NJ Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS)

Introduction

For a general overview of GIS and its principles, see NJ DEP’s Bureau of GIS Frequently Asked Questions page.

What is GIS?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS): “A spatial system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data.” (ESRI, 2023)

GIS is technology for managing geographic data and guiding decisions. It supports collecting map data in a more standardized and accurate manner than the analog systems it replaced. Users can layer this information to gain a better understanding of a place.

What is CRGIS?

Our office developed New Jersey’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information System (CRGIS) to record the location and extent of cultural resources in our statewide inventory. Begun in 1997 through a pilot project in Gloucester and Salem counties, this program has expanded to cover the entire state. We continue to expand the CRGIS database by recording daily updates from project activities and converting our extensive legacy collections.

Achievements

CRGIS milestones
Year(s)	Highlight
2004-2005	USGS Quadrangles scanned and georeferenced
2005	NJ Register listings digitized
2006	Highlands Region resources digitized
2011	Surveyed resources digitizing initiated
2012	Hurricane Sandy windshield survey program
2014	Enterprise Geo-Database Versioning
2018	LUCY webapp launched through ArcGIS Online

CRGIS data layers

We defined the following layers to represent cultural resources in GIS applications:

An overview of CRGIS data layers.
Layer name	Data type	Content
Historic Districts	Polygon	Boundaries of historic districts in the statewide inventory. Historic districts are a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of historic properties united … Historically or aesthetically By plan or physical development.
Historic Properties	Polygon	Boundaries of historic properties in the statewide inventory. These are evaluated individually or as individual components forming a historic district, including: Buildings Structures Objects Sites
Historic Property Features	Point	Locations of features within a historic property that are: CONTRIBUTING: Related to the significance and integrity of the property. NON CONTRIBUTING: Unrelated to the significance and integrity of the property. NOT ASSESSED/UNKNOWN: Status relative to the property is undocumented. These are the features that make up a historic property, including: Buildings Structures Objects Sites
Archaeological Site Grid	Vector grid	Approximately 1/2-mile cells indicating the general location of previously documented Archaeological Districts or Sites in the statewide inventory. We generate this from known locations of precontact-period or historic-period occupation or activity.

Our data layers in action

The CRGIS data layers are shared through DEP’s open data portal. They can be downloaded or imported into other GIS-based viewers, but most visitors will use our own webapp. LUCY is an ArcGIS Online-based web mapping application delivering HPO CRGIS data in an intuitive, browser-based format. The application is designed to function in a variety of web browsers, devices and screen types.

Our current version of LUCY now allows users to look up the following information through our existing CRGIS data layers:

Links for reading digitized survey reports.
Known typology — themes and contexts.

This platform will become a portal to additional cultural resources content as it is developed.

Our public CRGIS layers show archaeological sensitivity through the Archaeological Site Grid. These half-mile cells show the general presence of known archaeological resources.
LUCY 2.0 includes the Historic Districts, Historic Property Features, Historic Properties, and Archaeological Site Grid CRGIS layers. It also allows you to overlay data from other New Jersey government programs and external sources.
Clicking on a point in the map allows you to open a pop-up with details. In this case, clicking on a mapped Historic Properties feature showed a detail pane for that layer. You can also swap to other visible layers, in this case a railroad historic district polygon that overlaps the property.
In LUCY 2.0, our CRGIS layers now show related tables. This allows us to share multiple reports or property typology (theme/context groups) if present. In this sample property, we have one survey report recorded.
LUCY 2.0 records survey report data in a separate table. This makes it easier to find and (if shared online) read associated survey reports for a mapped resource.
After you click on a relate table result, it opens a new details window within the popup. This survey report record shows not only our catalog data, but a link for opening a scan of the survey itself within DEP DataMiner.

Accessing CRGIS data

The CRGIS database is available for public use through any of the following sources:

LUCY Online Map Viewer

Visit LUCY or download the user’s manual.

DEP Resources

NJ-GeoWeb is an online GIS application combining environmental map layers into a single integrated map. DEP also has program-specific maps to assist and educate the public.

NJ Geographic Information Network

The NJ Office of Information Technology (OIT) hosts an open data portal called New Jersey Geographic Information Network (NJGIN) for linking to or downloading GIS data for offline use.

Each of HPO’s GIS layers and associated metadata can be accessed through the NJGIN portal: