the vicinity of Evans Area, it crossed the Shark River west of the estuary, in the vicinity of Hamilton.  That portion of Belmar Boulevard between Highway 18 and New Bedford Road, immediately southwest of Evans, is believed to be a portion of the Old Squan Road (Lewis Historical Publishing Co. 1922, vol. II, 474; Mary Ann Kiernan, personal communication, Apr. 21, 1999).
By the early 1800s, if not before, two other communities had developed along the Old Squan Road.  One was Glendola, west of Evans, and the other was New Bedford, to the south.  Glendola went by a number of names before the present designation was decided upon in the 1880s; some of these early names were Chapel, Chapeltown, Hopeville, and even Greenville (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:24; Ellis 1885:809 cited in Klein et al. 1984:4.19-22).  New Bedford got its start about the same time, with "Allgor" a prominent family name in the area (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:23-24).
By the early 1800s, other roads had been laid out.  One of these extended east of Old Squan Road immediately north of New Bedford.  This new road, plus that part of Old Squan Road already adjacent to what is now Evans, comprise what is today Belmar Boulevard (without the sharp angle), southwest and south of the Evans Area (Klein et al. 1984:4.22).
Townships proliferated as the rural population increased.  In 1801, Howell Township was carved out of Shrewsbury; fifty years later, in 1851, present-day Wall Township was separated from Howell.  Wall Township, comprising the southeastern-most portion of Monmouth County, is situated between the Shark and Manasquan rivers (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:7-9; Woolman and Rose 1878:34; Lewis Historical Publishing Co. 1922, vol. II, 473).
The oldest known map that shows the location of persons in the project area, dates to 1851 (Lightfoot 1851).  This map was followed in rapid succession by others that also showed similar detail (Beers and Beers 1860; Beers 1873; and Wolverton 1889).  With the exception of the 1860 map, which could not be reproduced, these maps are presented in Appendix A.
The rural nature of Wall Township was its defining characteristic throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Even in 1878, the population of the township was only 2613.  At that time, the main towns in Wall Township were Squan Village (with about 600 people), Blansingburgh, and New Bedford.  Even then, however, new beach resorts like Sea Girt, Spring Lake, and Ocean Beach, were starting to develop (Woolman and Rose 1878:34).  By 1889, there were others: Ocean Park, Ocean Grove, and Asbury Park (Wolverton 1889b).  The New York and Long Branch Railroad, situated along the coast, connected these new communities with metropolitan areas around New York City (Vermeule 1888).
Belmar got its start during this period as a real estate venture capitalized by Ocean Grove developers, who purchased 375 acres east of the project area at the confluence of the Shark River estuary and the ocean.  This acreage was divided into  50 by 150 foot lots.  The original name of this venture was "Pleasant Beach," but the name was changed to Belmar in 1889 (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:16).
With the development of Belmar came the final layout of the major roads within the general project area.  Belmar Boulevard was consolidated around this time, as was Brighton Avenue, at the north end of what would later be the Evans Area.  Marconi Road, originally known as "River Road" between Brighton Avenue and Belmar, was laid out in 1900 (Klein et al. 1984:4.31).
There are a few other features that figure prominently in the deed information from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The most prominent of these is Laurel Gully Brook, the primary stream in the project area, flowing roughly west to east before emptying into the Shark River.  This stream served as a property divide from at least the early 1800s until the land was acquired by the military in the 1940s.  One other stream is also mentioned, even though it does not appear to exist today.  This is "Mushquash Creek," which emptied into Shark River a short distance south of Laurel Gully Brook.  It too was used as a property line, and was mentioned as late as the early 1900s.  Unfortunately, it is not depicted on any known map.  It should not be confused with a more sizable stream known as Mushquash Brook, which flows into the Shark River estuary two miles northeast of the Shark River.  This more distant stream, still known today by that name, is depicted in a 1903 map (Hall 1903).  An inset of this same map also shows a secondary road that loops off the east side of Belmar Boulevard, right in the heart of the project area (Appendix A-5).  The northern portion of this road is still preserved today by Morris Lane, the residential street that extends east-northeast from the "juncture" of Belmar Boulevard and Highway 18 .  This loop road, which also appears on a 1913 map (Wilmer Atkinson Co. 1913; Appendix A-6), turned at three points, which may well have corresponded to the farm locations of the people who owned property in this area around the turn of the century, namely Kinmouth, Campbell, and Woolley.  All of these people, and others, are discussed in greater detail below.
IV.  EVANS AREA OWNERSHIP AND PROPERTY INFORMATION
ALLEN(FME-1), STANTON (FME-2), AND BENNET (FME-9) RESIDENCES
In the opening years of the nineteenth century, what is now the Evans Area was divided among three landowners.  From north to south, these were David Aumock, Thomas Little, and Samuel R. Gaskill.  Aumock blazed the trees along his property line with the letters "DA," a fact recorded and repeated in numerous deed transactions throughout the 1800s.  In 1804, Little sold his holdings to Ferdinand Shibla, a local farmer probably of Dutch descent.  After Aumock's death, Shibla was named administrator of the Aumock estate; Deborah Aumock was identified at that time as the daughter of David and Mary Aumock (David and Mary Aumock Estate Papers, Box 1, Folder 6, Monmouth Co. Archives).  Shibla made out his own will in 1818, and died in 1827 at the age of 58 (Will Book [Surrogate Book] C, p. 35; Probate of Estate Records, No. 21576, Monmouth County Archives; Inscriptions from Burial Grounds of Monmouth Co.).
In the 1830s and 1840s, the project area changed hands completely.  North of Laurel Gully Brook, Deborah Aumock sold her land to Charles Newman (1834).  After the death of Ferdinand Shibla's wife, Deborah, the administrators of Ferdinand Shibla sold his 142 acres south of Laurel Gully Brook to Joseph G. Stanton and Jeremiah Bennett in 1843.  At the south end, Samuel Gaskill sold his property to James M. Allen (1849).
Relatively little was learned about either the Newman or Allen families, even though the latter occupied the south end of the project area for the rest of the century.  In 1851, when the first Wall Township officials were elected, James M. Allen was made "Overseer of the Poor" (Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:9).
Alternatively, much more was learned about the Bennett and Stanton families.  Jeremiah Bennett (or Bennet) was born October 11, 1784 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, and was married September 3, 1808 in New York City.  His wife, Sarah Stanton, was the sister of Joseph G. Stanton.  Jeremiah and Sarah Bennett had 10 children, three of whom died in infancy.  In the 1820s and 1830s, both Jeremiah Bennett and Joseph Stanton lived in New York City, where Bennett's occupation was listed as shoemaker; after they moved to the project area, Bennett was entered onto the census records as a farmer.  Related by marriage, both Bennett and Stanton owned an undivided half interest in the old Shibla property.  Jeremiah Bennett died January 15, 1852, and Sarah followed after in 1857.  Both were buried in the Hamilton Methodist Cemetery (Kiefer, personal communication, 20 April 1999).
 Less is known about Joseph Stanton.  According to his will, dated October 17, 1865, Stanton had at least two daughters, one of whom was Adelia Wooley, wife of George Wooley, who, as his son-in-law, was appointed executor of his will (Surrogate Book I, p. 205).
