Hello Monmouth County!
My husband told me that Middletown was a peninsula and I didn’t believe him because my geography is that bad. However, I do like maps and here is a map from a publication on the Middletown Township website that, I have to admit, means my husband is right as he usually is. Darn it!
The map shows the Sandy Hook Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Navesink River. That’a a lot of waterbodies and yes we are surrounded by water on three sides.
When it rains the water collects and follows gravity to the nearest water body depending on the topology of the land. Here is a map that shows in green the sub water sheds. Some water collects and flows into he Navesink, other areas collect and go to Nut Swamp Brook etc. and all the water eventually goes into the Ocean but my favorite part of this natural system is the head waters.
Here is the link to the document on the Middletown website for a closer look
https://www.middletownnj.org/DocumentCenter/View/2859/Stormwater-Management-Plan?bidId=
Here is a video of where I believe the headwaters of Middletown to be located. Right where Kings Highway meets Route 35, where the old chicken coops and farm stand used to be until recently.
So when water collects here it has to make a choice about which body of water it will join to begin it’s journey to the ocean. Maybe it is rain water, maybe it is a spring.
I hope to be able to locate and mark the head waters in Middletown on a map someday. I think the headwaters have been there since time immemorial and ought to be left pristine because the hydrology of an area depends on which way the water flows from the top. I can be a little fay and I think the headwaters are special, ancient, and we could say “HI!” to them while we drive by on Rt 35.
The water smelled clean too. It was a pleasant spot there in between the divided highway.
Yours Truly, Eliz Pomeroy
Mrs. Pomeroy is a mother to five daughters and a licensed professional planner in the State of New Jersey and a member of the American Institute of Professional Planners.
