Live Maps

I sprang for a WordPress plugin that lets me place live maps or satellite imagery in the website. There are three choices:

  • OpenMaps - excellent free street maps
  • GoogleMaps - not quite as good street maps from Google that may not be free
  • GoogleEarth - satellite imagery from Google that may not be free

I say may not be free because Google's terms are complicated and depend on the amount of traffic you get. I'm guessing it will be free, but I can't be sure yet. So far Google has not cost me anything.

The plugin is: WP Google Maps - https://wpgmaps.com

I looked at a bunch of plugins, and this turned out to be the best. In fact, it was one of the few that actually worked, and the only one that offered an alternative to Google. You can make one map with the free version, unlimited maps with the paid version, which starts at $40 for 3 websites. Ironically, this was the first mapping solution I tried, and the rest was a waste of time.

The first live map I made on this site was Old Bridge - South River.

Later I replaced the entire front end of the plugin with my own code.


Delaware & Raritan Canal
( 40.38309, -74.68637 )

  1. D-R Canal - Amwell Rd ( 40.50340, -74.58268 )
  2. D-R Canal - Blackwells Mills ( 40.47550, -74.57220 )
  3. D-R Canal - Griggstown (N) ( 40.43834, -74.61397 )
  4. D-R Canal - Griggstown (S) ( 40.42912, -74.61816 )
  5. D-R Canal - Kingston (N) ( 40.37489, -74.61854 )
  6. D-R Canal - Kingston (S) ( 40.37326, -74.61861 )
  7. D-R Canal - Lawrence (N) ( 40.27450, -74.70332 )
  8. D-R Canal - Lawrence (S) ( 40.26746, -74.71071 )
  9. D-R Canal - Lawrenceville ( 40.30501, -74.68490 )
  10. D-R Canal - Manville ( 40.52861, -74.58178 )
  11. D-R Canal - New Brunswick ( 40.50806, -74.46376 )
  12. D-R Canal - North Trenton ( 40.24901, -74.72865 )
  13. D-R Canal - Plainsboro (E) ( 40.34321, -74.62964 )
  14. D-R Canal - Plainsboro (W) ( 40.34190, -74.63758 )
  15. D-R Canal - Princeton (N) ( 40.33879, -74.64715 )
  16. D-R Canal - Princeton (S) ( 40.33177, -74.65282 )
  17. D-R Canal - Province Line Rd ( 40.30273, -74.68819 )
  18. D-R Canal - Rocky Hill ( 40.39826, -74.62702 )
  19. D-R Canal - Somerset (N) ( 40.54077, -74.51404 )
  20. D-R Canal - Somerset (S) ( 40.52390, -74.49248 )
  21. D-R Canal - South Bound Brook ( 40.55880, -74.53118 )
  22. D-R Canal - Trenton (N) ( 40.23886, -74.74194 )
  23. D-R Canal - Trenton (S) ( 40.18384, -74.74666 )
  24. D-R Canal - West Windsor ( 40.30844, -74.67979 )
  25. D-R Feeder Canal - Bull Island ( 40.41036, -75.03421 )
  26. D-R Feeder Canal - Ewing ( 40.26529, -74.84790 )
  27. D-R Feeder Canal - Lambertville (S) ( 40.34206, -74.94044 )
  28. D-R Feeder Canal - Rt 202 ( 40.37987, -74.95175 )
  29. D-R Feeder Canal - Washington Crossing ( 40.29842, -74.86852 )
  30. D-R Feeder Canal - West Trenton ( 40.24497, -74.81917 )
  31. Lake Carnegie - Plainsboro ( 40.34362, -74.62973 )
  32. Millstone River - Amwell Rd ( 40.50294, -74.58755 )
  33. Millstone River - Blackwells Mills ( 40.47487, -74.57503 )
  34. Millstone River - Griggstown ( 40.43893, -74.61757 )
  35. Millstone River - Kingston ( 40.37419, -74.61962 )
  36. Millstone River - Manville ( 40.53124, -74.58753 )
  37. Millstone River - Plainsboro (N) ( 40.34262, -74.62981 )
  38. Millstone River - Rocky Hill (N) ( 40.39957, -74.62809 )
  39. Millstone River - Rocky Hill (S) ( 40.39969, -74.62867 )
  40. Stony Brook - Princeton ( 40.33219, -74.65340 )

The blue line on the map is the Delaware & Raritan, or D&R, Canal. The canal is a basically 40-mile-long pond. The water flows very slowly from west to east; it is essentially still. Access points generally coincide with bridges or locks.

The thin red line is the "fall line" - the nominal division between uplands and lowlands. It appears the builders of the canal wanted to stay above the fall line for the entire length, and followed the Millstone and Raritan Rivers. The series of dams resulting in a chain of lakes along the Lawrence Brook reveals a shorter alternate route the canal might have taken. These dams were not built until over 100 years later. Perhaps surveying in the 1830s was not good enough to discover this, or perhaps it would not work, but it certainly looks like it should.

Printed from njkayak.net