Three residences or farms were depicted within the project area on the 1851 Lightfoot map: J. M. Allen; J. Stanton; and J. Bennet-- identified as FME-1, 2, and 3, respectively in Klein et al. 1984:4.22.  According to the Lightfoot map (Appendix A-2) and the text of the Klein et al. report (1984:4.22), the "J. Bennet" place (FME-3) was situated northwest of Stanton's residence.  This is not its plotting on the locational maps in the appendix of the Klein et al. report, where it appears to be northeast of the Stanton place.  Given the Lightfoot map, it appears more likely that the Bennet place would have been located closer to Laurel Gully Brook, north or north-northwest of the Stanton residence.  This discrepancy, as well as another, more minor one concerning the plotting of the Allen residence, can be explained by later, presumably more accurate plottings shown on subsequent maps.
The first of these later maps, Beers and Beers (1860), could not be reproduced for this report, since the only available copy was under glass and mounted in the research room of the Monmouth County Archives.  According to this map, the configuration of the three residences is more like their plotting in the Klein et al. report.  Unlike the Lightfoot map, the three residents within the project area were listed as (from south to north): Allen, Staunton (sic), and J. Rushford.  Since there is no record of Rushford in any of the pertinent deed records, it would appear that this person rented the property or was otherwise allowed to reside there.  This is understandable, since this was also during a period when the Bennett-Stanton portion of the project area went through a number of family transactions, beginning in 1859.
After the death of Sarah Stanton Bennett (1857), family arrangements for the Bennett-Stanton land became confusing.  In 1859, Joseph Stanton left his property to his niece and her husband, Emily and Charles Copping, who deeded it back to Joseph Stanton in an indenture dated the same day.  In 1869, after the death of Joseph Stanton, George Wooley, executor of Stanton's will, deeded his land to Edmund Fields.  Before the end of that year, Woolley had acquired 31 acres, part of which was located in the northwest portion of the southern third of the project area.  Also that same year, Richard Bloomfield Campbell acquired 31 acres from Edmund Fields and another 76 acres from Catherine Bennett.  This land, plus the six acres of coastal marsh along the Shark River (acquired in 1894), comprised the large middle third of the Evans Area, which remained in Campbell's possession until 1910.  Another transaction that occurred in 1869 was the sale of Charles Newman's 80 acres north of Laurel Gully Brook to Edward Shearman.
The Beers 1873 map (Appendix A-3) depicted James M. Allen in the south, George Woolley to his north, and Richard B. Campbell northeast of Woolley.  Even though no residences were depicted north of Laurel Gully Brook within the project area, this land changed hands that same year, from Edward Shearman to Hugh S. Kinmouth.  The Wolverton 1889 map included the addition of the Kinmouth residence, a short distance west of the project area, and W. C. and B. L. Hurley, north of the project area.
Hugh Kinmouth was a medical doctor who opened his practice in 1872.  Born in Kortright, New York, Kinmouth fought in the Civil War with the 13th New York Cavalry regiment.  With his new lands north of Laurel Gully Brook and west of the project area, he established a 50-acre farm called "Garden of the Gods" (Cleary, n.d.).
The early years of the twentieth century saw more changes.  In 1905, John M. Allen, as one of the executors of James M. Allen's estate, sold that land to Henry C. Hance.  Five years later, Richard Campbell and his wife Margaret sold their 91 acres to William L. Robinson.  And this was just the prelude to an even bigger change.  In 1912, Robinson, Hance, and Woolley, all sold their holdings to the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America.  With the exception of the Kinmouth lands north and west of Laurel Gully Brook, the whole project area was suddenly a part of the Marconi trans-oceanic radio empire.
As for the Allen, Stanton, and Bennett locations discussed in Klein et al (FME-1, 2, and 3, respectively), our examinations of the historic maps and other materials have led us to make the following changes to the locational information.  The Allen and Stanton places are roughly in the areas designated in the earlier report, even though, given the understandable inaccuracies of the nineteenth- century maps, it is possible that these two occupations are just outside the Evans Area.   The title search did not provide any additional information on these residences or on any associated buildings.   In terms of their archaeological potential, each lie on the Evans Area boundary where a perimeter road was established.   If the Allen residence (FME-1) or its adjoining property is located with Evans Area, the vicinity was used as a storage yard with an associated platform according to an Evans Area 1958 map.  The area we consider likely to contain the Stanton residence (FME-2) or its adjoining property may also have been disturbed by the establishment of the perimeter road.
In the case of the Bennett-Campbell house, we posit a different location than earlier reported.   The 1889 Wolverton map (Appendix A-4), the first to show Laurel Gully Brook and arguably the most accurate of the nineteenth-century maps, would suggest a location more like FME-9 rather than FME-3.  Later maps show an existing frame building was standing at the location of FME-9 in the early 1940s (Building 7B on Rowland 1941 and King's College Area, Fort Monmouth 1942), while nothing has ever been indicated at the location of FME-3 on any twentieth-century map.  For these reasons, it would appear likely that the Bennet-Campbell house or an associated structure, was located at FME-9.  This building was removed and its location covered under the footprint of a later military structure (Appendix A-17).
MARCONI ERA, 1912-1920 (FME-4)
The development of Marconi's wireless company was certainly one of the technological wonders of the early twentieth century, and the development of Station No. 6 at Belmar, New Jersey, put the Evans Area in the forefront of early radio development.  The development of the Marconi Company began in 1899 with the incorporation the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America.  At that time, radio messages could travel no further than 30 miles.  When Marconi received the first tentative radio signals from across the Atlantic in 1901, it was considered something of a miracle (Mayes, n.d.:12).  It made Marconi's reputation and led to further experimentation in trans-oceanic radio communication.
In 1908, the first regular trans-Atlantic service was inaugurated between Glace Bay in Nova Scotia and Clifden, Ireland (Wireless World 1913:474; Sammis 1912).  A 1500 kw spark transmitter made point-to-point communication between Glace Bay and Cliden possible for at least 20 hours a day (Mayes n.d.:13-14).
The important role of radio in the Titanic disaster of April 14-15, 1912, provided an unexpected boost to the development of Marconi's world-wide range of radio outposts, allowing radio signals to be transmitted around the world for the first time.  By 1912-1913, plans were underway for the development of radio transmitting and receiving stations that would literally span the globe: London, New York, Panama, San Francisco, Hawaii, Manila, Singapore, India, Aden, and Egypt, as well as a few other lateral destinations.  The "New York" station included a transmitting station in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a receiving station in Belmar.  The primary function of these two stations was to communicate with similar transmitting and receiving stations near Carnarvon, Wales (Sammis 1912; Wireless World 1914a:414).
Due to the relatively poor reception of signals in those days, careful consideration had to be given to the placement and orientation of the transmitting and receiving stations.  The paired stations had to be more than 20 miles apart to limit interference.  In addition, they were arranged so that a line between the paired stations formed a right angle to the direction of the primary transmission.  Another important consideration was that the stations had to be situated on marshy land near the coast, or on a waterway with direct connection to the ocean.  The land itself had to be damp.  These considerations, plus a network of copper wires and zinc grounding plates for the operating buildings themselves, provided a reasonably good electrical connection with the earth, essential for the transmission and reception of early radio signals (Wireless World 1914a:415).
