Haunted New Jersey
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1.) Burlington County Prison Museum
128 High St., Mt. Holly, NJ
Built in 1811 the building served as a prison for 154 years before shutting down in 1965. Criminals convicted of a capital crime during that time were all sentenced to death by hanging. In the prison yard out back, you can still see remnants of where the gallows once stood. The fact that the overall appearance of the prison has remained unchanged throughout the years is one factor that makes it a prime candidate for a haunting. Other contributing factors are the imprints left behind in the form of writings and drawings on the cell walls, a tape that plays "Sounds of Prison Life" constantly on speakers throughout the prison, and realistic looking mannequins resembling prisoners placed randomly among the three floors. Museum workers report seeing apparitions on the first floor, ghosts "with no legs" floating on a path from the massive front door toward the small backdoor leading into the prison yard. But the most activity takes place on the third floor -- Death Row. Smack in the center of the row of cells sits the gloomiest room, originally designed to hold a death row inmate during his last 24 hours. In 1908 it was turned into a tool of punishment and reinvented as a solitary confinement chamber. Convicted murdered Joel Clough supposedly haunts this dungeon frequently. The cell just to the right of the dungeon has an extremely bad vibe as well. Visitors frequently report intense stomach pain that attacks upon entering the room, but subsides as soon as they leave. You'll know you're in the right room because there is a sketch of a tree on the wall near the window. Perhaps it was drawn by a forlorn prisoner gazing outside at the world beyond and longing for a taste of freedom...
2.) Old Jake Brown Road (NIKE missile base)
Route 9 South, Old Bridge, NJ
At the end of Old Jake Brown Road sits a group of small, one-family houses that were obviously abandoned---in a great hurry. The homes were probably inhabited by employees of NIKE, since a locked fence at the back of the tiny community leads to the old missile base that was deserted in the early 1970's. What no one knows is why the base and it's surrounding homes were deserted so quickly. If you go inside any of the houses, you will find furniture in every room, family photos still in frames and nailed to the walls, trash cans that were never emptied, rotting food in the cupboards, and stacks of newspapers from the 1970's in the attic.
3.) Monmouth Battlefield--Old Tennent Church
448 Tennent Road, Manalapan, NJ
Monmouth Battlefield was the site of the longest battle to be waged during the American Revolution. Supposedly, a young soldier was resting against a large oak tree near a church when a cannonball fired by the British hit him, taking off his entire arm, and starting the battle of Monmouth. On June 28, 1778, after several long, hot hours of battle, the American army emerged victorious. But the casualties were many. The church was quickly converted to a makeshift hospital. Legend has it that there was so much carnage that doctors and nurses were wading around in blood up to their ankles. Saw marks can still be seen on the church pews from where soldiers had limbs amputated (without anesthesia). Making this site doubly interesting is the local legend of an alleged witch who died in the 1600's, an outcast, whose only departing wish was to be buried at the center of the new cemetery up on the hill. Of course, town officials did not honor this wish and buried her instead on the outskirts. However, over time, the cemetery grew larger and larger, extending out in several directions on all sides of the hill. Today, what was once the outskirts of the small graveyard has become the exact center. Visitors frequently catch a scent of ginger or vanilla when they are close to the witch's resting place.
4.) Charlie Brown's Steakhouse
109 Grand Avenue, Hackettstown, NJ
Over 250 years old, this restaurant once served as a hotel and, before that, a brothel. In the 1800's a man hung himself from the enormous tree that still stands out front. His ghost has been captured in photographs of the outside and his voice picked pick up on audio recorders. This place is an absolute hot spot for capturing EVPs (electronic voice phenomenons). Only two of the three floors are open to the public, but if you can make friends with a waitress, hostess or manager, they'll be glad to show you the third floor if you sign a waiver saying you will not hold them liable for any injury that may occur since the third floor is the most active but is also in a state of disrepair. Supposedly a woman who frequented the building when it was a brothel used to rent the room at the end of the wing, the only one with it's own bathroom. She used to bring her toddler son with her to "work" and lock him in the bathroom while she entertained her guests. Because the walls were so thin, other guests could hear the child crying out for his mother from behind the bathroom door. The story here gets hazy, but either the woman had just gotten out of the bath when a client showed up and she had no time to drain the water and her son drowned in the bathtub or, bereft with grief over the twist her life had taken, she committed suicide by drowning her son and then drowning herself. This section of the third floor is CREEPY. Intense stomach pains hit virtually anyone who passes through there, and cold spots are often felt. The little boy is said to roam the third floor, still seeking his mother. My own mother and I were investigating this room when we picked up an EVP of a child's voice saying "Mommy". Further down the hall there have been sightings of a man in a hat roaming near the exit sign.
5.) Rose Hill Cemetery
Ravine Drive, Matawan, NJ
Go for the three hundred year old masoleums, stay for the intriguing headstones and the almost-certainty of EVPs. But leave before it gets dark, because that's when the bats come out, and they are not afraid to divebomb your head. There's no crazy legend or local tale behind this cemetery, founded during the Revolutionary War. For some reason it is just ripe with paranormal activity. Winding roads and a hilly terrain make it great for exploring, and it seems to interact very well with devices such as divining rods (used in dowsing, a divination that detects the presence of electromagnetic fields aka spiritual presences) and pendulums (essentially a weight on the end of a string that also reacts to electromagnetic presences; can also be asked questions and commanded to swing in a straight line for yes, swing in a circle for no). When my mother and I visited Rose Hill, she had a pendulum with her and I suggested that she swing it over a particular grave and ask those resting there a question. Later, upon playback of the audio recorder we had with us at the time, we discovered that we had picked up a voice saying insistently, "No, no, no!" right after I asked my mom to hold the pendulum over the grave.
Relevant Links
- Blue Moon Ghost Hunters
Click here and scroll down to the bottom to hear the EVPs discussed in this hub ("Mommy" and "No, no, no!")
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Comments
Hi Rose, wow, thanks so much for linking to me from your page! I really appreciate it, and thanks again for the compliment, I'm glad I could share :)
im trying to start a group. I live in toms river new jersey. I wanted to ask how you get permision from all the places you investigate. and also can you recomend a place that would be a simple place to start for a new group thank you
Hey Ryan, thanks for the comment. I'm actually not too far from where you live, about 30 minutes. Anyway, the reason we do most of our ghost hunting at cemetaries is because they are usually city-owned and open to the public. As long as you go between normal visiting hours (usually it's posted that they're open form sunrise to sunset) you aren't doing anything wrong and don't need special permission--just like everyday people don't need special permission to visit their loved ones graves.
If you're looking for places indoors to investigate, your best bet is historial buildings. The Burlington County Prison Museum (pictured above) and Eastern State Penetentiary in Philly, for example, are notoriously haunted and they profit off this by letting ghost hunters come in to visit during any normal operating hours. If you're looking for a special late-night investigation, both places offer special deals specifically for ghost hunting groups, you'd just have to give them a call. We don't get into all that, we just go during the day and always see excellent results.
Once in a while we attend the NJGHS annual conferences, which usually involve a ghost hunt to some old, notorious building, but there's so many people there that it makes picking up EVPs insanely difficult.
I'd say just start out at a cemetary, the older the better, and it seems to help if the cemetary has like a school or a church or some other type of building located on the property. Let me know how it goes! becauseilive@hotmail.com
I live right next too the old tennet church and my moms friend's brother in law runs the cemetary and if you wanna investagate all the stuff at night what i do alot it is very fun email me if you want to investagate
Awesome hub!
I keep telling people that ideas for low budget horror films are everywhere, and in my book, I talk about finding all of the local legends and hot spots for dead activity as a source of inspiration and cool b roll shots.
This hub plays right into that. What a great bunch of creepy spook filled places, just waiting to pass out chills.
Great hub!
Very interesting content here! I'd love to check out Rose Hill or Tennent Church. Never been ghost hunting before. Also know of a few places near Manasquan that have supposed paranormal activity
The Burlington County Prison will be the subject of a Ghosthunter's investigation on The Sci Fi Network, to be shown on March 12th, 2008. Undoubtedly it will be in reruns, too. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. It's obviously a spooky place with a strong history. The fact that it has been undisturbed can only lend to the ambiance. The NIKE site sounds extremely interesting, too. Other sites state that the abandoned houses are still the exact same as they were left in the 70's, complete with newspapers and 70's decor, which was abandoned in a hurry.
Pretty cool,But i can attest i live very close,very close to the tennant cemetary....They are all dead and dont make a peep...trust me on this one i lived here for over 7 years and been out back late nights day time holloween storms etc.etc never seen anything..yet anyway..
Just wanted people to check out Shadows Paranormal website. We have done some cool places and are doing more in the future.
shadowsparanormalresearch.com By the way April 12th we are in Burlington county Prison
ya da guy who said cemetery quiet go into the cemetarty at night for 10min by urlsef.... nd neway neone no any good places by Monroe NJ middlesex county? i no dis cemetery in East Brunswic i got and extreeeeemely freak evp on it.
me and ma frined put down a tape recorder near a tree and left it for 2hrs came back at 2am picked it up when we were leaving we heard a really freak noise next to our ears and we ran.When i piked da recoreder record was on and buttonw aas pushed in lite was on and den we put stop. When we got home the tapes says 10sec after we put it down "Let's step on this" after that whole tape is blank. Every time i hear it i feel chills and i can picture exactly what the kid looks like it s reallllly freaky.
im looking for more people to go on ghost hunts with, i have a site with pics and videoswww.myspace.com/njweirdwatch
I'd like to find out about a cemetary in Carlstadt, New Jersey.
The Berry Town Cemetary on 7th st.
I was told there are 3 witches buried there. Do you know anything about this OR possibly direct me to a site with further information?
Thank you.
VLW
is is cool
I'm in somers point, new jersy and I am currently interested in locating a haunted, house, mansion or grounds. Anywhere in Somers point, ocean city, marmora, or any place near that would be perfect I am trying to find a place where I can stay the night and hopefully have some paranoraml experiences. Thank you.
