New Member, wants to say Hi and share some recent travels.

[vivalamexico]

Hi folks!
My name is Alex I live in medford. Ive been outdoorsy all my life growing up in the woods around the brandywine. Ive lived in medfrod for about 12 years now and I am just getting into exploring the vast mysteries of the pinelands. Me and a few other cohorts took a trip on the weekend of Sept 10. We traveled to Atsion to have a look at that abandoned and boarded up building at the beginning quaker bridge road. We got there around 2:30 or so in the AM armed with a maglite, a mining helmet, and a video camera. One of the plywood boards used to board the windows had been previously dislodged, probably from drunken idiots who would rather destroy the place then look at it with any real merit. We climbed inside and I got video of the entire building and even climed an old closet/amoire thing to get video of the attic. Most spooky in there, and the stars were out in full effect shining through the holes in the roof. From there we went to Apple pie hill, the skies were so clear I got video of atlantic city from the tower in pitch blackness! Finally we headed to Caranza memorial in the hunt for some of the ruins out that way. At this time it was about 3:15 in the AM, we found Caranza memorial and then decided to walk the dirt road into the pines directly across the street from the memorial. We noticed several things here, the lack of underbrush being most apparent. The entire floor is moss, very spongy moss indeed. Then we noticed a majority of the trees in the area had their branches broken off at the trunk from floor level to about 8 feet up. 3 inch thick branches just snapped off, strange. There were strange drag marks in the moss too, and spookiest of all it was dead silent. No sound at all, no crickets, no wind, no nothing. I know a lot of you have been out to see the emorial, but go at night sometime and just hold your breath and stand there, a lot of people Ive talked to say its strange how deathly quiet it is there. I finally got home at 4 or so in the morning, fun was had by all, I have plans on canoeing to the Ace campgrounds If I can find out where it is exactly. Thanks for bothering to read my post, I really enjoy all the information on this site, its spooky and exciting at the same time. hope to hear from you all. cheers.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Hi, thanks for the post. The building at the beginning of QB Road is the old Atsion School. You're braver than I am - I don't know if I would risk going inside. That building is pretty old and rotted out. I would imagine it would be easy to get hurt in there.

I dunno about the woods near Carranza. Maybe the lack of underbrush was due to forest thinning? Where is JeffD when you need him...?

As for Ace, just paddle down the Nescohague and you'll go right past it. Very interesting place.

 

[Boyd]

Hi Alex, I'm also in Medford. There are campgrounds across the street from the Carranza Memorial (eg: opposite side of Carranza Rd). Maybe campers have gradually chopped off the lower branches for firewood? Or maybe the forest service did it? Or even the juvenile delinquents from the boot camp down the road? :wink:

 

[jokerman]

I really wish these Parks would do something to maintain the little that's left. I know they upkeep the mansion, but the scholl is probably older and all it needs is a new roof. Despite its vulnerable location and its age, it's in decent shape, at least salvageable. Same thing at Weymouth...one (1) bulding left and the last time I was there, it had partially collapsed. You could see the house was bulging with the contents of its last resident. All these people have to do is put a new roof on and that would do a lot. Again, it's dangerous in some of these structures and scaling into them probably lends at least a little bit of damage. Glad you're enjoyng the Pinelands nightlife.

BTW, my Mother said she hung a right onto a sand road between the Hedger House and Route 72 (west of Hedger House) and saw an area that must have been hit by a small cyclone. She said the trees were ripped out of the ground and twisted together like a tornado would do. Has anyone witnessed this area?

 

[vivalamexico]

Mayhaps that kind of strong wind and the lack of underbrush in the area cause that sort of twisted breakage we witnessed across from caranza that night. Yeah, now that I think about it the building did have a ver y "schoolesque" feel inside. The armoir thing I climbed looked a lot like a closet to hang jackets and knapsacks. If I can find my video capture device Ill see if I cant upload a quick clip of us indide of it, not really much to see but fun time nonetheless. Tonight I think we are heading out towards the pioneer smelting corp and associated sex plant. Cheers.

 

[Teegate]

BTW, my Mother said she hung a right onto a sand road between the Hedger House and Route 72 (west of Hedger House) and saw an area that must have been hit by a small cyclone. She said the trees were ripped out of the ground and twisted together like a tornado would do. Has anyone witnessed this area?

I took that road to the east from Hedger House two weekends ago to get a GPS coordinate on the cell towers there. I did not see anything. I did not go west.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=12&x=673&y=5515&z=18&w=1

It may have been from a few months back when the State Colony area had the wind problems. I noticed it took some trees down across 72 near the Lebanon tower also.

Guy

 

[Teegate]

Tonight I think we are heading out towards the pioneer smelting corp and associated sex plant. Cheers.

There is nothing left at Pioneer Smelting except the water tower.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/teegate/8282004/IMG_4114.jpg

Guy

 

[Boyd]

Yep, I'm sure those downed trees were the result of a tornado that passed through the area and damaged the Developmental Center as you say. I also noticed a bunch of downed trees on the paved road that runs from the Lebanon State Forest office to the Pakim Pond Rd (parallel to Rt 72). I assumed they were the result of the storm as well.

