Ted Ihde

The Early Days of Port Monmouth

Port Monmouth, Shoal Harbor and Raritan Bay…

Resting on Sandy Hook Bay, along the New Jersey coastline next to the Raritan Bayshore we find Port Monmouth. And Shoal Harbor.

Port Monmouth looks directly out across Raritan Bayshore. Raritan Bayshore is an extension of Raritan Bay.

With its coastal position on Raritan Bay, one may surmise that evolution for Port Monmouth would have been shaped by Port Monmouth’s location. Located forty miles or so across the Raritan Bay from New York City. And that summation would be accurate.

Today’s Port Monmouth is the end result of yesterday’s improvements made in methods of transportation. Primarily, methods of transportation established to facilitate maritime traffic going from Monmouth County to New York City.

With its position on the coast of Raritan Bay, in order to benefit from improved maritime transport, Port Monmouth would first need a pier.

That first Port Monmouth pier was constructed in 1853. That first Port Monmouth pier was constructed at the end of, what today, would be Church Street. And that first Port Monmouth pier constructed off Church Street over one-hundred fifty years ago needed to extend far enough out into Raritan Bay to enable boats to dock at Port Monmouth. And not run aground.

The company which built that first Port Monmouth pier was Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company.

A budding commercial enterprise, Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company curried freight – as well as passengers – from Port Monmouth into New York. The company first identified, then built out, their maritime niche.

With their pier built, Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company proceed to develop this area located the end of Church Street to accommodate passengers.

The company built a hotel at the end of their Church Street pier. The company also built a pavilion.

Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company created a resort-of-sorts at the end of Church Street. Maritime passengers could now enjoy their wait on the bay, prior to boarding a steamboat heading into Manhattan.

One year after that first pier in Port Monmouth was built at the end of Church Street, opportunities emanating from newfound transportation and commerce possibilities – as Port Monmouth was now connected to New York City – would come to be enhanced.

In 1854 Port Monmouth and Middletown Plank Road Company made their contribution to Port Monmouth commerce.

In 1854 Port Monmouth and Middletown Plank Road Company built an important timber plank road in Port Monmouth.

“The Farmer’s Railway.”

A timber plank road is a roadway built by laying wooden planks, side-by-side. For timber plank roads, those wooden planks are laid across beams. Those beams used to construct a timber plank road were called stringers. Once laid, stringers were stable. Held in place, not by nails. Rather, stringers were held in place by the weight of the stringers. Stringers were heavy.

The addition of a timber plank road to Port Monmouth enabled local farmers to bring their goods to market.

During the Nineteenth Century timber plank roads were known as farmers’ railroads. Whereas, in the Nineteenth Century, farmers were faced with the daunting task of transporting their goods to market over terrain which was rugged, difficult and rough, a smooth timber plank road changed that problem. A timber plank road made a farmer’s path to the market much, much easier.

That timber plank road built by Port Monmouth and Middletown Plank Road Company in Port Monmouth created the opportunity farmers needed in order to get their produce over to the pier.

That timber plank road built in Port Monmouth also enabled farmers to bring their produce to the local market in Middletown.

In Middletown, farmers sold their produce. That timber plank road built in Port Monmouth connected Port Monmouth to Leonardville Road. Landing a farmer in Middletown.

Going back to the role Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company played in Port Monmouth’s development, the northernmost point of that timber plank road was the pier built by Port Monmouth Steamboat and Sloop Transportation Company. At the end of Church Street.

Farmers had a new and improved pathway to the market. Thanks to that timber plank road built in Port Monmouth, farmers could reach Middletown.

While also accessing a much larger market too. In New York City. By ship.

Buyers of produce in New York were now accessible to farmers because, first, a pier was built. Then, second, a road was built.

The early days for Port Monmouth’s economy…

We have the pier.

We have “The Farmer’s Railway.”

So what came next in the chronology of Port Monmouth’s development?

What came next for Port Monmouth was the railroad.

