Lost Destinations in Weird New Jersey

[fluffernutter]

Weird NJ (http://www.weirdnj.com/)

Lost Destinations (http://www.lostdestinations.com/)

This is something that always makes my mind wander. Places pretty much of where people used to congregate and do things. Be it a mall department store, amusement park, pool, home, hospital or asylum in some cases, tunnels, creeks, little unknown caves and just other weird and creepy shit in general.

I have always been amazed at not the prosperous hustle and bustle of town/city life but moreso the ruin. I don't kow what it is but it always takes me back and I try to think about what it may have been like at that place or what lives may have been touched there. The one part in Roger & Me where there is a bunch or pictures of Flint, Michigan today really gets me too. How can towns that were once so rich with culture and life like a Flint or even an Asbury Park just turn to garbage to the point where no one cares. It really is a shame sometimes.

One of the first things I noticed when I was a kid and would always come over to Jersey was how many different buildings were clsoed down and how many things were deserted and it always gave me the chills. I would ask questions and my parents would just give me strange looks. It was mostly along US 202 back in the day but especially since i moved here and have preferrably traveled a lot of the US Routes (US9, US 206, US 22, US 130) on my job I have seen so many places that have shut down and just looks like a calamity of the times or the economy of the area. I especially enjoy department stores and strip malls that have, well, gone to shit becasue of my career in retail.

I stumbled across the Weird NJ magazine a few times over the past few years and was blown away by a lot of the just weird and strange stuff in there. The legends. The deserted mental hospitals. Hell, Asbury Park always made me think back to a time when it was the place to be. I guess the Atlantic City of its day. I got the Weird NJ book which is going to have me busy cause there is just so much stuff in there and I can't wait to read it all.

Anyway...

I haven't got too may stories from back in PA becasue there wasn't really anything weird going on or any legends. Two I can remember:

There was his train tunnel in my hometown of Perkasie where we would always go and smoke our pot and whatever else back in high school. Trains used to run from Philadelphia to the nearby Quakertown and then to Allentown and North of there for years. Arond the late 70's those trains stopped and the odd frieght train goes through every week or so. There was this opening in the top of the tunnel that we had heard a guy had jumped and committed suicide by hanging through there. On the top of the tunnel where you can walk the hole is surrounded by fence so you can't even attempt to get to it.

The other story was about this house in the Dublin/Doylestown area where there used to be occult gatherings back in the 70's. Some guy went nuts and proceeded to drive his car up this ramp and launched himself into the house killing himself and as a result setting the house on fire. It apparently still stands.

I have thought a lot recently about taking drives out and finding stuff like this just to check out and see what the legend is behind all these things. I think it would be cool to experience some of things discussed in the book or on the website. Hell, even to find some new hings that may not even be discussed there.

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Yes, Lamb of God is that good. As the Palces Burn is the metal record of the last 10 years!

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[Snoogans]

yea weird nj is cool. that ewing ave gravity rd is like 10 min away, not even, and it actually works. it pulls you backwards uphill its fucked up

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EAT THAT FUCKIN SQUIRREL BABY!!!!!
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[Snoogans]

and yea, its 78 bucks and 2 points when you get caught

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TallJames is the man

EAT THAT FUCKIN SQUIRREL BABY!!!!!
That song rips off Cut the Mullet
Snoogans 1, Monitor 0

[angrymissy]

its wierd that you posted this, because for the last few months i've been obsessed with looking up information on old abandonded hospitals and buildings. apparently there's a subculture of "urban explorers" who go out and visit these places... I can send you some links if you like.

the reason i became interested in this was because in my old hometown there was this huge abandonded complex in the woods called "bailey's hall" that we used to go explore. it was an old school/hospital for retarded children and it looked like the people who lived/worked there had just up and left one day. it was still full of furniture, brochures and interesting things that children had left there. there was also a giant cage with a chain around it in the basement.

that place burned down in 2000 apparently, but it piqued my interest in urban exploration... weirdnj is a really cool site.

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[grlNIN]

No KKK members live on Whipporwill Road.


Just white-trash.

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[Duke]

there is a story about the town i live in tho it was under wierd news or something and it was something about a 70 year old man naked... at like 1 pm thank god i was in school cuse i live right by that street




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http://www.robanddan.tk

[Death Metal Moe]

There's lots of that shit up here in the sticks.

2 words:

Clinton Road.

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[Duke]

the place that scares me the most in NJ is Newark

;p

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I am making my own radio show on the internet...And i made a site..It has a message board and other cool stuff please join here is the adress

http://www.robanddan.tk

[shellcreatives]

Two words, bus terminal...

A guy walks into a bar. I forgot the punchline, but your mother's a whore...

[Death Metal Moe]

the place that scares me the most in NJ is Newark


HEY! They're people too!

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WITH A BODY OF STONE, AND A MIND LIKE... GENIUSNESS!

[shellcreatives]

the place that scares me the most in NJ is Newark


HEY! They're people too!

I'm not sure... The word "people" does come to mind, but only when attached to other words like "mole" or without possession of coherant thought" or "brain-dead" or "where in hell did you learn to drive... Oh, New Jersey."

A guy walks into a bar. I forgot the punchline, but your mother's a whore...

[fluffernutter]

2 words: Clinton Road


I smell a road trip one of these weekends. I would really like to go and check out Asbury Park and other "dead" shore locations one of these weekends as well.

This whole fascination of mine actually started with my love of the old-school drive-in movie theatre and many MANY diners that I would see all over the place pretty much where ever I would drive in this state and others. It went from existing places to broken down and decrepit places.

A friend and I took a ride across US 30 (Lincoln Highway) West - East through PA one year. There was so much, just...STUFF that I am gonna do that again next summer on my Great Ballpark Tour of the Midwest.

I found a bunch more issues of Weird NJ today and will no doubt be scouring through them for most of the weekend.

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Yes, Lamb of God is that good. As the Palces Burn is the metal record of the last 10 years!

To know about the Giggleloop, is to become part of the Giggleloop

[Steels]

The abandoned "Alexanders" across the highway from the Garden State Plaza always baffled me. The building is in a PRIME real estate position yet was left vacant for about 20 years. Never made sense to me. Speaking of which I happened to LOVE that big ass mural on it's side. They finally did something with it and now there is a HUGE "IKEA" outlet there.

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[Snoogans]

they wanna put the mural on IKEA, the town i mean

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TallJames is the man

EAT THAT FUCKIN SQUIRREL BABY!!!!!
That song rips off Cut the Mullet
Snoogans 1, Monitor 0

This message was edited by Snoogans on 11-15-03 @ 2:57 AM

[Steels]

they wanna put the mural on IKEA, the town i mean


Seriously?

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[reeshy]

Does anybody know if there is something similar for places in NY???? I went scuba diving a few years ago in the Schoharie reservoir with my brother and there is a complete town down there under water!!!! Simply fabulous!!!!!

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[Mike Teacher]

because for the last few months i've been obsessed with looking up information on old abandonded hospitals and buildings. apparently there's a subculture of "urban explorers" who go out and visit these places


Welcome to the Club!
Plenty of history and abandonment in these parts:

http://members.aol.com/miketeachr/hk04

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[sr71blackbird]

I remember when IKEA opened up over here on Long Island, it was like a news event! People waiting outside overnight to check it out when it opened up and shit. I went the first week to check it out, and one other time since then. Im not impressed with it. Mybrother travels in NJ alot and said that theres an aweful lot of convenience stores there, far more than on LI. I dont know if that has something to do with abandoning real estate or not. because with all the smaller competition, a large building cant generate the patronange and eventually becomes an ineffective attraction for customers (no one wants to wait in line). Thers a few dying malls on LI (Sunrise, Mid Island), they are being subplanted by Target, Khols, Walmart and the like. Ive been noticing this other trend where they add a building to the parking lot in some stores. On Route 107, they are adding a huge Target to the Broadway Mall and those little banks, like the one just built Sears parking lot. Other areas, where they dont have the resources to invest in strategic expansion, eventually die off and just become an eyesore as they deteriorate.
When I was growing up there was this drainage area that ran along and under the railroad tracks and it had a marsh on one side and a river that emptied out into the bay and this huge old pipeline that lead out for miles out to this building out in the water that no one ever seemed to know what it was for. Anyway, we use to go walking out on top of this pipe and at times it was ground level, at times 40 feet in the air over chanells, and we'd walk the pipe out to the building and explore it, or just hang out on it at night or whatever. At times the tide would come in and parts of the pipe would get submerged and youd be stuck so you had to be careful how long youd be out on it. I havent gone exploring in years. I cant even remember the last time I walked through a forest path or anything. But, when I was a meter reader once, I was doing this area where you had to go find these meters, and I found this old decrepid house and it looked like it was vacant for years and untouched, with vines growing over it and a rusted out car buried under over growth and the houses windows are all covered over in mold, it was weird. A few houses later someone told me that theres this old lady that lives in the house! When I was reading the meter, I saw zero useage, which means that it wasnt drawing any electric. Weird!
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[KC2OSO]

This is a good Urban Exploration link. (http://e.webring.com/hub?ring=draining)

An ok abandoned New Jersey (http://ww2.abandonednj.com:8081/)

One about New York. (http://www.forgotten-ny.com/)

Asbury Park has always been my favorite. What a mess. It's just a war-zone with 10 million dollar homes a mile away.

Oh, and this one (http://detroityes.com/home.htm) about Detroit which will take you a few hours to get through.

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This message was edited by Fester on 11-15-03 @ 10:06 AM

[DJEvelEd]

In Old Bridge there was an old apple cider factory on Cottrell Rd. & Rt. 516 in the woods. It was 2 HUGE brick buildings with lots of rooms, lofts, and a big wine vat. We put pillows and blankets inside the vat, then we'd close the top hatch and smoke pot. I even got laid in that old wine vat.

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[Crazy Jen]

trenton is scary

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[SatCam]

Does anybody know if there is something similar for places in NY???? I went scuba diving a few years ago in the Schoharie reservoir with my brother and there is a complete town down there under water!!!! Simply fabulous!!!!!

Half of my town was purposly flooded about 100 years ago to create a lake for power. There are still houses under the water, and even a cemetery.

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[Big Jim]

asbuy park is no longer dead, its been saved by the gay....we have wonderful bars / clubs down in that area. Paradise is across the street from the old amusement park and is one of the nicest clubs I have been in down the shore.

I would REALLY love a new sig pic from some creative person out there!!!!

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[Late2party]

http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NYmsg.html

I never checked out anything remotely weird in NJ, but these Nike missile sites were all over the country, including some down by my hometown of Baltimore. I've been to BA-03, the barracks buildings of which by day are a senior citizens' center - but by night the double run of fence around the launchers was something of a reminder that THIS was the country's nuke defense until SALT I.

Climbing down into the silos was kinda cool. We were far from the first ones there, as the graffiti inside the silos (OK, not really silos - magazines, or launchers that stored the maybe nuke-tipped missiles horizontally a little ways underground) showed.

-Wendell

[Johnny4]

I moved to NJ about 2and 1/2 years ago to the Princeton area. I had no idea about all the freaky abandoned shit until recently. I bought the weird NJ book and I thought one of the best stories was the one about Napoleon's brother. Apparently he built a castle near TRenton with about 1700 acres. The interesting part is he built a series of escape tunnels beneath it.

I didn't see anything, I didn't hear anything, I wasn't there and if I was there I was asleep.

[Freakshow]

Oh, and this one (http://detroityes.com/home.htm) about Detroit which will take you a few hours to get through.



Well, there went my work day. That might be the most compelling web site i've ever seen.

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This message was edited by Freakshow on 11-20-03 @ 4:03 PM

[destiny507]

Hi! I'm doing a paper on weird NJ for my journalism class- and everything that you are saying is so interesting for me. I, too, am a native New Jerseyan, and I am wondering if any of you that have posted messages here would be willing to email me about your experiences, why you like Weird NJ- if it gives you any more pride about living in the state, or any musings on exploring weird nj places and why you do that- that would be so great.

Also- if I can quote anything any of you have already posted, please let me know!

My email address is joelle@bu.edu-- let me know as soon as you can!

[Ralphy Ramone]

Angry Missy-some of the buildings are still there.The best part is that it is legal to walk the grounds.It has recently been turned into a nature preserve.This is in contrast to most of the places posted in this thread or WNJ where these "points of interest "are on private property.....happy ghost hunting!

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It's T.V.'s fault I am this way



i've been obsessed with looking up information on old abandonded hospitals and buildings.
http://www.mountainsanatorium.net/default.htm

This message was edited by Ralphy Ramone on 12-5-03 @ 2:20 AM

[The Nature Boy]

bump for fun