The Marconi stations were known for their long directional aerials.  These were horizontal aerials, which were much less expensive than a vertical aerial with similar electrical properties.  Marconi's standard 300 kw-transmitters required huge aerials capable of capturing signals with wave lengths of 6000 meters (Bucher 1920:292).  The Marconi station at New Brunswick, for example, had an aerial of 32 wires connected in parallel for a total distance of 5000 feet.  This aerial was hoisted into the air by 12 tubular steel masts, each 400 feet high, arranged in two rows of six masts each.  This system allowed the station to send signals having a fundamental wave length of around 8000 meters (Bucher 1920:292).
The sister station at Belmar, designed to receive similar signals from Britain, had an aerial almost a mile long hoisted atop six masts, each 300 feet high (Wireless World 1913:474-476).  To maintain this aerial and to staff the receiving station, the Marconi Company built a complex of buildings and service facilities, most of which, unlike the aerial itself, have survived to the present day.  Since three of these facilities (FME-4-1: receiving antenna; 4-2: power plant; 4-3: operating building) were slated for further research in the course of this project, some attention must be devoted to the layout of "Station No. 6," the Marconi complex at Belmar.
According to one of the extant maps of Marconi Station No. 6, the complex at Belmar included a hotel and bungalows for the operating staff, an operating building with direct connection to the aerial, and a power plant (Plan of Piping System 1914).  Unfortunately, this plan does not indicate the locations of the masts that supported the antenna.  Nor were drawings found that showed the masts' construction.  In partial compensation, there is at least one photograph, dated to 1914, that shows the complex along the bank of the Shark River, and the six antennas stretching away from the river (Appendix A-7).  Another photograph shows the masts in more detail, probably showing the line of masts from the southwest end (Appendix A-8).  In addition, the Directorate of Public Works at Fort Monmouth has copies of many of the original plans for Station No. 6, drawn up for the Marconi Company by the J. G. White Engineering Corporation of New York (J. G. White Engineering Corp. 1913a-s; 1914).
The hotel (Building No. 9001) was certainly the visual focal point of the complex.  A two and a half story red brick building, with a large porch and an "Imperial Spanish" tile roof, the hotel was located at the top of the bank, 70 feet above the Shark River (J. G. White 1913a-c; Rowland 1941; Appendix A-9).  Designed to provide lodging for unmarried staff, it was also designed to provide around-the-clock service to the entire complex.  It had 45 bedrooms in addition to other communal spaces, a French chef, and a 12-acre vegetable garden.  In addition, the grounds were laid out with ornamental gardens, complete with "bridges" and a landscape gardener (Wireless World 1914a:416-418).
The hotel itself was solidly constructed.  Both first and second floors were laid with interspersing sections of concrete and wood, all supported by a framework of steel beams (J. G. White 1913e; 1913g-i).  The first floor, in addition to 16 rooms for guests, also had communal rooms at the south end: dining room, billiard and card room, kitchen, laundry, servants' room, and storage (J. G. White 1913d).  On the second floor were another 29 rooms, plus a library and writing room (J. G. White 1913f).  All of these facilities were supplied with running water, indoor plumbing, steam heating, and electric lighting, all state of the art for the time (J. G. White 1913j-l).
Across River Road (now Marconi Road) from the hotel were two brick residences (Buildings No. 9002 and 9003) constructed for the station manager and the engineer in charge (Wireless World 1914a:417-418; see middle panel Appendix A-9).  These one-story residences or bungalows were constructed in the same style as the hotel, with red brick, porches, and Spanish tile roofs (J. G. White 1913r-s).  In addition, there were "married operator's cottages," each equipped with a living room, kitchen, and four bedrooms (Wireless World 1914a:418).  Unfortunately, these structures have not survived to the present day; it is likely that they were built in the area behind the hotel but no map or plat was found to show their location.
The nerve-center of the station was the operating building (Building No. 9004, FME-4-3), located below the river bluff in the damp salt marsh beside the Shark River estuary.  The floor of this one-story building was less than 10 feet above sea level (Rowland 1941).  This wet location was preferred because of the greater receptivity of the damp soil.  Over 82 feet long, the operating building contained offices for the manager and the engineer in charge, as well as a large storeroom and a cloakroom.  The room containing the tuning apparatus ran the full length of the building and was connected by a Lampson tube to the receiving room next door.  In addition to a charging room for the small accumulators, the main operating room held five large tables for up to 30 operators (Wireless World 1914a:416-418).  In those early years of trans-oceanic transmission, operators were required to copy the signals by hand (Wireless Age n.d.).
The foundation of the operating building had to be water-tight, which also helped to ground the structure electrically (Wireless World 1914a:414-415).  This was also assisted by zinc plates buried around the building (Fred Carl, personal communication, Apr. 28, 1999).  According to information in Wireless World (1914a:415-416), the usual procedure was for copper wires to radiate out from the building to a circle of zinc plates buried in the soil.  This circle of plates, with a radius of 100 feet, was without interruption: individual plates were bolted together and buried vertically in a circular trench.  Only the top edge of the ring was left above ground.  The copper wires were then attached to the zinc ring in the following manner.  Cables of stranded wire from two sides of the building extended out to the tops of eight poles, arranged in a circle around the building, but inside the zinc ring.  From the poles, these cables were separated into individual strands, which were then connected to the zinc ring.  In addition, there were other copper wires radiating out from the zinc ring to isolated zinc plates even further out and also buried vertically.  Further, "from these outer plates, on the side of the circle under the aerial wires, extends a further grounding system parallel to the aerial and extending under its full length and a little beyond" (Wireless World 1914a:416).
Due to local conditions at Belmar, this elaborate grounding system was greatly truncated.  The ring of ground plates was made with only a 50 foot radius, and the only wires that extended beyond the zinc ring were a number of cables radiating from the center and extending into the marsh (Wireless World 1914a:416).
The most important connection with the operating building was the receiving aerial, which rose from the operating house to connect with the first huge mast situated at the top of the bluff (Wireless World 1914a:414-415).  Klein et al. (1984:4.31) stated that the first mast (FME-4-1) was situated around 260 feet northwest of the northwest corner of the hotel.  This information was provided by a J. G. White Engineering Company contour map of Station No. 6 (1913) that was not relocated in 1999.  Such a location would certainly be reasonable, however.  From this beginning, the horizontal aerials were strung from mast to mast, for a total of six masts, each 300 feet tall.  According to a contemporary issue of Wireless World (1913:476), the back ends of the aerials from each mast were "carried down at an angle of 30 degrees, being insulated near the mast top and having steel running ropes attached.  These ropes come down to the anchors, which consist of a pillar 15 feet high, with heavy iron weights free to slide up and down on them."  These weights balanced the tension on the wires, and served to correct for wind tension or the weight of ice on the aerials.  Known as "straining pillar anchorage," it was a new method of cable suspension (Wireless World 1913:476).
The six masts of the Belmar receiving station appear in a 1914 photograph (see Appendix A-7), which also shows smaller towers to either side of the operating building.  These smaller structures were known as "balancing towers," and were probably used to help hone in on the trans-Atlantic signal (Fred Carl, personal communication, April 28, 1999).  A number of these towers were constructed, and not just in the marsh.  An early account mentions that the Marconi Company bought a small tract of land from Hugh Kinmouth for "a tower to hold a balancing line" (Wireless Age 1914).