In 1854 Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad Company was organized. The mandate for Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad Company was to build a railroad which would connect the Raritan Bay to the Delaware Bay.

Construction of that railroad – linking the Raritan Bay to the Delaware Bay – began in 1856. Four years later, trains were en route, from bay to bay.

By late in the Nineteenth Century, in Port Monmouth, steamboats were transporting farmers’ produce, freight and passengers into New York City.

By late in the Nineteenth Century, in Port Monmouth, farmers benefitted from the “farmer’s railway.” Making a farmer’s trip to the Church Street pier and to Middletown easier.

By late in the Nineteenth Century, rail connected Port Monmouth’s bay – the Raritan Bay – to the Delaware Bay.

Steamboats, roads and rail. The table had been nicely set for this settlement along Raritan Bayshore to mature, to evolve and to grow.

The beginning days for Port Monmouth.

Your questions and your comments about my Port Monmouth piece are always welcome. If you’d like, please feel free to contact the autor, Ted Ihde, by phone or by email.

Direct: 816-699-6804

Email: authortedihde@gmail.com

Financing your home, financing your country.

Interest is paid out on 10-year Treasuries at six-month intervals. The 10-year Treasury has a ten-year maturity.
When an investor purchases a 10-year Treasury, in exchange for receiving interest, that investor is making a de-facto “loan” to the United States government. The government then uses those funds to finance itself.

In essence, when you purchase your home, when you obtain your 30-year mortgage, you are financing not only your home. You are also financing the United States government. Through mortgage payments you make. Each and every month.

Property Grading

When building your new home, should your property have an uneven surface – hills, recesses, dips, mounds or holes – grading is required.

A property’s grading involves the property’s slope. It is important to attain an ideal slope.

An ideal slope descends from your home’s footprint. The descent is important because it enables rainwater and roof runoff to be directed away from your foundation. This is positive grade.

Positive grade is also called good soil grade.

With negative grade, the surface slopes towards your foundation.

This is not ideal. Negative grade is also called poor soil grade.

Positive grade reduces erosion. Thereby mitigating foundation damage.

Level grade is where the surface is level. Level is not ideal.

For every one foot you move away from your home’s footprint, you want the surface to drop by one inch. The one-foot-out-drop-one-inch format should be adhered to ten feet out from the home’s footprint.

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI)

The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) measures changes in prices domestic producers charge. Whereas retail constitutes prices attained through the sale of goods and services to the public, the Producer Price Index measures the cost of goods and services at the wholesale level.

Each month, the Producer Price Index is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Producer Price Index is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics the second full week each month.

The story of a Missouri town, a blacksmith, mountains which are not there and rivers which are not blue.

Within the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, to the southeast Kansas City – a 20-minute drive from Kansas City’s Central Business District – 10 miles outside of Independence, with a land area totaling 10 square miles, bisected by Blue Parkway, we find Raytown.

The origin of Raytown goes back to how significant the Santa Fe Trail was to the opening up of the West to American settlement.

In the 1820’s, Raytown – at that time, a settlement known as Blue Ridge – was a trading post. Established as a stopover along the Santa Fe Trail.

Frontiersmen heading west rested up at this Blue Ridge settlement. Settlers purchased supplies they needed for their long trek west at Blue Ridge. They repaired their wagons. Settlers purchased flour, bacon and coffee at Blue Ridge. Settlers bought shoes for their horses at Blue Ridge. They visited the local Blue Ridge blacksmith. That local Blue Ridge blacksmith, coming to play a most significant role in Raytown’s history.

Attributed to how Blue Ridge has been written into the annals of our American story is the role Blue Ridge took on along the Santa Fe Trail.

Early in the 19th Century, Blue Ridge served as a “refueling depot” for those who confronted the rigors of the Plains as they pursued adventure.

Blue Ridge was a busy post along the Santa Fe. Iron workers, wagon makers and blacksmiths flocked to Blue Ridge. Tradesmen. Tradesmen attracted to opportunities found in Blue Ridge emanating from the ever-growing number of wagon trains traveling the Santa Fe Trail.

