T-5 >Taming the Trail to Thompson's
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Thompson's Beach. One way in, one way out.
Unless you boat to it, which will knock down the terrain significantly.
Mile+ hike each way. NOT for children or the squeamish
The Delaware bay towns of Moore's Beach, Thompson's Beach and East Point are excellent sites to view the globally significant shore bird migration in the spring. Over 1.5 million birds, some arriving non-stop from South America, congregate to feast on the annual horseshoe crab egg banquet laid out on the sandy beaches of the Bay.
In addition, the Maurice River hosts large numbers of bald eagles, in the winter as many as 16 individuals have been counted in one day.
A walking stick, tide chart, old boots and the pieces of the old road will help you in your voyage.
We Remember The Tidal Flood of 1950
News Covers Great Flood With Exclusive Pictures From Chartered Plane "Not everyone would have flown an airplane during Saturday's storm but the Evening News staff believed that air views would
give the best possible picture to the public of the havoc brought to the Cumberland County bayshore area.
Alan LiCalzi, operator of Greenwich Air Service, agreed to try the job if the News would supply
Original source: The Bridgeton Evening News, ovember 27, 1950. Aerial photos by Greenwich Air Service.
Loaned by Bob Bailey of Columbus, NJ. His family had a place at Thompson's Beach.
the photographer. Dick' Beecroft, a News staff man, and LiCalzl finally were able to get off the ground shortly after 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon and spent an hour being buffeted about over the
salt marsh at dangerously low altitudes getting views of the storm swept area.
The service to the reading public was made possible only by the fine cooperation offered by
Greenwich Air Service and LiCalzi's skillful piloting during a period when photographing the area
would have been impossible with a less experienced aviator."
The date was Saturday, November 25, 1950. The time was 6:00 AM and the location was Bridgeton, New
Jersey (Cumberland County).
It was raining and very windy.
A young man and woman, James Moore and Shirley Robbins (now Bailey), had made plans to go duck
hunting (Shirley was just going along for the ride) and were debating whether to abandon their
plans due to the Inclement weather. "Inclement" would prove to be too mild a term. In reality it
turned into a major killer storm.
The decision finally was made to check out the situation first hand at Hollywood Beach, a boat
rental and crabbing spot where Jimmy kept his boat. The location was on the edge of the marsh at
the head of the Oranoken Creek, between Dividing Creek and Newport, where the tide rises and falls
along with that of the Delaware Bay.
Upon arrival there, they were very surprised to find the access road and the parking lot
completely underwater. The docks also had disappeared beneath an undulating body of water. The
wind was ferocious and boats strained at their moorings. The water had risen beyond the tolerance
allowed for the normal rise and fall of the tide. Many boats were swamped, their presence
acknowledged only by a straining chain or rope. Some of the mooring poles had been snapped in
half.
The pair wisely cancelled their outing. The full force of the storm struck at approximately 8:00
am. When it was over, eight persons from the area were confirmed dead, six more were missing and
damages totalled nearly $3,000,000 (in 1950 dollars).
The following are headlines and stories excerpted from the above cited newspaper:
Thompson's Beach Residents Had Miraculous Escapes From Death In Flood Waters
"Millville, November 27 - Thrills and suffering that will never be forgotten were experienced by a
number of persons caught in the storm that swept the bay over Thompson's Beach Saturday morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Geyer, formerly of West Oaklyn, who have spent three winters at Thompson's
Beach, now resting from a miraculous escape from death at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth
Doabler (Millvllle), spent more than four hours on a floating garage roof and nearly an hour in
the water until they were finally rescued by Rudy Danna, West Landis avenue, and a group of his
friends who had motored to the East Point area earlier in the day to shoot ducks.
Following is Geyer's own story:
"We were In bed when there was a crash and the front door of the house flew open. We both got up
and there was water coming through the open door. We grabbed some clothes and rushed out to the
garage figuring to get in the car and get away. There was a foot of water on the garage floor. We
saw the house crumbling apart. It seemed to break into four pieces. I couldn't get the car started
and the sea was then washing against the garage. I tied a rope around Nancy and then to me. By
that time, the water was hip deep. The roof was torn from the garage as we stood there and as I
looked about I could see nothing but water. We climbed upon the roof which began floating away. It
seemed hours out there in the wind and rain.
Heard Cries For Help "Then the roof broke in two and dumped us into the water.
We grabbed at one of the pieces and held on. We nearly froze but finally we floated within a block
of East Point road and Hanna (sic, Danna?) heard us yelling for help and they came out and got us
and took us to another cottage that had floated near the raod but appeared to be in good shape.
