What is a water gap?
The Delaware Water Gap is actually a mile-long breach in the Appalachians, including a tight “S” where the river flows through Kittatinny Ridge.
Of course, the major attraction and dominant feature of this entire region is the Delaware River, which is part of the national Wild and Scenic River system. In addition to its exceptional beauty and clean waters, the Delaware is the only undammed river in the eastern United States.
However, that distinction almost ended in the 1970s. That’s when a series of controversial and convoluted events led to the displacement of thousands of people and the demolition of their homes to construct an ill-conceived dam and reservoir that never happened. This aborted project led to the creation of the 70,000-acre recreation area encompassing former residents’ homes and land.
The story behind Tocks Island Dam
The chain of events began on August 12, 1955, when Hurricane Connie struck the eastern seaboard, drenching the land with five inches of rain within 24 hours. Less than a week later, on August 19, Hurricane Diane slammed the region again with rainstorms that flooded the Delaware. The cumulative impact of both storms produced 12 inches of rain in less than ten days. The resultant floods and destruction claimed 191 lives across the Northeast, including many residents and tourists trapped along the banks of the Delaware River.Soon after this tragedy, the Army Corps of Engineers created a grand plan to prevent floods while generating hydroelectric power. The engineers wanted to dam the Delaware River five miles above the water gap near Tocks Island -- a featureless strip of land in the middle of the Delaware. The Tocks Island Dam was to flood the river valley and create a reservoir the size of Lake Michigan extending 37 miles north to Port Jervis.
Homes were abandoned
During the ensuing years, the Corp. of Engineers forced some 15,000 homeowners from land intended for the project. Many of these residents represented 300 years and 13 generations of history and culture in the Delaware valley. Farms, homes and villages along the river were left abandoned.While this land acquisition process was tragic and disruptive, the Corp. of Engineers fanned the controversy by attempting to rent the former residents’ empty homes. After running a “houses for rent” ad in the Village Voice, waves of hippies and street people surged into the area. They freely occupied all vacant buildings on the Jersey side, then crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania to take over empty structures there.