I live around the block from berry cemetery. There are witches there and you can only see the engraving on the tomb stones in the moonlight.
I used to live on the 3rd floor of "Charlie Brown's Steak House". It was called "The Clarendon" back then in the 70's. I had the room with the bathroom. I waitressed there. Another waitress and the dishwasher lived up there and so did the manager and his girlfriend. Although I never saw or heard anything ghostly, I promise you, a lot of "Unearthly" happenings took place up there !!!!! :) :) ):
I used to work in Hackettstown and eat at the Claredon/Charlie Browns all the time. I now live just a few miles form there and have heard the storys of ghostly goings on. It's good to hear that things haven't changed.
I've been to the Berry Town cemetary before. It's pretty cool. Although I never found the gravestone with the witches, all my photos come up with crazy amounts of orbs and stuff. Also at one point I felt like someone was pinching me. It was weird. What area of the cemetary is it in? If you're going down Wood-Ridge St. or whatever it turns to away from Wood-Ridge and more into Carlstadt, what area?
Ohha, wowee! I never "new" new jersey had this to show meh! I was born there but I moved, but reading this makes me wanna go back! Thanks becauseilive, this is a wonderful article and I can't wait to see more of your work! Byesies!
To: James
I live close to Manasquan. Where is there paranormal activity??
Thanks
trying to start a group out of cent new jersey if anyones intrested please leave a comment here i am only a ammature
Hi I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good places i can check out up in Northern New Jersey Sussex/Morris county area?
a good place may be in Atco. NJ. look it up in google for more info. i heard its pretty good and works !
Creepy! I walked by that old jail one day (on the other side of the street) but I was afraid to go in! I'll definitely have to check out some of those places.
I just love haunted places but yet I've never been to one. Go figure!
Hey..went searching for the abandoned veterans village near ancora psych. hospital tonight--wandered around the woods for a while and no luck. Most sites say they've all been torn down but I couldn't even find foundations or clearings or anything. Anyone have any info?? Anyone in this area know of any other places to check out?
You FOOLS! There are no ghosts! Sure, there are really cool, spooky places in N.J. but none of them are truly "haunted". Not such a long time ago, people used to think volcanos and earthquakes were wraths of angry gods. Later on we figured out plate-techtonics -oh, no otherworldly powers just magma moving around in the earth. What people think are "ghosts" or "EVP's" are just odd acts of nature that we haven't figured out yet. Basically, what we NOW think is the SUPERNATURAL will eventually be explained as the NATURAL world. And there's plenty of that man still has yet to understand...
I found myself reading your hub from top to bottom. I'm into real estate and somehow I find myself lucky that I have not been involved with property that event hints at hauntings. Good hub.
I am involved in houses for auction and I've never heard that and if any of them were or are haunted. Still, interesting hub you have here.
i live in Lanoka harbor and my house is haunted! I was going to join a ghost hunting group in brick new jersey but just didn't have the time!They meet once a year at a restaraunt and do a slide show of their hauntings for the year. I went to the restaraunt and saw it that's how i know.
Am surprised not to see the Spy House listed here. In Port Monmouth, cited as one of the top three haunted locations in the US by US News and World Report.
i live around the block from the berry cemeterey on 7th street , and i would like to noe if anybody noes what the tombstone looks like of the 3 witches. if anybody noes email me! ImEMOsoDEALwitIT@aim.com
I live in Barnegat, NJ near the Quaker Meeting house. They have their own cemetary. Does anyone know if there are any haunded places in Barnegat or about that cemetary. Are there any hauntings from KKK activity? I heard back in the day KKK was active in and around this area. Creepy
Hey Chickenlady, You wanted to know a place about KKK Hauntings and the most strangest place to go, Its Wippawill Road(hope its spelled right) in Middletown,N.J, but there is some crazy things that happens their at night their is a trail also that brings you to a very old cabin with peoples names carved in, and next to that is Cooper, another be careful tho,
Hey Dave, thanks for the info. I am not into KKK, but I heard my town, back in the day, was very involved. You spelled Middletown correctly. The info sounds interesting, but I doubt any of my friends would go with me on some trail. Maybe I'll get someone to go with me during the day if it isn't posted property. I'm not into breaking laws.
http://www.stuofdoom.com/winslow.html
this place is really cool..this guy has a whole bunch of stuff to check out. but dont try getting out of your car and exploring the abandoned trains, they will call the cops on you!!!
Yo check out Green cemetary I`ve had experances there!! While your in the area check out a house by J.M.Library same street take dead end (last house on rt.)civil war era 1600`s i knew the owners,tunnels,cells in basement COOL house
Hey Rob from Depford, where is Green cemetary?
Rose Myst says:
2 years ago
Your articles here have very valuable information and I am very grateful to you for sharing them. I hope you don't mind, but I've linked to a couple of your articles in my blog's newest entry "Ghost Hunting For Newbies", located here: http://rosemyst72.bravejournal.com/entry/25254
Once again, thanks for sharing the info. I'm from South Jersey so this article was of particular interest to me. :-)