This Blue Ridge settlement came to be named for one such tradesman. A tradesman who came from the East. Arriving at Blue Ridge to partake in business opportunities created by Santa Fe Trail traffic. This tradesman was William Ray.

William Ray left his native Ohio, opting to make a new home for himself at Blue Ridge. William Ray built a new life for himself in Missouri. At this settlement along the Santa Fe Trail which would one day be named for him.

William Ray was a tradesman. William Ray was a blacksmith. As a blacksmith along the Santa Fe Trail, the shop William Ray established for himself was located at today what would be the corner of Raytown Road and 63rd Street. In the heart of Raytown.

This settlement of Blue Ridge would later come to be known as Ray’s Town. Ray’s Town…named for our Blue Ridge blacksmith from Ohio, William Ray.

William Ray was born in Butler County, Ohio in 1808. William Ray arrived in Missouri in 1848. Purchasing seven acres of land where today 63rd Street meets Raytown Road. In Raytown.

That acreage acquired by William Ray along the Santa Fe Trail was located at a junction where several trade routes met.

With his blacksmith shop – and his seven acres -situated at the heart of those Blue Ridge trade routes, William Ray’s address positioned him at the nucleus of where locals were clamoring for better roads to be built in Blue Ridge. The construction of new and improved roads – I.e.: local trade routes – which would connect Blue Ridge to the local, larger nearby markets of Independence and Kansas City.

William Ray’s blacksmith shop was located where those new roads would emanate from. Through William Ray’s geographical relevance, Blue Ridge locals started referring to Blue Ridge as “Ray’s Town.” Because planned growth for Blue Ridge involved the building of new roads which were to have beginning points at what today is the intersection of 63rd Street and Raytown Road. William Ray’s seven acres. William Ray’s blacksmith shop.

Within the American story there is an inescapability one encounters in the forever-association between the Santa Fe Trail and Blue Ridge. I.e.: Ray’s Town. I.e.: Raytown.

In Raytown today, the path Blue Ridge Boulevard follows is the path of the original Santa Fe Trail. Yet there is no “blue ridge” in Raytown. There never was a blue ridge in Raytown.

The Blue Ridge Mountains…

Blue Ridge Parkway in Raytown was named after a mountain range – the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Frontiersmen arriving at what would be, first, Blue Ridge, then later, Ray’s Town, then later, Raytown were taken back by how the wooded ridges they encountered in Missouri reminded them of the high wooded ridges familiar to them in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A mountain range located where their expedition west – to Missouri – began.

William Ray’s contribution to Raytown proved to be long lasting. Although William Ray’s residence in Raytown was nothing of the sort.

William Ray resided in Blue Ridge for only five years. Leaving Blue Ridge in 1853.

The story of William Ray leaving Blue Ridge – as well as the story of William Ray arriving in Blue Ridge – are each interwoven with famous American trails heading west.

William Ray left Blue Ridge for Oregon in 1853. To live near his children. William Ray’s children lived in Oregon.

The beginning point for the Oregon Trail is found in Missouri. In Independence, Missouri.

The beginning point for the Oregon Trail – the trail which took William Ray’s children west, from Missouri to Oregon – is located ten miles from where William Ray had his blacksmith shop. At the corner of today what would be 63rd Street and Raytown Road. In Raytown.

Trenton: a case study in the relationship between de-industrialization and housing

Trenton’s population peaked in the mid-1950’s. While at the same time, socioeconomic challenges were gripping Trenton. And industrial cities like Trenton. Throughout the United States.

Trenton, like countless mid-Century manufacturing hubs, encountered substantial problems resulting from a national movement towards de-industrialization. Akron. Detroit. St. Louis. Cleveland. Trenton. To name but a few. Each, once an industrial powerhouse. Each, sadly brought to their knees by globalization. By de-industrialization. By an economy which moved away from manufacturing.

Problems accompanying de-industrialization can be seen in circumstances which overtook labor. Decimating workers. Shuttering factories.