Beyond the first mast, the length and direction of the horizontal aerial are not well established.  Contemporary sources, dating to 1914, agree that the total length of the aerials (and the masts) was "almost a mile," or around 5000 feet (Wireless World 1914a:414).  Only one later source avers that the length was 6000 feet (Bucher 1920:292).  As to direction, all sources agree that the line of the aerials ran westward, roughly perpendicular to the River Road (now Marconi Road).  At least one source states that the line of masts extended to the southwest (Wireless Age n.d.).
 The final Marconi building discussed here is the power plant (Building No. 9006, FME-4-2), which Klein et al. state was around 100 feet northwest of the first mast of the receiving antenna (1984:4.31-32).  At the time of the Klein report, it was believed that this building was no longer extant, but this is not the case.  Although boarded up, the building still stands: a one-story brick structure, roughly 37 by 67 feet.  It was referred to as the Laboratory building in Reed et al.; the HABS Form for
 Building 9006 notes that it was potentially a Marconi era building that was renovated for use as a laboratory in 1942 but did not refer to its original use as a power plant.
An interesting feature of the electrical lines that ran from the powerhouse to the various other facilities of the complex, was that all lines ran underground in iron conduits that were completely grounded, to avoid any potential interference to the receiving aerial.  In addition, all conduits crossed the path of the aerial perpendicularly, again to avoid interference (Wireless World 1914a:416).
No sooner had the Marconi Station No. 6 been constructed than it played an important role in the further development of radio.  In 1913, Edwin Howard Armstrong began working on a new and much more powerful receiver that was first dubbed the "magic box," but was soon known as the "regenerative circuit."  In December of 1913, Armstrong demonstrated his invention at Columbia University in the presence of David Sarnoff and other Marconi engineers.  Using the devise, they were able to pick up signals from Glace Bay and Clifden, Ireland, stations normally difficult to receive in the United States.  In late January of 1914, Armstrong and Sarnoff moved the magic box to Marconi's Belmar station, where they set up the device in a drafty shack for further testing.  There, they heard signals from the West Coast and even Hawaii (Lewis 1991:112-113; Evans Area, c.1980).
Armstrong's new regenerative circuit was a vast improvement over established methods of radio reception, and the "magic box" was perfected by an inventor who was just getting started.  Armstrong would go on to invent "super regeneration" and "frequency modulation," better known as FM radio.  Sarnoff, who worked with Armstrong in setting up the magic box, would later go on to help found the Radio Corporation of America, or RCA (Zahl 1970b:2).
Just months after Armstrong and Sarnoff demonstrated the regenerative circuit at Belmar, World War I broke out in Europe.  Radio communication proved so valuable during this conflict that when the United States entered the war in April 1917, the U.S. Navy assumed control of over 53 coastal stations owned by Marconi, closing 28 of these as superfluous.  During the war, no commercial radio traffic was permitted in most of the United States (Mayes n.d.:15-16).
This restriction did not preclude further radio innovations.  In the summer and fall of 1918, during the waning months of the war, Ernst Alexanderson perfected a 200 kw radio alternator, which was tested at both New Brunswick and Belmar (Brittain 1992:128-129).  The "Alexanderson alternator," manufactured by General Electric, was installed by the Navy at New Brunswick, making it the most powerful radio station in the world (Mayes n.d.:17).
In all likelihood, the Alexanderson alternator was used to open direct U.S. negotiations with Germany in the last month of the war.  The first official message was sent around October 20 from the New Brunswick station (code letters "NFF") to Nauen ("POZ"), outside Berlin.  The message was sent in uncoded English, and suggested that the Kaiser's government was not an acceptable medium for future negotiations.  Direct U.S. negotiations with German authorities continued until Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, by which time the Kaiser had fled to Holland and Germany had declared itself a republic (Wireless Age 1919:8).
In 1919, President Wilson approved the return of the nation's radio stations to their pre-war owners.  The Marconi Company assumed control of both Belmar and New Brunswick in February of that year, with a staff that included Sarnoff and Alexanderson, among others (Wireless Age n.d.).  The Marconi empire, however, could not be reconstructed.
 By war's end, Marconi's old 300 kw stations were obsolete (Mayes n.d.:17), and the government was keenly interested in creating a purely American company to manage the nation's radio stations.  Spurred by the government and capitalized by General Electric, Westinghouse, and others, the new American radio company was carved from Marconi's U.S. holdings.  On December 1, 1919, the company was officially unveiled as the Radio Corporation of America, or RCA (Evans Area, c.1980).  David Sarnoff served as one of its first executives (Zahl 1970b:2).
The old Marconi complex at Belmar, with its lengthy horizontal aerial, was now completely outdated and cumbersome.  New trans-Atlantic receiver stations further north signaled Belmar's final demise (Evans Area, c.1980).  The facilities were essentially abandoned long before RCA and its real estate company sold the property in 1925.
The Marconi complex at Belmar is one of the most important periods in Evans Area history.  For this reason, and in order to summarize the Marconi constructions and other buildings in the area, all of the known buildings, either mapped, shown on photographs, or mentioned in text, are listed below in Table 4-1.

Table 4-1.  Marconi Properties at Belmar (Compiled from Various Sources)
 

Historic Property	Klein et al. (1984) No.	Source	Evans Area Building No.	Current Status	Archaeological Potential
Hotel		Wireless World 1914b	9001	Standing	No
Bungalows		Wireless World 1914b	9002, 9003	Standing	No
Operating building	FME 4-3	Wireless World 1914b	9004	Standing	No
Historic Property	Klein et al. (1984) No.	Source	Evans Area Building No.	Current Status	Archaeological Potential
Power plant	FME 4-2	Wireless World 1914b	9006	Standing	No
Mast	FME 4-1	1914 photo		Dismantled	Minimal
Balancing towers		1914 photo; Birdsall 1958		One relocated tower east of Marconi Rd.	Minimal
Sewer area		Plan of Piping System, Marconi No. 6, 1914		Probably destroyed	Minimal
Married operators cottages		Wireless World 1914a:418		Dismantled	Minimal
Well and Pump		Piping System, Marconi No. 6, 1914			Minimal

   In the case of the hotel, bungalows, operating building, and power plant, the buildings are still standing, their locations are well-known, and there is considerable information concerning their functions and historical uses.  Less is known about the other properties, in some cases, much less.
The first mast location was plotted on the basis of a 1913 contour map of the complex that was not identified by this effort in 1999, but had been viewed by Klein et al. for their 1984 report.  Its location between the hotel and the power plant is not in doubt.  Nothing above ground, however, remains of the mast footings, identified as a 15 foot high, above ground, concrete anchors.  Each mast would have had multiple anchors.  Intact subsurface remains are certainly a possibility, but are probably unlikely, since this area has been heavily impacted over the years and is currently covered by a parking lot and associated roadways.  The second mast location, which is approximated ,is now under Monmouth Boulevard; it is likely to be disturbed.  The third mast location within Evans Area if the approximated location is correct  north of Monmouth Boulevard and east of Taft St. (Appendix A-19) has archaeological potential.  Evans Area maps consulted for this study do not show any development in that area.  The remaining mast locations were not field checked for this effort.
