Photographic Journals
Raritan Reverie on the Tidal Heart of New Brunswick
One golden evening beside New Jersey’s longest river, the camera traced a quiet arc from meadow path to stone arch-bridge. The sequence reads like a short walk: gentle turns, steel footways, waterfowl, the hiss of a lone motor-skiff, and the city’s historic piers framed by late-summer light. Raritan history - Lenape canoe routes, colonial shipping, canal commerce, and modern university life - whispers through each frame, reminding today’s idler that every ripple carries stories older than the brick towers on the bluff. []
Evening sunlight tips the lawn with bronze as the paved footpath winds east toward the river bend. Tall maples cast long, lattice-like shadows while the far bank glows beneath a ring of low hills. This stretch sits inside Boyd Park, which was reclaimed in the 1970s when factories closed and New Brunswick sought a new civic spirit. Rutgers students jog here; anglers test their luck for striped bass that ride the tide roughly ten miles from Raritan Bay. The air smells of cut grass and river mud - the same scent Lenape traders knew when they hauled copper upriver. Learn more
Meadow Path at Dusk
Evening sunlight tips the lawn with bronze as the paved footpath winds east toward the river bend. Tall maples cast long, lattice-like shadows while the far bank glows beneath a ring of low hills. This stretch sits inside Boyd Park, which was reclaimed in the 1970s when factories closed and New Brunswick sought a new civic spirit. Rutgers students jog here; anglers test their luck for striped bass that ride the tide roughly ten miles from Raritan Bay. The air smells of cut grass and river mud - the same scent Lenape traders knew when they hauled copper upriver. Learn more
Iron posts guard the small pier where kayaks and tour boats cast off. The sign evokes “Raritan Landing,” an 18th-century port two miles downstream that briefly rivalled Philadelphia before silt choked its channel. Behind the lamps, the skyline shows Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Heldrich hotel - symbols of the city’s shift from industry to medicine and meetings. The wooden gangway whispers underfoot, its slats damp from the brackish tide that rises and falls nearly five feet twice a day. Learn more
New Brunswick Landing
Iron posts guard the small pier where kayaks and tour boats cast off. The sign evokes “Raritan Landing,” an 18th-century port two miles downstream that briefly rivalled Philadelphia before silt choked its channel. Behind the lamps, the skyline shows Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Heldrich hotel - symbols of the city’s shift from industry to medicine and meetings. The wooden gangway whispers underfoot, its slats damp from the brackish tide that rises and falls nearly five feet twice a day. Learn more
A cream-colored truss frames mirrored water below, a remnant of the Delaware and Raritan Canal’s feeder ditch, diverted here in 1834 to bypass the shoals. Floods still lap the railings every spring, proof that the Raritan remains an untamed neighbour. Ahead, a thin pedestrian causeway threads through young sycamores planted after Hurricane Irene felled dozens of older giants. The quiet pool hosts turtles, and in May, spawning river herring flash like silver commas in the shallows. Learn more
Footbridge over Backwater
A cream-colored truss frames mirrored water below, a remnant of the Delaware and Raritan Canal’s feeder ditch, diverted here in 1834 to bypass the shoals. Floods still lap the railings every spring, proof that the Raritan remains an untamed neighbour. Ahead, a thin pedestrian causeway threads through young sycamores planted after Hurricane Irene felled dozens of older giants. The quiet pool hosts turtles, and in May, spawning river herring flash like silver commas in the shallows. Learn more
Two resident geese crop the shoreline clover, entirely indifferent to passing walkers. Their kind once migrated, yet urban lawns and warm runoff convinced many to stay year-round. The black-necked pair forms part of a colony that can exceed three hundred birds each winter, prompting yearly debates about coexistence versus relocation. To naturalists, the flock is a living footnote to the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918, still shaping habitats a century later. Learn more
Canada Geese Grazing
Two resident geese crop the shoreline clover, entirely indifferent to passing walkers. Their kind once migrated, yet urban lawns and warm runoff convinced many to stay year-round. The black-necked pair forms part of a colony that can exceed three hundred birds each winter, prompting yearly debates about coexistence versus relocation. To naturalists, the flock is a living footnote to the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918, still shaping habitats a century later. Learn more
