Ghost Stories

Photo via Pinterest In Cape May, New Jersey, sits a mansion shrouded in earth tones and the privilege of a warm history. George Allen, a Philadelphia merchant, commissioned a country estate for his family and future descendents in 1863. He chose the location because it was South of the Mason-Dickson line and allowed him to do business with both Confederate and Rebel soldiers during the Civil War. Internationally acclaimed architect Samuel Sloan designed the seaside palace and Henri Phillipi built it. In 1879, the beloved summer home escaped a great fire that swept over Cape May. However, after eighty-three years, it couldn’t escape the neglect an owner could inflict upon it. George Allen’s niece, Ester Mercur passed away in 1946. Her husband, Ulysses sold the house and all of its furnishings for a mere $8,000. The property was bought for the sole purpose of income-producing and soon went in to a transition to be a boarding house. The interior was partitioned to create a multitude...

photo via WeirdNJ.com What elements does a road need to be labeled genuinely creepy? Isolated area? Thick forest on both sides? A dark history? Clinton Road in West Milford, New Jersey certainly would qualify. This ten mile stretch of curves and dips makes you feel like you’re millions of miles from civilization. Clinton Road along with the reservoir and brook received its name from the settlement Clinton, once located where it crosses the brook. The KKK and Satanists have all been known to worship in places near it. The woods next to Clinton Road was also the site of serial killer dumping ground. Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski was a mob hitman who claimed to have murdered over hundreds of people but the one found near Clinton Road led to his 1986 arrest. The legends attached to the road attracts and terrifies all those who attempt to drive on it. In 1905, a writer warned travelers to avoid the road due to reports of banditry and witchcraft. This was one of the earlier reports bu...

Shippen Manor was built between 1760 to 1765 for Dr. William Shippen II and his brother Joseph Shippen II in Oxford, New Jersey. The Shippens family were a wealthy, prominent Philadelphia family. The Manor is Georgian style, constructed with two-foot thick stone walls, and three chimneys. The ground floor consisted of six rooms with two bed chambers and four garret rooms upstairs. Dr. Shippen was a self taught physician and a member of the Continental Congress who had the privilege of attending to Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, George Washington, and Generals Gage, Howe, and Lafayette. William’s son Joseph W. Shippen began managing the property in the early 1760s. He acquired the housekeeping services of Martha Axford. During her “housekeeping” time in the house, the two had seven children. However, no documentation has been found to provide proof of marriage between Joseph and Martha. He died in 1795 without a will. His father moved in the Manor to overseen furnace operations and ...

In Cape May, New Jersey, sits a mansion shrouded in earth tones and the privilege of a warm history. George Allen, a Philadelphia merchant, commissioned a country estate for his family and future descendents in 1863. He chose the location because it was South of the Mason-Dickson line and allowed him to do business with both Confederate and Rebel soldiers during the Civil War. Internationally acclaimed architect Samuel Sloan designed the seaside palace and Henri Phillipi built it. In 1879, the beloved summer home escaped a great fire that swept over Cape May. However, after eighty-three years, it couldn’t escape the neglect an owner could inflict upon it. George Allen’s niece, Ester Mercur passed away in 1946. Her husband, Ulysses sold the house and all of its furnishings for a mere $8,000. The property was bought for the sole purpose of income-producing and soon went in to a transition to be a boarding house. The interior was partitioned to create a multitude of small rooms. The ext...

Absecon Lighthouse, located in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is the 3rd tallest masonry lighthouse in the United States. A structure which extends 171 feet in to the sky and 228 steps to reach the top. In April 1854, the Powhatan wrecked off the coast. Three hundred and eleven passengers and crew were lost. This tragedy was only one of many earning the Absecon Inlet the nick name of “Graveyard Inlet”. In an effort to prevent further wrecks, the U.S. Lighthouse Service commissioned funding from Congress to build a lighthouse on Absecon Island. Designed by Lt. George Meade, the construction began in 1854.  Lt. Meade replaced Major Hartman Bache to oversee the building. He would later go on to command the Union Army at Gettysburg. The first lighting took place on January 15, 1857 with a kerosene flame focused through a huge 36-plate, First-Order Fresnel lens (which it still retains). The final cost was $52,436.62. The white light shone brightly towards the sea. One could spot it 19.6 n...

Lakehurst, New Jersey is not only the site of a naval base but also one of the most well known disasters in the 20th Century. The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, and the largest flying machines of any kind (by dimension) ever built. Named after the former German president Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the airship was built for regular transatlantic passenger operations. Construction began in 1931 and completed five years later. Hindenburg had a Duralumin structure, incorporating 15 Ferris wheel-like bulkheads along its length with 16 cotton gas bags fitted between these. The airship's skin was of cotton doped (plasticised lacquer) with a mixture of reflective materials intended to protect the gas bags within from both ultraviolet and infrared. The upper A Deck contained small passenger quarters in the middle along with large public rooms including a dining room to port, lounge and writing room to starboard. Long slanted win...