Associated with the masts, but much smaller in scale, were the balancing towers, with wires that helped "balance" the signals received from Britain.  There were a number of these balancing towers back in the 1910s.   No map or source that showed the location of all the "balancing towers" was identified.  Only two survived into the 1950s.  These two, located in the marsh to the north and south of the operating building (Appendix A-20), were removed at that time.  Only one survives today, situated on the east side of Marconi Road, a short distance south of Brighton Road.  A more detailed discussion of the circumstances surrounding the removal of these two towers is provided later in this report.
The sewer area and pipes, clearly shown on a plan of the Marconi complex (Plan of Piping System, Marconi No. 6, 1914), and situated approximately west of what is now the juncture of Monmouth Boulevard and Marconi Road, indicate that the Marconi complex was served by a modern sewer system.  Architectural drawings or "as builts" for the hotel and bungalows show interior plumbing, ruling out the need for privies.
A well and pump is shown on the Plan of Piping System, Marconi No. 6, 1914.  The well's approximate location is given on the compilation map; it was located in the roadway between Buildings 9010 and 9032 or in the grass area in front of 9010.  No reference to filling the well or to its presence beyond this location was found.
Even less is known about the married operators cottages and the vegetable garden.  It is assumed that both were located behind the hotel, but this is a supposition.  A 1914 photograph (Appendix A-7) depicts buildings between the hotel and the power plant that cannot be otherwise identified.  These could possibly be some of the cottages for married operators, pre-existing buildings, or associated support buildings.  These unidentified structures appear to have been located within the military building area and it is likely they would have been replaced or moved when Building numbers 9010-9011 were constructed.
MONMOUTH PLEASURE CLUB ASSOCIATION, 1920s
The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company passed all of its local holdings to RCA in 1920, which in turn deeded most of this property to Radio Real Estate Corporation of America, in 1923.  By this time, two ownership changes had occurred in the northern and southern thirds of the project area-- changes that would last until the military acquired the property in the 1940s.  In 1922, Kinmouth's lands on the north side of Laurel Gully Brook passed through the hands of Viola Remsen Humphrey and Seacoast Trust Company to Lucie (also Lucia) C. Driscoll.  The previous year, RCA had sold the southern third of the project area (plus additional lands) to George E. Rogers.  A more interesting fate awaited the middle third, the
 heart of the Marconi complex, which was sold in 1925 to the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association.  This organization, by all accounts, was a front for the local Ku Klux Klan.
The resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1910s and 1920s has been attributed to the popularity of D. W. Griffith's film adaptation of "The Clansman."  "The Birth of a Nation," released for distribution in January of 1915, made the then unheard of sum of $60 million, and was even praised by President Wilson.  It led to increased racial strife, and has been widely blamed for the rebirth of what was formerly a purely Southern blight.  In the North, during the isolationist 1920s, the Klan took on a decidedly anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic bias as well (Maloney 1986; DeNicola 1999b).
The Klan became a major organization in both Ocean and Monmouth counties, where, for a short time, it was popular among a wide segment of the local business and religious communities (DeNicola 1999a).  At its height, membership in the Klan was estimated as high as 7000 in Ocean and Monmouth counties alone.  Preferring to operate through a front organization in order to more safely buy land and transact business, the local Klan either set up or helped implement the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association, which was legally established in 1923.  In 1925, the Association purchased the old Marconi property in Belmar, which soon became regional headquarters for the Klan (Maloney 1986; DeNicola 1999c; Cavaluzzi n.d.).
During its height, the local Klan leader was "District Kleagle" Arthur H. Bell, in charge of the organization's interests in Monmouth, Ocean, and parts of Burlington counties (DeNicola 1999a).  In 1924, it is recorded that Bell delivered a lecture to 6000 persons at the Ocean Grove auditorium (Bell 1924).  Within a year or so, however, Bell was embroiled in a financial scandal, accused of taking more money from the Klan admission fees than was allowed (DeNicola 1999a).  When Bell tried to deed the old Marconi lands from the Monmouth Pleasure Club directly to the Klan national organization, many local real estate investors brought suit in the courts to oust Bell and the Klan from the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association.  Eventually, Monmouth Pleasure Club Association retained ownership, and Bell was forced out to establish new Klan headquarters in Belmar itself (Cavaluzzi, n.d.; Maloney 1986).
It was under these dubious circumstances that the "Imperial Park" subdivision was first platted in June of 1928 (see Appendix A-11; Birdsall 1928).  In addition to the Imperial Hotel site (the old Marconi hotel), the map showed the operating building and the two bungalows.  To the southwest stretched a considerable amount of subdivided land, designed to attract prospective buyers.  The southern third of Evans was subdivided, at least on paper, as early as 1926 (see Appendix A-12).  There is no indication that this land was ever developed in the 1920s or 1930s, nor is there a record that George Rogers ever sold it during that period.
Shorn of its official Klan connection, the Monmouth Pleasure Club continued to sell off lots in Imperial Park throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s (Grantor Index, post-1929, Monmouth County Archives).  This activity ceased only when the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association forfeited its charter on January 28, 1938, forcing the surviving directors and trustees to unload the remaining lots, many of which went to Ruth Tate of Asbury Park (Monmouth County Deed Book 1816: 433).
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 1930s (FME-6, FME-7, FME-8)
The oldest available tax records for Wall Township go back to 1933.  These "assessment lists" provide a valuable source for land and property ownership information, and augment what is known from the deed book records.  In 1933, the project area was split between two areas: Imperial Park and New Bedford (or "Areas Outside Developments, New Bedford") (Assessment List 1933).  This would remain the case throughout the 1930s.  In the vicinity of Imperial Park, the Marconi complex was usually identified as "Marconi property, 91 acres"; areas to the southwest were identified by block number as provided in the plat for Imperial Park.  In 1940 there was a general reshuffling of the tax rolls, which were reorganized by block numbers rather than by property owner.  At that time, the blocks in Imperial Park were re-numbered (Assessment List 1940).  This was the numbering system that appeared on a detailed property map of the area, prepared by Franklin Survey Company (see Appendix A-13).

Driscoll Residence (FME-8)

Although this was a period of considerable change in the middle third of the project area, and moderate change in the southern third, it was a period of virtually no change in the north.  The Driscoll family were the owners of the northern section of the future Evans Area.  In 1933, Lucia Driscoll's 50 acres were assessed for value of the land and value of the improvements: $3000 and $4200, respectively (Assessment List 1933).  These figures were the same five years later (Assessment List 1938).  In 1940, Driscoll's property was administratively split along Marconi Road.  Block 353, Driscoll's 34.7 acres on the west side, containing FME-8 (28-MO-248), was assessed $4000 for land and $2000 for improvements.  Other assessments that year were for personal estate ($500) and household goods ($100) (Assessment List 1940).  The following year, the Franklin Survey Company map depicted one farm house and four out-buildings on this property (FME-8-1 through 8-5).