The platform for this problem…

As northern industrial cities grew, workers migrated from southern states to northern cities which possessed strong manufacturing bases. Workers pursued higher paying jobs found in factories.
Workers went north to attain higher wages and good weekly paychecks. They found what they were looking for in northern manufacturing cities.

Yet the economy was changing…

A notable portion of mid-century workers who came to Trenton lacked the skill sets required to retain wages which were sufficient enough to support the purchase of (and the upkeep of) homes as the economy changed. As factory jobs were shed. As the United States de-industrialized.

Lacking the incomes needed to update their homes and pay property taxes, over time, more and more Trenton homes fell into a state of disrepair.

An inability to afford the upkeep of homes, combined with (arguably, by some) a trend towards lax oversight by the City in regard to enforcing housing maintenance standards led to the deterioration of Trenton’s housing stock. Which, when combined with White flight, redlining by lenders and suburbanization, led to a decrease in center city Trenton home values. A problem which was then compounded by a newfound ease in the commute by workers into (and out of) Trenton.

Easy commutes exacerbated center city housing challenges. The ability to commute to and from jobs in cities such as Trenton was made possible by the construction of roads and highways.

One could buy a home in the suburbs. Then drive to their job in Trenton. Leading to a decrease in demand for center city Trenton homes. A perfect elixir for urban blight.

Today upwards of 60% of those who live in Trenton rent. Whereas in Mercer County – as well as in New Jersey overall – the rental rate is between 30% to 40%. A disproportionately high percentage of Trenton residents rent.

The consequence? Lack of homeownership.

In Trenton one will see hundreds of vacant lots, vacant buildings and vacant homes. The result of a hollowing out of Trenton’s industrial base. Redlining. And easy commutes. Each contributing in their own unique way to a deterioration of Trenton’s center city housing stock.

This one time industrial powerhouse certainly owns its share of economic and housing challenges. Yet, with thousands of vacant lots, vacant buildings and vacant homes, this former Mid-Atlantic industrial heavyweight also possesses the ingredients to establish processes to transition now non-performing properties to affordable homes.

The construction of new homes. Older homes renovated. Repurposed center city made available to those who would like call Trenton “home.” As homeowners. Not as renters. While at the same time, increasing the city’s property tax base. Decreasing blight.

The solution?

A comprehensive land bank in Trenton. Or, a commitment made by City officials to the issuance of RFP’s. RFP’s which real estate developers could submit Responses to.

An old, iconic and rusty former industrial titan

The slogan – “Trenton Makes, the World Takes” – is stamped to Lower Trenton Bridge. Illuminated. Bold. “Trenton Makes, the World Takes” is a testament to Trenton’s past manufacturing glory. “Trenton Makes, the World Takes,” hung on the first bridge ever built across the Delaware River. The bridge was built in 1935. In the City which would, for a very short time, that is, be our nation’s capital.

Trenton was the nation’s capital. From November 1, 1784 to December 24, 1784.

This confident slogan of Trenton’s originated in 1917. Justifiably so. What Trenton was really good at was manufacturing. The City thrived. Trenton’s manufacturing prowess was the foundation for the City’s successes.

Trenton built an economy based on exports. Attributed to the City’s strong manufacturing base. Trenton’s industrial might was coupled to the City’s expertise in the manufacture of finished products such as wire rope and rubber. Trenton became a booming Mid-Atlantic industrial hub.

Wrought iron beams. The very same beams used to build the dome in the U.S. Capital at the east end of the National Mall. Those were manufactured in Trenton.

Wire rope. The very same wire rope used to build the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Wheeling Bridge (the bridge which connects West Virginia to Ohio). That bridge-building wire rope came from Trenton.

Mechanicals used in San Francisco’s first streetcars? Manufactured in Trenton.

The cable, spark plugs and electrical wire used in Charles Lindbergh’s single-engine Spirit of St Louis? Manufactured in Trenton.

The cable used for the Wright Brother first airplane? Manufactured in Trenton.

