Mr local history ghost tales and urban legends central new jersey
Urban Legends, Ghosts, Murder, Nuns gone insane, the Devil and other horror stories we’ve dug up from Central New Jersey’s past. May be urban legends, but they’re OUR stories!
When the leaves start turning and the nights get cooler, ghost tales and horror stories take over the autumn campfires. While volunteering with some friends, a list was gathered and presented during several walking tours organized in Basking Ridge, as well as for a haunted fright night at the local Ross Farm. There are great ghost stories all around central New Jersey. Are they true? Well, history has a way of validating some, and other times they just become great campfire stories. Enjoy.
The Devil Tree of Liberty Corner (Somerset County) Urban Legend 1 Devil Tree – The Tree and the Caretaker Me and my friends were all contemplating going up to the devil tree. I had been up there one time before,…
Liberty Corner’s Most Famous Resident? In a quiet little rural village in New Jersey that’s known more for Memorial Day parades and quiet strolls up and down Church Street, there’s this little secret about a man who became a cartoon…
Tucked below the Hills on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Liberty Corner section of Bernards Township, New Jersey, sits a turreted French Norman-style castle known to locals as Pharelock Castle. Very few locals remember the sad story about the Mayor’s…
Weird New Jersey magazine launched an all-out attack with urban legends about what went terribly wrong inside the Blairsden Estate in Peapack, New Jersey. This article was originally posted on another site back in 2007. We thought it was time…
Listen in as we welcome award-winning journalist and Walking Dead actor Matt Ryan, along with filmmaker Will Cook, as they share the creation of their film HAUNTED ROOTS, “The Haunt of New Jersey’s Devil Tree and a farmhouse.” Residents…
Mysterious death, lights in the woods at night, strange chemical smells in the air, paranormal activity, and a YouTuber’s missing persons report continue to plague what is felt to be strange paranormal activity at the former Hofheimer woods, grotto, and…
The phrase “cold as balls” reportedly comes from the contraction of metal on ship’s cannons, causing the iron balls to fall. The expression “cold as a witch’s tit” originated from the belief that witches, portrayed as cold-blooded in the 1600s,…
👻 The 3rd Floor “Spirit of the Astor Estate” in Basking Ridge. A spirit has haunted owners and workers wandering the third floor causing ghostly havoc at times.Reported by a number of Bernards Township Employees at the Astor Estate. Bernards…
on Mischief Night, Cabbage Night, Goosey Night, or whatever you call it – October 30th – RE-LIVE the WAR OF THE WORLDS. GO LISTEN WITH YOUR FAMILY The date was October 30, 1938, and Jerseyans tuned in to a radio…
Believe it or not, the dead are alive in central New Jersey, especially in northern Somerset County. The question is not whether they are real or not, but rather whether they are disturbing or friendly. As we share, the Mr.…
Devil’s Tomb & Jacob’s Ladder –Look what happened when Weird NJ Issue #12 came out. A place that sits quietly in obscurity for hundreds of years comes to an abrupt end when overzealous devil seekers search to find the devil…
Believe it or not, the dead are alive in central New Jersey, especially in northern Somerset County. The question is not whether they are real or not, but whether they are disturbing or friendly. As we share, the Mr. Local…
To expand on an earlier post: The PLOT THICKENS… there’s a 2nd Jacob’s Ladder! So I kept digging about Jacob’s Ladder. Not that I wanted to, but the internet has its way of bringing information right to my doorstep. It…
Rumor has it that one of the most haunted places in New Jersey is the Devil’s Tree in Bernards Township, NJ. It all started with a farmer taking his own life by hanging himself from one of the tree branches, after killing his entire family. Following this disturbing event, there were numerous reported suicides and murders that took place around the tree. The tree still stands today, despite many attempts to cut or burn it down. Those who have tried to kill the evil tree are said to be cursed. The tree once had a branch that grew parallel to the ground; it has since been cut off. This was where the hangings took place. There are now large numbers of comments and stories that people have shared about their experiences visiting or touching the tree, most of which end in unfortunate events.
The KKK in the Somerset Hills area runs the gamut on hearsay and innuendo. The most prevalent topics seem to be about Klan hangings. There have been numerous statements that, at ritual gatherings, individuals were hanged at various sites. One rumor is about hangings at the infamous Devil Tree in Liberty Corner. No records, photos, or news stories have ever identified a hanging in the 1900s in the area. There have been statements published about military hangings on the Bernardsville/Basking Ridge border during the Revolutionary War.
Long before the 1990 cult classic film Jacob’s Ladder was released, there was the Jacob’s Ladder tale in Peapack. The term “Jacob’s Ladder” has popped up in a few interesting places. Is it just a coincidence that Jacob’s Ladder is written in the Book of Genesis 28:12 and also in Weird NJ issue #12…I don’t think it’s coincidental!
There’s definitely alarm triggers out there around the waterfall on the Ravine Lake “rear entrance up the hillside. So why all the excitement with this place? The one time I tried to do it with my daughter, it took a whopping 2 minutes for the local police to be right behind me, threatening to arrest me if I didn’t get off the land. (Geeze, I thought I was safe with my four-year-old with me- no dice).
I do love the stories that come with the history and of the Blairsden estate. Anything from Sisters that devil worshiped and killed the orphans that were living in the house, to gardeners that went wild and killed the nuns, then the kids (poor kids always get the bad end of the stick).
Another story that locals tell is the story of a Mother Superior driven mad by an undefined ancient evil force residing somewhere in the area. After she murdered everyone at the commune, those who fled escaped to the harsh winter New Jersey environment around the lake. She disappeared into the woods never to be seen again. Others say she eventually found her way back to the mansion, although she was somehow different, changed by the force she had contacted and forever now living in the deeply furrowed veil between the real and the unreal. They blame the Devil’s Tomb.
Bernardsville Library used to be located on 2 Morristown Road in Bernardsville, NJ. The house was built in 1710 and originally served as a tavern before becoming a farmhouse. Eventually, it became the library for this little hamlet and was known and loved as such for many years.
A tavern patron and military officer, Dr. Byram, fell in love with Phyllis Parker, the owner’s daughter, and the two were engaged. In January 1777, General Anthony Wayne and his staff stopped at the inn for a night of relaxation. While there, the General’s courier pouch containing vital secret documents was stolen. Byram had gone missing. The doctor, who seemed to have been a spy, was later captured and hanged for treason. His body was put in a box, brought back to the tavern, and stashed in the downstairs room we were now looking into, supposedly so Mr. Parker could gently break news of the death to Phyllis. But Phyllis found the box before he could do so, and she got an unpleasant surprise that understandably led to a nervous breakdown. She never recovered and became a recluse, eventually dying at that location.
There is no record of her life after this point, or of her death, but it is believed that the ghost of Phyllis Parker returns to the site of this tragic occurrence on cold winter nights to replay the drama for new and unsuspecting audiences.”
Almost 100 years later, the noises started again with the sounds of wooden panels being ripped, pounded, and torn apart. The baby, in an upstairs bedroom, screamed in fright. The mother bolted from the sewing room and ran upstairs. She grabbed her child and latched the bedroom door as the terrible cry of a woman’s incomprehensible grief erupted from the kitchen, echoing into the night. The scream gave way to a series of mournful sobs that slowly faded away into silence. A later search revealed that the house was locked, empty, and undisturbed.”
She’s been rumored to haunt the building ever since, and has been seen and heard crying by different people over time. The library even issued her a library card.
I laugh when I bring my kids by “The Devil’s Tomb” and they all point like they know something that no one else does, and they giggle. They snicker right up until the point when I pull the car over and say, “wanna get out and go touch it?” Then their faces change immediately, and they all say with a quiet whimper, “No Thanks”. That’s the best part!!! But they are learning their history, and I do believe that stories like this do deserve a place in history. While it’s great for blogs, hence the reason for writing, it’s not too good for the local historical societies, which tend to frown upon such stories.
Listen as local resident Hank Barre tells a memorable tale of the wandering mother in Basking Ridge.