Rogers Residence (FME-6) and the Southern Third of Evans Area

There was more activity in George Rogers's southern third of the project area, but not as much as plat maps might suggest.  Listed in "Remainder of New Bedford, Outside of Developments," George E. Rogers "home" property was assessed for value of land and value of improvements: $1000 each.  George Rogers and other members of the Rogers family, especially Edgar E., were assessed as well.  Interestingly enough, George Rogers was also listed as the assessor for Wall Township in 1933 (Assessment List 1933).  The George Rogers "home" assessment remained virtually unchanged throughout the 1930s, with the addition of a personal assessment of $300 and a household goods deduction of $100 (Assessment List 1936; 1938).
In 1940, most of what would later be the southern third of the Evans Area (also known as the "Hance Farm") was again subdivided as part of the Shark River Terrace.  With the exception of the 3.07 acres around Rogers's farm residence, the rest of this property was assigned block numbers (Blocks 168 through 172) in preparation for sale.  At that time, this land was assessed at $4000, with no recorded improvements (Assessment List 1940).  None of these blocks were sold or otherwise separated from the Rogers estate at the time of Army acquisition.
The 3.07 acres around the George Rogers farm, withheld from this development, was assigned Block No. 156 in the 1940 reorganization.  Here, the land was assessed at $1000, the improvements, $1500 (Assessment List 1940; 1941).  According to the Franklin Survey Company map, George E. Rogers's 3.07 acres contained a farm house and five out-buildings (FME-6-1 through 6-6).
The U.S. Army bought the Rogers tract on December 21, 1948, after which the land was immediately leased back to the Rogers family for $300 for a term of six months (Holley 1949; Tooley 1949).  Edgar Rogers, son of George Rogers, now deceased, vacated the premises in early June of 1949, which triggered a joint condition survey and inventory of the property (Rogers 1949).
This inventory, though rather perfunctory, provides the best description available of the George Rogers' farm complex.  According to this document, the main farm house was a two-story building, with accommodations for two families.  The first floor contained five rooms and a bath, while the second floor contained six rooms and a bath.  The outbuildings were listed, but not otherwise described: two large frame barns, one small frame barn, one frame garage, and a small shed.  The inventory-taker recommended the destruction of all the out-buildings, which were in poor shape.  The house, even though "more than 75 years old," was in good repair and still usable (Holley 1949).  Another contemporary source maintained that the Rogers farm house was only around 50 years old (Barr 1949).
Unlike the inventory, the condition survey provided more information on the specific features inside the house.  Identified as a frame house and garage, the walls, ceilings, and floors were listed as in fair condition; the kitchen and dining room walls and ceilings, poor.  The kitchen sinks and bathroom fixtures were listed in good condition; the hot water heater and tank were fair; the frame garage, hot air furnace, and electric water pump (Tooley 1949).
The only part of the southern third of Evans Area not owned by George Rogers in 1941, was the northwest corner, identified as part of Block 61 before 1940, part of Block 189 on the Franklin Survey Company map, and Parcel 71 at the time of Army acquisition.  It was the only part of the southern third located in Imperial Park organized by the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association.  This property was obtained by Claude W. Birdsall in 1940, possibly in the aftermath of the dissolution of Monmouth Pleasure Club (Assessment List 1940).  Neither the assessment lists nor the Franklin Survey Company map suggests that Birdsall built anything on this parcel or was assessed for pre-existing improvements, but it should be noted that this parcel is in the general location of FME-2 (the Stanton place), as plotted by Klein et al. (1984:A-16).

Subdivision Lots (FME-7) and Post Marconi-Properties

Unlike the northern and southern thirds of Evans Area, the middle third had a relatively confusing history during the 1930s and early 1940s.  Monmouth Pleasure Club Association sold this land to Wall Mortgage Company in 1932, which almost immediately passed the land to William H. Kelly, Commissioner of Banking.  Kelly, in turn, sold this land to Percy Crawford, who transacted business through the APOG Corporation.  The story of Percy Crawford and King's College, the educational institution he would found on the old Marconi property, will be examined in greater detail in the next section of this report.  Here, the smaller sections of land in the middle third of the Evans Area will be discussed, specifically the areas pertinent to FME-7.
FME-7-1 through 7-4, identified in Klein et al. (1984:4.32-33) as pre-1941 structures, were identified from the three buildings depicted in that area by the Franklin Survey Company map, and a fourth building depicted on a 1942 military grading map.  At present, nothing is known of this fourth building; the only 1942 military grading map found at Fort Monmouth does not show what would appear to be any pre-military structures in the vicinity of FME-7 (Signal Corps Radar Laboratories 1942).  The other three, FME-7-1 through 7-3, were situated in Lots 5 & 5A and 7 of Block 49 of Imperial Park.  One house and one out-building are depicted on Lots 5 & 5A; a single house is shown in Lot 7 (see Franklin Survey Company 1941; Appendix A-13).
In 1935, Lots 5 & 5A were obtained by Walter Meisenbacher from the previous owner, Riverview Heights Corporation.  Up to this time, Riverview Heights and Wall Mortgage Company owned all the lots on this block.  In that year, Meisenbacher was assessed $100 for the land, with no assessments for improvements (Assessment List 1935).  This situation remained unchanged through 1938 (Assessment List 1936; 1938).  In 1939, Walter Meisenbacher was assessed $100 for the land, and $200 for improvements-- the first indication that a house had been built (Assessment List 1939, listed in Imperial Park-New Bedford-Glendola Fire District No. 2).  In 1940, old Block 49, now Block 212 was listed with J. J. O'Neil Corp. (Assessment List 1940:195), but the following year, Walter and Edith Meisenbacher are assessed for Lots 5 & 5A (Block 212) on Wilson Street: $100 for land; $200 for improvements (Assessment List 1941).
Gertrude Pfefferle bought Lots 7 and 7A in 1936, and immediately built a house on Lot 7: she was assessed that year for land and improvements, $100 and $400, respectively (Assessment List 1936).  This situation was repeated in the annual assessments until 1940, when Pfefferle's property, like Meisenbacher's, was listed with J. J. O'Neil Corp. (Assessment List 1940:195).  In 1941, however, Florence and Gertrude Pfefferle were listed as owners of Lots 7 & 7A of Block 212, assessed $100 for land and $400 for improvements (Assessment List 1941).
The assessment record for the rest of the middle third of the Evans Area is more straight-forward.  As late as 1936, the Monmouth Pleasure Club Association held lands in Imperial Park that were listed as simply "Wireless Property," with the land assessed at $25,000 and no improvements listed (Assessment List 1933; 1936).  It would appear that this land was west of what would become the Evans Area.  Of greater concern for this project was the tract of land identified as "Marconi Property, 90 acres," held by William Kelly.  Here, the land was assessed for $15,000; improvements, $30,000 (Assessment List 1933; 1935; 1936).
It was during this period that the two "Marconi bungalows" were separated from the Marconi property and sold as two lots, probably by either Monmouth Pleasure Club Association or Wall Mortgage.  Omer and Evelyn Brownfield, on the one hand, and Evan J. Radcliffe, on the other, were each assessed $500 for land and $2000 for improvements to properties described as "Marconi brick bungalows" (Assessment List 1935; 1936).  In 1939, Radcliffe, in addition to the land and improvement assessments, was assessed $600 for personal estate, with a $100 deduction for household goods.  He also had a $500 deduction for soldiers and sailors (Assessment List 1939).