A small powerboat skims upriver, motor buzz echoing off dense oaks on the Highland Park side. The Raritan is tidal until the Weston Mill dam six miles west, so sailors ride both salt and fresh currents on the same voyage. During the Revolutionary War, Washington’s troops crossed near this very reach en route to the Battle of Princeton, pursued by Cornwallis. Tonight, only the wake disturbs water that once bore flat-bottom Durham boats laden with pig iron. Learn more
Spray from a Runabout
A small powerboat skims upriver, motor buzz echoing off dense oaks on the Highland Park side. The Raritan is tidal until the Weston Mill dam six miles west, so sailors ride both salt and fresh currents on the same voyage. During the Revolutionary War, Washington’s troops crossed near this very reach en route to the Battle of Princeton, pursued by Cornwallis. Tonight, only the wake disturbs water that once bore flat-bottom Durham boats laden with pig iron. Learn more
Weathered planks lead the eye to the nine graceful arches of the Albany Street Bridge, built in 1892 and widened in 1925 to carry the Lincoln Highway - America’s first coast-to-coast road. The bridge still handles Route 27 traffic, yet from this dock, it appears almost Roman, pink stone shining under a low sun. Fisherfolk dangle lines for catfish; beyond, the white spire of Christ Church (1742) reminds visitors that George Washington worshipped here after the city was liberated. Learn more
Dock toward Albany Street Bridge
Weathered planks lead the eye to the nine graceful arches of the Albany Street Bridge, built in 1892 and widened in 1925 to carry the Lincoln Highway - America’s first coast-to-coast road. The bridge still handles Route 27 traffic, yet from this dock, it appears almost Roman, pink stone shining under a low sun. Fisherfolk dangle lines for catfish; beyond, the white spire of Christ Church (1742) reminds visitors that George Washington worshipped here after the city was liberated. Learn more
Peeling paint on steel balusters catches late light, turning safety rails into abstract stripes. The bridge once helped factory hands cross to cigar and rubber works that have since given way to condos. Shadows of the photographer and a companion stretch toward the water, merging briefly—a quiet memento of shared journeys. Beneath, carp swirl near pilings where egrets hunt; above, commuter trains sound their horns on the Northeast Corridor line opened by the Camden and Amboy Railroad in 1838. Learn more
Yellow Railings, River Shadows
Peeling paint on steel balusters catches late light, turning safety rails into abstract stripes. The bridge once helped factory hands cross to cigar and rubber works that have since given way to condos. Shadows of the photographer and a companion stretch toward the water, merging briefly—a quiet memento of shared journeys. Beneath, carp swirl near pilings where egrets hunt; above, commuter trains sound their horns on the Northeast Corridor line opened by the Camden and Amboy Railroad in 1838. Learn more
An avenue of young oaks traces the riverbank, split neatly by a maintenance mower: wildflower fringe on one side, manicured sward on the other. Floating docks extend like quills into the mirror-smooth reach. On the distant bluff stands Johnson and Johnson’s world headquarters, signaling how a modest 1886 surgical-gauze firm grew into a global company while keeping its roots by the Raritan. Evening swallows wheel above, stitching sky to water with swift arcs. Learn more
Green Promenade beside the Tide
An avenue of young oaks traces the riverbank, split neatly by a maintenance mower: wildflower fringe on one side, manicured sward on the other. Floating docks extend like quills into the mirror-smooth reach. On the distant bluff stands Johnson and Johnson’s world headquarters, signaling how a modest 1886 surgical-gauze firm grew into a global company while keeping its roots by the Raritan. Evening swallows wheel above, stitching sky to water with swift arcs. Learn more
The walk ends where the canal overflow meets the river proper. Vines cloak a spit of land, mirrored crisply in slack water. Ahead, the stone arches of Landing Lane Bridge (1895) ring with traffic headed to Piscataway, and on the far hill sits Rutgers’ Old Queens, cornerstone laid in 1809. The scene unites natural calm with layers of human enterprise - Lenape fishing camps, colonial mills, turnpike masonry, research labs - each era casting its own reflection, then passing downstream. Learn more
Reflection of Arches and Ivy
The walk ends where the canal overflow meets the river proper. Vines cloak a spit of land, mirrored crisply in slack water. Ahead, the stone arches of Landing Lane Bridge (1895) ring with traffic headed to Piscataway, and on the far hill sits Rutgers’ Old Queens, cornerstone laid in 1809. The scene unites natural calm with layers of human enterprise - Lenape fishing camps, colonial mills, turnpike masonry, research labs - each era casting its own reflection, then passing downstream. Learn more