 

[vivalamexico]

Yeah I figured pioneer smelting was downed but itll be nice to go see where it stood and all. Do they still patrol the area heavily? Its not worth getting busted for looking at a water tower. Thanks for all the insight guys..and uh..Guy. heh heh. Also, do you guys have a "creepiest place visited"? I like being kind of creeped out, which ties in with my fascination with old ruins and abandoned buildings. Thanks again guys.

 

[jokerman]

If you wanna' be creeped out go to Camden at night! To me none of it is creepy but I get more of a feeling of loss combined with the sweetness of the mystery and history of the areas. I generally get worried when people are looking for scary places since when they are let down with it all, they will sometimes resort to other thrills, which are sometimes destructive. You are hopefully above all that and will instill that attitude to all others with you. Breaking into historic buildings is not a good activity...although I have done the same thing on occasion. Anyway, enough lecturing, I think the Pasadena Factory ruins may be creepy at night. Lastly, I would recommend doing the exploring by daylight since you will probably discover more..and be safer, but I understand if it is the creepiness you are seeking, you may be more succesful at night. Maybe you'll observe something that I, by day, have not experienced.

Boyd,
She said the Park Ranger Station was on the road she took.

 

[Boyd]

The place I'm talking about is right around the center of this terraserver page: http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=11&x=1341&y=11040&z=18&w=2, somewhere near the red X on this map: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=1...50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

You can see a lot of trees that have recently been chopped up with a chainsaw there. A few weeks ago they were just broken and uprooted trees laying on either side of the road.

I saw something like this near our land in upstate NY once. We had a huge storm and you could hear trees cracking and falling out in the woods. The next day I took a walk and there were a few isolated sections where virtually every tree was snapped off and scattered like toothpicks. Strange, it was very localized. But I know tornados can do that. I think they also like to call some of these "micro-bursts".

My Grandmother used to live in the town of Marion in Southern Illinois. This is really "tornado alley". Maybe 20 years ago the better part of the town got wiped out. She and her friends from church were huddled around a flashlight in the corner of her basement praying as they listened to the town being destroyed (she had one of the few houses with a basement). You could see how the tornado skipped down the street, destroying one house and leaving the one next door untouched.

Her house survived but the windows were blown in and glass shards shot through everything. They had to replace all the furniture and even drywall because of the little glass splinters embedded in everything. Scary stuff!

 

[Pacifist]

Hey all. The name's Jesse and I'm a friend of Alex's(Vivalamexico). Not sure if he's going to post about last night's adventures(9-13-2004) but I'll go ahead anyways.

We started off Going down Carenza road in search for the ol' Paper Mill but found our way to the Friendship area with the ruined brick walls as found here.

After a bit of exploring in that area we headed to the sex plant. Found that with relative ease, snooped around a bit and left.

From there we went to Purgatory House. This one was particularly tricky 'cause it was right next to Rt. 70. We first tried trodging through the field but were met by a wall of brush that we really didn't feel like wading through. We did, however, get attacked by massive amounts of mosquitos. We walked back to our car a little upset that we didn't find the house, so our buddy Tim took off into the driveway that had the "Area is under constant surveillance" sign on the gate. He was definately a brave one to go off into the woods by himself while Alex and I waited at the car. After about 10 minutes Tim came back to tell us that he had found the house and it was definately worth the mosquitos to check out, which it was. The porch seemed way too unstable to walk on so we didn't go in the house, but it was still an interesting sight. I believe we're going to make plans to go back that way at some point.

 

[Boyd]

There was an interesting article a few months ago in the Medford Central Record about Purgatory House. Should have saved it but I didn't and they don't seem to have that stuff available online.

Anyway, it said the property was recently bought by the family which has built that HUGE mansion on New Freedom Road (near Sandtown). I can't remember their name, but this house rivals the mansion in Citizen Kane! Evidently they moved here from Cherry Hill (I think) and the guy had some sort of business success story (with software perhaps)?

The main thrust of the article was that local residents were concerned because this guy is buying up large quantities of land in the area. But he claims it's only for his family's enjoyment and a desire to preserve open space. The article also had a little background on Purgatory House. I imagine you could find it if you went to the Medford library and looked through old issues of the Central Record, I'd say the article appeared sometime in the late Winter or Spring of 2004...

 

[vivalamexico]

Yeah the pugatory house was most creepy, it just looms out of the dark. You really cannot see the house from any other angle besides walking down the driveway. There is definatley much history in that area, and I would love to go back to check out the inside. The only problem at this point is structural stability, it is really moist out there and the mosquitos were halfway inbetween a dragonfly and an albatross. Jokerman, all the people I go exploring with are extremely respectful of not only the wilderness but the ruins, and structures found within. We really just like to creep around in the woods at night and would never vandalize, defile, or mar any structure especially historical ones. You should try it at night it brings some new elements into exploring because it really forces you to look for things (like new underwear) heh heh, kidding.