The cultural properties pertinent to this project discussed during this period were the farm sites FME-6 (Rogers place) and FME-8 (Driscoll place), as well as the subdivision houses and structures listed as FME-7-1 through 7-3.  All of these properties are depicted on the Franklin Survey Company map of 1941, and as a result, their locations and the extent of the resources have been well established.  The main data  added to what was known are periods of occupation and the description of the Rogers Place from the acquisition inventory.
 As noted, the Rogers residence may have dated to as early as circa 1875; at that date it was associated with the James Allen family.  It does not appear that this was the main Allen home which was further south (Appendix A-4).  The Rogers family maintained a residence there between 1921 and the military acquisition.  This Rogers residence  is not within the main building area of Evans, does not appear to have been subject to intensive disturbance during the military era and may have archaeological potential.
No new evidence was found concerning the Driscoll occupation (1922-1943) that identified further associated buildings or structures. Reed et al. 1996 have already demonstrated that this site (28-Mo-248) has some archaeological potential.  However this twentieth-century occupation appears to be short-lived and may not yield significant archaeological remains.
Properties FME-7-1 through 7-3 also represent small family housing that was occupied between 1936 and 1941.  It is unlikely that archaeological deposits associated with such an ephemeral occupation, even if preserved, could yield significant archaeological remains.
The only uncertain location is that of FME-7-4, an unidentified frame structure noted by Klein et al. from a 1942 military grading map.  The early military maps examined in the course of this research failed to show any pre-military structures in the area of FME-7.
PERCY CRAWFORD AND KING'S COLLEGE (FME-5)
In 1938, the "A.P. & O.G. Corporation or Percy Crawford" replaced William Kelly, Commissioner of Banking as owner of the "Marconi Property, 90 acres," listed in Imperial Park-New Bedford.  At that time, the assessment was $15,000 for land; $25,000 for improvements (Assessment List 1938).  Later shortened to APOG Corporation, A.P. & O.G. probably stood for Asbury Park and Ocean Grove Corporation (Fred Carl, personal communication, April 28, 1999).  This could well be true, since the corporate offices of APOG during this period were at 306 or 310 Main Street, Asbury Park (information from deeds, Monmouth County Archives).
In 1939 and 1940, the "Marconi Property, 90 acres" was identified as "King's College (Percy Crawford, pres.)."  The 90 acres were taxed as 85, since five acres were exempted for educational purposes.  Taxed at $150 per acre, King's College was assessed $12,750 for land, with improvements and personal estate also exempted-- again for educational purposes (Assessment List 1939; 1940).
Percy Crawford was a radio evangelist from Philadelphia known throughout the Northeast in the 1930s.  His weekly program, heard on Sunday nights from 5 to 6 p.m., were broadcast in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.  By 1939, he was accredited with a number of achievements: founder of The Young People's Church of the Air, Pinebrook Bible Conference, Phi Gamma Fishing Clubs, and editor of the magazine "Young People Today" (Crawford and Crawford 1939).  During his heyday, he is believed to have owned a number of radio stations as well (Fred Carl, personal communication, 20 Apr. 1999), and at least one source maintains that Crawford made his fortune from a patented medicinal extract made from goat livers (Ken Lamson, personal communication 1999).
His greatest achievement, at least as far as the project area is concerned, was the establishment of King's College on the grounds of the old Marconi property.  The idea for such an institution came to Crawford around 1936, after which he
 promoted the idea in his radio broadcasts.  In these programs, Crawford gave preference to a liberal arts college, but one that would offer both the liberal arts and Bible instruction (Bahr c.1950:50).
With facilities based in the old Marconi hotel (see Appendix A-14), operating building, and power plant, King's College opened its doors in September of 1938 with a faculty of 11 Bible teachers, pastors, and educators.  The size of the freshman class has been pegged at between 70 and 90 students, mostly from the Philadelphia area (Bahr c.1950:50-51; Crawford and Crawford 1939:1).  The school's goals were three-fold: education in liberal arts; training in evangelical Bible faith; and the practice of evangelical faith, with daily chapel sermons (Bahr c.1950:50-51).
By the second year (1939-40), there was 30 percent increase in enrollment, an increase in the faculty, and plans for a new building (Coast Advertiser 1939).  From all indications, this new building was a gymnasium (Building No. 9007), which, according to one source, appears to have already been built by 1939 (Crawford and Crawford 1939:1).  The exact date of the gym's construction might be uncertain, but it is clear that the structure was completed before King's College vacated the premises in 1941.
A Signal Corps Laboratories map of the facility, drawn around July 1941, shows existing and proposed buildings at King's College (Appendix A-15).  Shown as existing structures (bold lines) are three buildings not depicted on earlier maps: a "gym" (Building No. 9007) located beside the old Marconi power plant; a smaller building immediately southwest the gym, possibly a "steel garage"; and a "frame farm house" further to the southwest.  FME-5, identified in Klein et al. as a pre-1941 unidentified frame building, was, in all likelihood, the "steel garage" beside the King's College Gym, identified on early military maps as Building 5B (Rowland 1941; King's College Area, Fort Monmouth 1942; Signal Corps Radar Laboratories 1942).  The "frame farm house" to the southwest was identified by Klein et al. (1984) as FME-9, labeled on the military maps as Building 7B.
On the eve of military acquisition, before November 1941, King's College moved to Delaware before later moving to another campus in Tarrytown, New York (Klein et al. 1984:2.20).  Long before then, the U.S. Army had acquired the old Marconi property and begun its expansion to the north and south, creating what would soon be the Evans Area of Fort Monmouth.
The only property from the King's College era to be specifically researched in the course of this project was FME-5, which would appear to be the steel garage shown on the very first military map, made before Army acquisition of the property.  Unlike the King's College gymnasium, this structure is no longer standing.  The likelihood of intact archaeological deposits at this location is slight and ability of any preserved archaeological deposits from a garage to yield significant data is equally slight.
MILITARY ACQUISITION, 1941-1949
In November of 1941, the U.S. Army Signal Corps announced the purchase of King's College (Evans Area c.1980).  The first name of the new facility, a subpost of Fort Monmouth, was "Signal Corps Radar Laboratory."  In the months that followed Pearl Harbor, it was discovered that "radar" was still a classified word; in 1942, the name was changed to "Camp Evans Signal Laboratory," in honor of Lt. Col. Paul Wesley Evans, a Signal Corps radio expert from the First World War.  Before the end of the Second World War, the name was changed again to "Evans Signal Laboratory" (Evans Signal Laboratory 1945; Wall Township Tercentenary Committee 1964:27; Klein et al. 1984:2.21).  Years later, the name would be changed again to the Evans Area.
Evans Area on the eve of military acquisition is depicted in a 1941 topographic map of Asbury Park (Appendix A-16).  In the area of the old Marconi property, it shows the hotel, power plant (FME-4-2), the two King's College constructions (gym and garage, FME-5), and the farm building to the southwest (FME-9).  This map also shows the three buildings in Block 212 (FME-7-1 through 7-3).  To the north, the Driscoll farm buildings are shown (FME-8 complex; 28-MO-248), as are the Rogers farm buildings to the south (FME-6).  What appear to be four additional structures are depicted south of the Rogers complex, and these have not been corroborated by any other map or documentation.  In addition, another building is shown at the west edge of the Rogers tract; this too is not recorded elsewhere.  As the military acquired and modified this area, more specific maps of the Evans Area were generated, and none of those maps show these additional properties.