We went in out of the elements and found the folks to be our Thompson Beach neighbors, Steve
Stozyk and wife, of Vineland. My wife had a sweater and coat over her night dress and I had Army
pants, a shirt and an old raincoat that I lost in the water. We were so numb and weak when we got
out of the water we could hardly stand up.' "There was George "Duggie" and wife, Edna Ottinger,
recently of (Millville), who have been living at Thompson's Beach. Another cottage crashed into
their home, knocking it off its foundation and they were adrift. Mr. Ottinger, fearful that they
might be swept out into the bay, carried a supply of canned goods and a quantity of water to the
top floor and there they waited. They watched other homes torn from their beach sites, float by.
They saw parts of cottages as they were blown a mile and a half across the meadow.
Then came the Leesburg firemen in the rescue boat. J.P. Allen broke a window to get inside the
house, stood on chairs to keep out of the water and after Edna Ottinger wrapped herself in a
blanket, she was carried out the door on a lounge. They also rescued the cat.' "Bertha Ford, wife
of Dave Ford, of this city, possibly witnessed more of the storm's wreckage than any other person.
She was alone in their Thompson Beach cottage. Dave had gone to Millville to work. They had a
$5000 home, one and a half story, containing five rooms. She thought the storm was an ordinary
northeaster and was ironing when she saw the bulkhead in front of the Chance home collapse, the
John Lingo's pavilion collapsed and the water was dashing over the pier which began to go to
pieces.
Saw Collapse "I didn't know what to do," said Mrs. Ford. "I went upstairs, then came down. I saw
our garage go. Then William Laubasches' two houses went. Our pet dog, Princess, couldn't
understand
what was happening. I could feel the house rocking and I knew it was moving. I couldn't see
anything but water anywhere I looked.
I saw a piece of the pier floating toward our house and I knew it would smash into us but it
didn't.
The house must have floated a mile and a half and brought up against a tree and soon after that a
boat came along and I got out of the sunporch window into a boat and then into another boat which
took me to East Point road and a car brought me to my uncle's home, Levi Sharp, here in
Heislerville. I do not know the men who took me in their boat." Their home isn't badly damaged and
Dave Ford says he will move it into Heislerville and locate it on a lot given him by Mr. Sharp,
opposite the Sharps' home."
3 Children Died In Parents' Arms at Moore's Beach Victims' Grandfather Tells How Their Cottage Was
Swirled Away and the Families Separated
"Three children of Clarence and Elsie Owen died of exposure Saturday morning in their parents'
arms as the family was adrift on the side of a house for two hours and their fourth child toppled
into the water and her body has not been recovered.
George Owens, 51, who lives at Moore's Beach with his wife, Gertrude, son George 15, and
daughters, Gertrude, 12 and Nancy, 10, said his son, Clarence, came with his family on Friday
night for a week-end visit.
He said he and his wife slept in their store which was about 200 yards from the house. The first
he knew of the flood, he said, was when his son George came to the store and told him about the
rising water.
He gave the following account of the tragic events that followed:
"We got ready to go over to the house but already the water was too deep to make it. George got a
rowboat but we had no oars or oarlocks. We tried to work our way over in the boat but couldn't
make any headway and tied the boat to the store and tried to figure out a way to get over there.
Girl Tries To Swim "We saw the house was starting to fall apart and my oldest daughter, Gertrude,
dove out a window and tried to swim to us. She couldn't make any headway in the swift water and
she grabbed onto a set of wooden steps floating by. We watched her drift into a tree which she
grabbed onto and from which she was rescued a couple of hours later.
"The house kept falling apart and finally one whole side collapsed. Clarence and his wife got all
the children on the side of the house and they started drifting across the meadows.
"Then we cut our boat loose hoping to drift with them. The waters were terribly rough and we saw
Betty Mae topple into the water. It was impossible for anyone to save her.
"It was raining terribly hard and we soon drifted out of sight of the rest of the family on the
side of the house. The three of us in the boat reached dry ground first. We came in at the farm of
John Langley at Delmont after being adrift for two hours. We had drifted three miles.
"Mr. Langley took us into his his home and his family gave us warm food and dry clothing while he,
his son, Linwood, and Bill Lee went out in rowboats to search for the rest of our family.
"They found the raft and brought them in but Clarence, Jr., 2; Jerry, 6, and his step-brother, 6,
had died of exposure in their parents' arms as they came across.
"They also rescued Gertrude from the tree where we had last seen her. She and Nancy and Clarence
and his wife were sent to Millville Hospital. The Langleys deserve a lot of credit for all they
have done for us." he said.
Owens said the water rose two and a half feet in five minutes. He said about 50 houses washed away
from Moore's Beach. The four were released from the hospital yesterday.
Coroner John S. Johnson, of Bridgeton, viewed the bodies of the children at the farm and issued
a certificate of death from exposure.
The victims lived at....Glassboro.
