This area of the trail is located in an access easement that was acquired in 1986 as part
of a minor subdivision. An easement is a piece of land where someone other than the owner
has specific rights. In this case, the Township and the public have the right to have a
trail on privately owned land.
Easement deeds and property deeds are filed in the County Clerk’s office and are
available to the public. Deeds are filed in books with numbered pages. This particular
deed is in book 1583 pages 338 to 340. There are indexes for these books listed in
chronological order under the names of the grantor and grantee of the deed. The grantor is
the party giving, or granting, the deed to the grantee.
Ease into Easements!
Some of the land that comprises the Middle Brook trail passes over easements.
Easements are agreements that allow specific rights, in this case access, to someone other
than the landowner. Easement deeds are filed in the County Clerk’s office, where they
list the grantor or giver of the easement, and the grantee. The developer of a particular
subdivision grants easements as part of the agreement to build. Developers may also
dedicate land as part of a cluster subdivision. Middle Brook trail contains a total of 165
acres that were dedicated in this manner, or donated. The township also purchased six lots
totaling 50 acres.
Peter Mitchell – Also in this area Peter Mitchell of Troop 83
(Somerville) made repairs correcting damage caused by Hurricane Floyd. The repairs
included removing a section of Andrew’s boardwalk from the brook, resetting another
section, and installing stone sections of trail in muddy areas. The work was completed in
November 2001.
Sit Under the Apple Tree – The two stones under the apple tree are a
good spot to sit or tie a shoe, but it doesn’t seem to fit in does it? This tree may
have been planted when the surrounding area was still fields. Fruit trees require more
care; maybe a little pruning will restore it.
In this 1964 photo the area with the apple tree is in the lower right corner.