One of the earliest military maps of the area, dated to November 1941, depicts the Marconi buildings (FME-4 complex), the King's College gymnasium and garage (FME-5), as well as the farm house to the southwest (FME-9).  All buildings in the FME-7 area appear to be gone (Rowland 1941).  The best map for the location of these properties dates to 1942 and shows the "existing farm building" (FME-9) in its relation to the structure that would replaced it, Building 25-B (Appendix A-17).  By the time of another 1942 map showing new building designations, FME-9 would be gone (King's College Area, Ft. Monmouth 1942).
The northern third of the Evans Area, including the Driscoll farm (FME-8; 28-MO-248) was acquired in 1943, before acquisition of the Rogers tract.  This interim configuration of the Evans Area, and the buildings within it, are depicted in Appendix A-18).  The best military map of the Driscoll complex dates to 1944, and shows four "existing farm buildings" in "Area E" (Moe 1944).  These farm buildings were still present in 1947 (Appendix A-19).  This map also showed part of the Rogers property to the south, then being leased by the Army at the south end of Evans Area.
LATER REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY, 1950s
By 1956, the Evans Area had attained its full size, and a full complement of military-use buildings.  The Driscoll and Rogers buildings were now gone, as were the other pre-1941 structures, with the exception of the Marconi buildings and the King's College gymnasium (Aldinger 1956).  It was around this time, or shortly after, that the marsh areas adjacent to Shark River were surveyed with the idea of surrendering land to Wall Township for a public park.
This idea was further developed by 1958, when this marshy area was surveyed in greater detail for the benefit of Wall Township (Appendix A-20).  Of particular interest here are the old Marconi features depicted on this map.  In addition to the operating building and an adjacent structure, this map depicts two "abandoned towers" located within the marshy area to be surrendered to Wall Township.  These were two of the so-called "balancing towers" the Marconi Company put on either side of the operating building  The first of these towers was located just south of Laurel Gully Brook and almost due north of the operating building.  The second tower was located due east of the southern-most Marconi bungalow.
In response to questions about the towers, military authorities noted that no property record cards existed for these two structures (Gamel 1959).  When this marshland was transferred to Wall Township, the towers were removed.  One still stands on the bank above Shark River, on the east side of Marconi Road.
V.  CONCLUSIONS
Nine historic properties/property clusters previously identified from historical and archaeological studies were further documented through historical research that focused upon locational data.
This effort was most successful at fleshing out the numerous facilities and buildings that comprised the Marconi Station at Belmar.  The location of masts, a well, an early sewage facility, possible married operator's housing, and a well and pump have been culled from the documentary record and approximate locations for these resources were plotted on a modern topographic map (Figure 1-2).  Also, the housing built by the Marconi Company for its Belmar employees had interior plumbing added that connected to an on-site sewage treatment facility.
The Marconi property (FME-4) including the hotel, bungalows and associated garages, power plant (FME-4-2), and the operating building (FME-4-3) are extant and their "as builts" are on file at Fort Monmouth.  Of the Marconi properties specifically mentioned in the scope of this project, only the receiving antenna (FME-4-1) were dismantled, around 1920.  The massive concrete above ground supports for the masts have long been removed, and there is textual evidence that no buried wires or cables were placed underneath the path of the aerials at Belmar.  Below ground evidence of the mast anchors may exist but probably not Mast No. 1 adjacent to the Power Plant (Building 9006) or Mast No. 2; both were probably disturbed by later military development.  There is some potential for remains from the most western of the Evans Area masts and the mast locations beyond the military reservation may also be preserved.  It is likely that such features were probably removed when the Marconi facility was shut down.
In the course of this research, information was obtained on other Marconi properties within the project area.  Among these were the balancing towers, the Marconi piping system and sewage treatment area, the married operators cottages, and the well and pump associated with the hotel.  By the 1950s only two balancing towers were left in place.  They were removed in the late 1950s when that portion of Evans Area was transferred to Wall Township.  The original sites of the two balancing towers are now outside the Evans Area.  One of these towers was relocated to the east side of Marconi Road, just south of Brighton Road.  The archaeological potential of these tower areas is very limited and an example of a tower stands for further documentation.
The presence of a sewage treatment area, complete with a piping system, and the presence of interior plumbing, precludes the presence of privies related to the Marconi era.  Such facilities could have been associated with the married operators cottages, but very little other than a text reference is known about these potential properties.  The 1914 photograph of the Marconi complex shows three unidentified buildings between the hotel and the power plant, but it is not known whether these were operators cottages.  Given the level of military disturbance to the area behind the Marconi hotel, it is very unlikely that there could be any intact archaeological remains associated with these properties.  This holds for the early sewage treatment plant as well.  A well and pump are shown a map and their locations are plotted on Figure 1-2.  The well located between Buildings 9010 and 9032 lies within the main building area and may well be disturbed by street construction between the buildings.
There is small likelihood that any of the other cultural properties discussed in this report would yield additional archaeological remains.  The oldest cultural properties -- the Allen, Stanton-Woolley, and Bennet-Campbell places (FME-1, 2, and 9, respectively) -- were only vaguely plotted on existing nineteenth-century maps.   Only FME-9 shows up on any of the much more detailed twentieth-century maps, which suggests that the other structures (FME-1 and 2) had already been demolished or removed by that time.  This also means that their locations remain vague.  It is possible that, in the case of FME-1 and 2, that they are not in the Evans Area, since their general locations are close to the modern base boundaries.  Due to extensive military disturbance in these areas, including the construction of a building almost directly over the site of FME-9, it is unlikely that significant archaeological deposits would be recovered from these areas.
New locational data on the later farmsteads/residences the Rogers (FME-6) and Driscoll places (FME-6 and FME-8) was not really elicited in this research effort.  No plats or photographs were identified, but the Rogers Place is fully described by a military inventory and appraisal which established an age for the property.   Built circa 1875, this site may have research potential.  Its distance from the main building area and its relative lack of development by the military may also suggest to some preserved remains.  However, Reed et al. 1996 note the presence of a substation and military land use in the site's vicinity is not well documented.
 The more isolated Driscoll place (FME-8) has already been tested, leading to its designation as a full-fledged archaeological site, 28-MO-248 (Reed et al. 1996).  The Driscoll occupation appears to be too short-lived to warrant further archaeological research.
The other twentieth-century properties that have been destroyed, FME-7-1 through 7-4, were either too ephemeral or too badly impacted by subsequent military construction to merit further attention.
Finally, four otherwise unidentified structures were indicated south of the Rogers farm on a 1941 topographic map (Asbury Park 1941) by Klein et al.  The presence of these features is not supported by other contemporary maps, most of which were much more detailed.  As a result, these features could have been plotted in error in earlier studies, or were temporary structures of some sort.  Either way, they would not yield discernible archaeological remains.

Page updated January 4, 2004   page created March 21, 2000