Prior to Akron, Ohio claiming the “Rubber Capital of the World” title early on in the Twentieth Century, Trenton was the nation’s tire capital.

John A. Roebling established his steel wire empire – The Roebling Steel Company – in Trenton.

In 1849 Roebling set out to build his company alongside the Delaware Canal and the Raritan Canal. John A. Roebling’s company would go on to become a manufacturing stalwart. Becoming Trenton’s largest employer. Built on the 25 acres Roebling purchased in 1848.

Twenty years after John A. Roebling laid the groundwork for Roebling Steel Company, a father and son team placed their signatures upon Trenton’s industrial past.

Alan and Frank Magowan founded the oldest rubber mill in the United States – Trenton Rubber Company. By the late/1800’s, Trenton was a major production center for rubber…while Roebling went on to become the world’s largest manufacturer of wire rope.

Wire rope, shipping, mining, construction, electrical power transmission, cable cars, tramways, aircraft, submarine netting, musical instruments, elevators, logging, oil drilling. At one time, each representing products proudly made in Trenton.

Trenton’s industrial prominence was routed in the City’s ability to harness productivity gains attributed to the canals and the railroads built in Trenton. Trenton’s expansive network of canals and railroads enabled the City to ship finished manufactures off to New York City and Philadelphia.

While Trenton enjoyed its long and storied run as an American manufacturing center, in June of 1974, a Trenton chapter was forever closed.

In June of that year the final 1,400 employees of what had once been the Roebling industrial empire lost their jobs. These final Roebling layoffs coming after numerous failed attempts to revive the Trenton plant. The plant, that time, a subsidiary of Colorado Fuel & Iron.

Both Roebling manufacturing plants closed their doors for good in Trenton in 1974. Marking the formal ending of Roebling’s presence in Trenton. The closing of Roebling…poetic justice in that this end to an era was representative of Trenton’s last days as a manufacturing center.

Cheap foreign goods. Foreign competition. The hollowing out of the City’s property tax base due the demise of manufacturing. Suburbanization. Each contributed in their own unique way to Trenton’s decline. Declining productivity. Bleeding over into a decline in the City’s population. A decade-by-decade descent.

Long before Trenton’s descent, the City’s population steadily increased. Year-by-year. Beginning in the latter part of the 18th Century through the 1950’s. Topping off at just about 128,000 in 1955.

By 2022 Trenton’s population was down to 90,000.

They headed west…

During the latter part of the 19th Century, the Homestead Act enabled settlers to become landowners. The Homestead Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.

Through the Homestead Act, after living on and improving their homestead for five years, a homesteader would then receive their deed by paying a $18 filing fee.

Leading up to the Civil War, southern states seceded from the Union. One year before the Homestead Act went into effect.
Southern states intended to advance the institution of slavery. Members of Congress representing the South recognized that land added to the Union which would be owned slave owners could point the country in a pro-slavery direction. Their goal being, for slavery to be established as the foundation for rural economies in the West.

In the 1860’s there was a tug of war over the institution of slavery. It was slave owners versus free-staters. As the United States pushed west, land totaling just about 10% of the country would be conveyed to homesteaders. One million homesteaders. Representing a voting block which would be integrated into the Union. One which would influence policy.

Prior to the Homestead Act, the Preemption Act of 1841 was used by settlers – those age 21 or older, and head of a household – to acquire up to 160 acres. The price? $1.25 per acre.

Through the Preemption Act, a homesteader was required to make improvements to their homestead and to live on their homestead for a minimum of five years.

Opposition to the Homestead Act – and to the Preemption Act beforehand – had largely been anchored in plantation owners of the South. Their concern? Land acquired in the West would go to stakeholders who would not be advocates of slavery. While slavery was the bedrock on which the southern economy was based.

Representing a barrier to southern interests, the Homestead Act prohibited conveyances of land to those fought against the United States in the Civil War. Which meant, land conveyed through the Homestead Act was not available to former Confederate soldiers.

