A federal judge has ruled against two New Jersey couples in a dispute over a blocked road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

The ruling published late Tuesday means Aaron and Mathew Hull will have to remove a fence that blocks part of a road through their property.

Old Mine Road is considered one of the oldest roads in the U.S. and once carried American troops to fight the British in the Revolutionary War. The Hulls and their wives bought their property in 2007 and contended that documents from the late 1980s gave them property rights to the road.

The government sued, claiming it is a public way and should be open.

Through their attorney, the Hulls declined comment on Wednesday.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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