Get Spooky At This Deserted NJ Village

My coworker Justin Louis at WOBM is always up to date on the latest spooky supernatural stuff. He's a ghost hunter (no, really) and he shared this awesome, creepy, deserted village that is only about an hour away from the Jersey Shore!

The Deserted Village, also known as the Feltville Historic District, is actually a part of the Union County Parks System. Here's what they have to say about the village:

About 1736, Peter Willcocks built a sawmill along the Blue Brook to produce lumber, which would be needed by farmers as they settled this frontier area. The sawmill operation cleared hundreds of acres of forest.

In 1845, David Felt bought 760 acres of land and built a printing factory along the brook. He built an entire town on the bluff above the brook to support the mill operation, and by 1850, 175 people were living in Feltville. After Felt retired in 1860, other business ventures were tried but failed, and the town became deserted for a short time.

But in 1882, Warren Ackerman bought the property and converted the former mill town into a summer resort, called Glenside Park. When the popularity of mountain resorts was displaced by the advent of the Jersey Shore, Glenside Park closed in 1916.

If you ask MyCentralJersey.com, they'll tell you that the village isn't haunted (well, they say "probably isn't"), but that's boring, so let's see what they have to say over at WeirdNJ:

One tale tells of three ghosts living in the house located at the outer fringe of the enclave. The story is said to have originated around 1912, when three young sisters all went camping deep in the woods, but did not return. Locals were only able to find their bonnets, and the fears of the people caused almost half of the residents to move away from the village. Those that remained never let their children go deep in the woods again without supervision.

Alright, we got ghosts! Anything else?

Other rumors about the area involve the stories of Satanists and witch covens that practice their rituals in the dark woods surrounding the Deserted Village.

It was widely rumored that there was a coven of witches that would meet when the moon was full and they would do whatever it is that witches do.

Ghosts and witches and Satanists! Sounds like a perfect Halloween trip!