Homesteading continued on as federal policy through the 1970’s. In 1976 President Gerald Ford signed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act into law. Effectively ending homesteading at the federal level.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act governs how federal land is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

By the end of the Civil War, some 15,000 homesteaders acquired land through the Homestead Act. Establishing their homes in what today we know to be Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming. Nearly 80 million United States acres, conveyed to homesteaders.

Options

As a real estate investor assesses potential properties to acquire, when a good investment has been identified, what if an extended closing is preferred? In this case, an investor might use an option contract.

The option contract enables the investor – with an option contract, the investor becomes the optionee – to lock in purchase terms with the seller. The seller is the optionor. Negotiated terms in an option contract involve the sale price as well as a timeframe in which the closing will take place.

Terms for the purchase are presented by the optionee to the optionor, accompanied by a dollar amount – consideration.

In order for the option contract to be effectuated, consideration is given by the optionee to the optionor. Consideration is comparable to an earnest money deposit, which accompanies a real estate contract of sale in a traditional purchase.

Once the option contract is in place, the optionee has secured his or her option to purchase the home. According to terms set forth in the option contract.

The optionor can’t sell the property to another buyer. The optionor can’t enter into another option agreement with another optionee. While the optionee is not obligated to follow through and complete the purchase of the home. The optionee has an option.

Within the option period, the optionee lines up his or her financing. The optionee obtains cost estimates to renovate the home. The optionee coordinates the appraisal and inspections.

As per inspections, the optionee may want to order a tank sweep.

A tank sweep will show the optionee whether there is an underground storage tank – a UST.

An OPRA request can be forwarded by the optionee to the township. An OPRA request could enable the optionee to obtain public records pertaining to the home.

Environmental concerns…

Let’s say a UST has been discovered. The Environmental Protection Agency does not necesssrily regulate underground tanks for residential homes.

By definition, a UST is a tank whereby a minimum of 10% of the piping is located underground. For UST’s with storage capacity of less than 110 gallons, these fall outside federal oversight. Although states and municipalities often institute their own policies for UST’s.

Storage tanks installed in the 1980’s – and prior to the 1980’s – were constructed with steel. Over time steel corrodes. If corrosion occurs with a steel UST, oil could leak. With an oil leak, you run the possibility of contaminating not only the subject property, but the surrounding area as well. Oil could seep into soil. And water sources too. These represent environmental hazards.

Within the due diligence phase of an option contract, as home inspections are conducted, in the event that a UST has been discovered by way of a tank sweep or an OPRA request, the option continues. While the execution of the option could be put on hold.

Let’s assume local home values increase during the option period. While discovery of the UST negatively affects the home’s value.

One “plus” – increasing home values – and one “minus” – the UST.

When the optionee obtains financing, the home becomes the lender’s collateral. The UST will lower the market value of the home. Adversely affecting the lender’s collateral.

The UST affects marketability. The UST culminates in a lower appraisal value. The reduced appraisal value affects loan to value. Which, in effect, affects loan terms.

The optionee’s lender may want to get a Phase 1 Site Assessment. A Phase 1 details environmental conditions. The lender would likely schedule a Phase I prior to issuing the loan commitment.

Discoveries arrived at by the optionee during the due diligence phase through inspections – such as a discovery of a UST – could determine whether the optionee elects to follow through on the option they have to purchase the home.

American Independence…Trade Dependents

Exports from Great Britain to the Colonies doubled the first year of the Colonies’ independence. While Parliament placed tariffs on manufactured goods the newly-independent Colonies intended to export to Great Britain.

These were British tariffs. British tariffs were called Duties.

Duties represented constraints pushed onto Colonists by Great Britain. Functioning as barriers to Colonial exports which could land ashore in Great Britain, as imports.

This problem – caused by the imposition of duties on Colonial production – was compounded by an additional constraint. One meant to further restrict American exports to Great Britain. This additional restriction was centered upon shipping.

American exports to Great Britain were required to be transported by British vessels only.

Confiscatory trade policy enacted through Parliament which dampened economic growth in the new American Colonies.