Over thirty years ago, the most beautiful & historically rich valley in the northeast was threatened by submersion to make way for a federal dam project. The Delaware Valley impassioned a community with small town manners to stand up and fight back to save their homes, valley, & the last free-flowing river on the east coast, the Delaware River.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area became the bittersweet fruit of this emotional, strenuous and twisted battle. Although the original owners did not regain their homes, the land has been part of the National Park System for over 40 years now, conserved and protected for public recreation. The dam opponents’ tremendous effort stands as one of our Nation’s greatest environmental and civil action success stories. Yet the story is rarely known.
To make way for the dam, families were relocated; farmers were left without fields to farm; generations of continuing valley heritage came to a painful halt. The land had influenced the way of life, a life that was ultimately extinguished with the proposition of the Tocks Island Dam. This beautiful and historic valley now remains frozen in time, haunted by the ghost of dam waters that would have been. It is this same community that stood to save the Delaware Valley that now, in the face of aging time, threatens to pass on leaving their story untold.
Ghostwaters is a registered non-profit project funded by private donations. To contribute online, by credit card, please use the donation button below.