I have read and wrote about some of the worst of humanity. The history attached to Jimmy’s Restaurant in Morristown, New Jersey certainly falls in that category. The original building was constructed in 1749 by John Sayre. Generations of his family lived in this house without incident. It has seen its good days including Alexander Hamilton proposing to his beloved Elizabeth in the room later known as the Tap Room. However, the sweet would turn to sour. After about a century of peace, Samuel, his wife Sara and their maid Phoebe were the latest Sayres to inhabit the home in 1833. Samuel hired Antoine Le Blanc, an immigrant sailor from the West Indies, to help around the farm in the house. A simple misunderstand turned to murder. Le Blanc thought he would be supervising a large operation. He spoke very little English, contributing to his mounting frustration. He decided to cut his loses and run away with the money he believed the Sayres were hiding in their home. On May 11, 183...

What elements does a road need to be labeled genuinely creepy? Isolated area? Thick forest on both sides? A dark history? Clinton Road in West Milford, New Jersey certainly would qualify. This ten mile stretch of curves and dips makes you feel like you’re millions of miles from civilization. Clinton Road along with the reservoir and brook received its name from the settlement Clinton, once located where it crosses the brook. The KKK and Satanists have all been known to worship in places near it. The woods next to Clinton Road was also the site of serial killer dumping ground. Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski was a mob hitman who claimed to have murdered over hundreds of people but the one found near Clinton Road led to his 1986 arrest. The legends attached to the road attracts and terrifies all those who attempt to drive on it. In 1905, a writer warned travelers to avoid the road due to reports of banditry and witchcraft. This was one of the earlier reports but certainly not th...

The next location TAPS will be investigating is the Union County Courthouse. However, it is the person who supposedly haunts the building that takes the spotlight. Buried in the nearby First Presbyterian Church cemetery, Hannah Caldwell, the first woman killed in the Revolutionary War, is believed to be still seeking a wrong to be righted. A descendant of the pilgrims, Hannah Ogden married the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, James Caldwell, in 1763. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he, like his ancestors, took a stand against tyranny. As acting chaplain, he joined Colonel Dayton's regimen and accompanied the Jersey brigade to the northern lines. His efforts during the war fighting for American freedom won him the nickname "Fighting Parson" but also may have put his family in danger. As the British neared their Elizabethtown home, James felt they wouldn't dare harm a mother caring for her three younger children. After sending his three older children ...

WARNING: the Sheriff's Office of Essex County do NOT tolerate trespassers. They regularly conduct plainclothes surveillance operations at the hospital. If you trespass, you will get arrested and prosecuted. DON'T DO IT!! It seems like yesterday season five of Ghost Hunters premiered. Now we have reached the mid-season finale. The chosen location is Essex County Mental Hospital. Essex County Mental Hospital once went by the name of Overbrook. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the city of Newark, New Jersey purchased land and built many buildings to house mental patients and facilities. The hospital contained a power house, theater and laundromat. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1917, the hospital reported a boiler failure. Twenty people died, some from freezing to death. Thirty-two others suffered from frostbite. Matters grew worse thanks to the Great Depression. Many institutions, including Overbrook, became overcrowded with the hungry, homeless, and destitute. World War...

Vincent Nostokovich a.k.a. Trapper Nelson was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Standing at six foot four inches tall and weighing at 240 lbs, he was no small man. He was the "Tarzan of the Loxahatchee River" though today could be better described as the Florida version of Steve Irwin. He owned land northwest of the wild Loxahatchee River where he built his camp and zoo. Nelson was very interested in real estate and owned up to 800 acres of land. Tourists including celebrities such as Gary Cooper and Gene Tunney came to see the wild man wrestle alligators. As the years progressed, this flamboyant trapper turned in to a hermit. He was convinced people were trying to take his land away from him and took steps to keep people from getting near his camp. He cut down trees to block the south side of the Loxahatchee River as well as put up gates. The only method he would accept company is by appointment. On July 24th, 1968, Nelson arranged to meet a friend at the John DuBois house. ...

There are various versions of the story about the Jersey Devil. One was that Mrs. Shrouds of Leeds Point, New Jersey made a wish that if she ever had another child, she want it to be a devil and he was born misshapen and deformed. She sheltered him until one day his arms turned into wings and he flew away. Another was that a young woman fell in love with a British soldier during the Revolutionary war. She was eventually cursed by the people of Leeds Point and she gave birth to a devil. Some people believe the birth of the devil was punishment for the mistreatment of a minister by the Leeds folk. Despite how the devil supposedly came into this world, there have been several eyewitnesses how swear they have personally seen the Jersey Devil. In the 19th century, a naval hero Commodore Stephen Decatur accidentally hit a flying creature while testing a canon. Former king of Spain Joseph Bonaparte spotted the creature while hunting. George Saarosy, a prominent business man, saw the devil a...