 

[BEHR655]

Anyway, it said the property was recently bought by the family which has built that HUGE mansion on New Freedom Road (near Sandtown). I can't remember their name, but this house rivals the mansion in Citizen Kane! Evidently they moved here from Cherry Hill (I think) and the guy had some sort of business success story (with software perhaps)?

I have also heard that the owner of that mansion is Alan Iverson.

 

[Boyd]

Now that is urban legend! :lol:

 

[Teegate]

I have also heard that the owner of that mansion is Alan Iverson.

I had heard that also, and told you so, but I am beginning to believe that my info is not true.

Guy

 

[BEHR655]

I have also heard that the owner of that mansion is Alan Iverson.

I had heard that also, and told you so, but I am beginning to believe that my info is not true.

Guy

Yeah, I haven't seen any basketball courts when I go by. It is a huge house and who ever owns it must have more money that the people I usually do work for. And the people I do work for are loaded.

 

[Boyd]

Aha! I went back to the Central Record website. Their search engine is very particular... I needed to try the "advanced search"....

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?...2244&PAG=461&dept_id=453084&rfi=8


'Haunted house' offers up unexpected thrills and chills to new owners
by Whitney McKnight 01/07/2004
for The Central Record

SOUTHAMPTON-"I didn't know it was haunted when I bought it," said Martha Singh about the Purgatory House. Singh is the president of Singh Real Estate Enterprises, Inc., a commercial real estate and investment company in Marlton.

The Purgatory House, as it is known not just locally, but internationally thanks to numerous Web sites dedicated to tales of haunted sites such as lefttorot.com, is located on one of several township properties Singh purchased recently. "I never saw the house. I just wanted the land," Singh said.
      
The Purgatory House, a large, dilapidated mishmash of building styles, circa 1900, and located on Purgatory Road, has spawned several dozen rumors over the decades, ever since the family living there mysteriously up and left, reportedly in the late 1970s. A popular story is that a young girl died tragically in the house, prompting her family to flee without a trace. Over the years, reports of screaming and moaning - rumored to be the crying of a young girl - and of mysterious and threatening messages on the wall have been rampant. Separating the paranormal from the obnoxious is a dicey trade, however, since the house has hosted vandals and apparent occultists who have trashed much of the place with graffiti, strange shrines and litter. 

Was it an illiterate vandal or ghost who declared in red paint on one wall, "I saw dead peope (sic)?" Satanic messages and profanity are also painted on several walls, most likely the work of the myriad teenagers whom locals have reportedly seen visiting the property for years, but who are now treated as trespassers by the state police since Singh has had the place cleaned up and gated from public access.

Frank Bongrazio, vice president and CFO of Singh Realty, believes his is the most accurate story of what occurred in the house all those years ago. When he learned of the house's history, Bongrazio toured it and discovered that a family's personal effects and even personal documents such as tax records and financial statements had been left inexplicably undisturbed by the vandals. From these papers, Bongrazio was able to trace the family's whereabouts. Bongrazio discovered that there was a death, but that it did not occur in the house. 

Bongrazio's story is one of a Cuban couple, both in the military, who immigrated here just before Castro rose to power. Bongrazio said there were even pictures in the house of the woman in military dress, holding a gun. The couple were also artists and the parents of four children. The family rented the house. Based upon business cards and sales sheets left behind, Bongrazio said that the woman also sold real estate for a local Prudential office. One day, their 17-year-old daughter "cut class," said Bongrazio, and while out driving with some friends, was in a car accident that sent her through the windshield, decapitating her. Bongrazio said the mother subsequently went "insane" and "threw everyone out of the house," then disappeared. The father moved to New York City, where he still lives and paints. The surviving siblings still live in the area. Bongrazio did not reveal the family's identity.

Singh and Bongrazio both said they have no plans to build on the land. Citing a desire to see Southampton "stay rural and free of "sprawl," Singh, who along with her husband, Kris, is currently building a home on New Freedom Road, said, "We want to keep everything as it is."

Singh and Bongrazio also said that, contrary to rumors in town, they have no plans to tear the Purgatory House down.

Bongrazio, who is also the CFO and general manager of Kris Singh's company, Holtec International, also in Marlton, said that there is no reason to demolish it, and that to do so would be too expensive. "We want to just let it stand until the township condemns it and tells us we have to take it down. I don't think that will happen for at least another 10 to 20 years." 

When asked if any haunted happenings occurred while the house was being cleaned, Bongrazio said that he wouldn't know because he was not the one to actually perform the salvage mission"

According to Bongrazio, however, the person who did the work, a man known to Singh and Bongrazio only as "Brian," no last name, has been very difficult to reach. Bongrazio attributed this to personal reasons in Brian's life, and not to any ghostly retribution.



©Medford Central Record 2004

 

[vivalamexico]

Wow Boyd! thanks for all the info. Yeah the place was creepy but it didnt really feel haunted creepy, guess that explains why.