The father is self employed. The children often spent week-ends with their grandparents at the
beach and were well known to residents in the area."
Farmer, 70, Dies In Storm Waters Luke Fogg, of Canton, Drowns When Car Topples Off Undermined Road
"A well-known Canton farmer lost his life Saturday afternoon when the automobile in which he was
riding turned over on a road covered by storm waters. His companion, the driver, was hospitalized
from shock.
The victim was formally identified by Coroner N.S. Newkirk, of Salem, as Luke Fogg, 70, of the
village of Canton. Death was officially ascribed to accidental drowning.
According to Newkirk, Fogg joined a neighbor, Emmor Harris, of Canton, on a trip to look after
livestock. They left home about 3p.m.
The pair was traversing the socalled Long Bridge road when they came to a portion covered by storm
waters.
The car in which they were riding toward the right hand side of the road suddenly toppled over on
its right side.
Rescue Efforts Futile Harris made a futile effort to rescue his companion, but without avail. It
was late afternoon before Fogg's body was recovered. Meanwhile Harris was rushed to Bridgeton
Hospital suffering from shock and exposure.
Property Owners Survey Damage Many Valuable Summer Homes Destroyed at Thompson's Beach
Millville, November 27 - MiIIville residents were the owners of a number of the cottages which
were destroyed or damaged at Thompson's Beach during the Saturday storm.Mr. and Mrs. George Hoffman ....Could find only the top story of their two story, $6000 cottage at
the beach yesterday.
The cottage of Mr. and Mrs.
Leon Bartlett, costing $4000, floated nearly two miles from its foundation, is still intact and
not too badly damaged.
Freeholder Walter Earling's summer home, appraised at $5000, was wrecked and was washed over
against East Point road.
Albert Sahms, a driver employed at Public Service Transportation Service, whose wife is the former
Violet Sisco, of this city, lost two cottages. She and her son Bud were rescued and she was
bedfast until yesterday suffering from exposure and shock.
The Rudy Fauerbach cottage is still standing, although damaged, and so is the house owned by
Raymond Green.
The former Clinton Bowen house, sold to Francis Robbins, Heislerville, is gone. The cottage of
G.S. Leacock, this city, was washed off the piling and damaged' and the house formerly owned by
Ivan Shull is intact, but has floated some distance out on the
meadow, as is the former Allen Cossaboon place.
Herschel Jones, whose cottage was swept by wind and water but is still on its foundations, is one
of the few who insists he would go back on the beach to spend his summers.
The cottage of Mr. and Mrs.
David Ford was swept across the meadows against trees along East Point road. It is still intact.
Lingo Made Investigation John Lingo, Collingswood, who waded through mud and' water to find the
attic of his $5500 summer cottage, said he counted 32 houses scattered about the beach but only
four or five were still on their f.oundation.
He found the beach and meadow covered with cottages, parts of former beach homes, furnishings of
every description. There were electric refrigerators, electric and gas stoves scattered about.
There were lavatory fixtures, kitchen equipment and fixtures, automobiles partly submerged,
bedding, rugs, clothing and the like all over the place, he declared.
J. Penrose Allen, Leesburg building contractor, who said he
built 37 of the 85 cottages on the beach, who composed one of the rescue squads from the
LeesburgDorchester Fire Department, said he found a safe in the meadow.
He declared that for all purposes, Thompson's Beach has been literally wiped off the map.
Death Toll Reaches 8;
Police list 6 Other Persons Missing
The most disastrous flood in the history of Cumberland County which struck shortly after 8 a.m.
Saturday has left a toll of eight persons known dead, six missing and damage expected to total
nearly $3,000,000.
The Dead:
Frank Courtney, 50, Townsend road, RD 1.
Clarence Owens, Jr., 2, of Glassboro.
Jerry Owens, 6, a brother.
Arthur Owens, 6, a step-brother.
George P. Collins, 21, Maurice River.
Mrs. Frank Thompson, 45, South Port Norris. .
Mrs. Josephine Lee, 50, Thompson's Beach.
Bonnie Sue Sutton, 2%, Moore's Beach.
Missing:
Thomas Joseph Sutton, four months, Moore's Beach.
William Westcott, 27, North Laurel street.
Oakford Smith, 55, East Commerce street.
Captain Adolph Klein, (age illegible), Thompson's Beach.
Betty Jane Owens, 10, of Glassboro, sister of three boys listed as dead.
Charles Bumsteder, 65, Moore's Beach.
Fifteen persons were treated for exposure at hospitals, 11 at Millville and four at Bridgeton.
Hundred were treated and given warm dry clothing by residents bordering the flood zone.
State Police said there was little hope that any of those listed as missing survived. They said it
is possible the toll will continue to mount.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)