Strange stuff at Atsion

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BarryC

Guest
Today I took one of Sue's sons and my neice JoEl on an outing. We started at Atsion. We visited the grist mill ruins, the horse barn ruins and the site of the Etheridge House. Then we went to the school (afterwards we walked to the railroad trestle.) But behind the school there is a strange house. There's a little pocket of private property back there. There's the ruins of a house with chimney and fireplace still standing. Then to the right there is this odd double house. It's pretty much falling apart. All that's left of the roof is the beams and rafters. I know several of you have already seen this. The downstairs of this house has brand new looking screen (larger mesh) over the windows. And in the yard, among the mountains of bottles and cans, there is a new looking TV antenna mounted on a pole about 5 or 6 feet high. In another section of the yard is a beautiful gazebo. Any ideas? This is one of the weirdest things I've seen in the Pines.
Barry
 

jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
337
12
Manasquan
There is a family living there. I first of all want to point out that there is nothing strange about them except for the fact that they don't live in a house with a manicured lawn and a picked fence. I've seen the boy walking down the road and he looks out of time but this is the most wonderful thing someone could wish for that is interested in Atsion. You could easily make it into a Weird NJ kind of thing, but the fact is that they probably don't have much money and the one (1) structure is not their living quarters and they don't have the money or desire to keep it in order so it is falling down. They are the last people living in Atsion adn they are representative of the earlier type of people living there, and as such, deserve the utmost respect. Don't worry, they will like all others, eventually be gone and their houses will fall. Just want to make sure that all know that there are no murders or ghosts (probably), albinos, or other ignorances that may cause people to disturb them. They are just a poor family living like we all used to live.

All that being said, we were equally interested in the same house. When initially checking out Atsion we approached the same house and weren't sure if the property was occupied. As we slowly walked towards the dilapidated house my friend stopped me to point out a clock in the smal lmetal shed which had a clock with the pendulum moving back and forth.. We then realized that the property was current. Since then we have respected the property boundaries as every exploer should. These people are not to be a spectacle. I am glad that there is still someone living in the town of Atsion.
 
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BarryC

Guest
Actually this was the second time I had been to that house behind the school.
What I don't get is, if they are living there, but not in the house, then where? What do you mean they are living there? Is there another house? I thought I saw something behind the gun club, but didn't check it out. Is that their house?
I don't think the people are weird. What I thought was weird was to see a house with basically no roof, but new screening over the windows and a TV antenna and gazebo in the yard. I'm glad there are people there too. And I would never tell Weird NJ about them. Hopefully they don't already know.
jokerman said:
There is a family living there. I first of all want to point out that there is nothing strange about them except for the fact that they don't live in a house with a manicured lawn and a picked fence. I've seen the boy walking down the road and he looks out of time but this is the most wonderful thing someone could wish for that is interested in Atsion. You could easily make it into a Weird NJ kind of thing, but the fact is that they probably don't have much money and the one (1) structure is not their living quarters and they don't have the money or desire to keep it in order so it is falling down. They are the last people living in Atsion adn they are representative of the earlier type of people living there, and as such, deserve the utmost respect. Don't worry, they will like all others, eventually be gone and their houses will fall. Just want to make sure that all know that there are no murders or ghosts (probably), albinos, or other ignorances that may cause people to disturb them. They are just a poor family living like we all used to live.

All that being said, we were equally interested in the same house. When initially checking out Atsion we approached the same house and weren't sure if the property was occupied. As we slowly walked towards the dilapidated house my friend stopped me to point out a clock in the smal lmetal shed which had a clock with the pendulum moving back and forth.. We then realized that the property was current. Since then we have respected the property boundaries as every exploer should. These people are not to be a spectacle. I am glad that there is still someone living in the town of Atsion.
 

jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
337
12
Manasquan
Barry,
Please excuse my bantering. I didn't even look at who had posted the original message. I know you are a respectful Piney! Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember wondering if there was another house next to the broken-down one and asking myself it that place was inhabitable at all. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure there are people living in it. We saw this strange looking kid walking back to it from the main road about a year ago. You would have had to see him to know what I mean. He wasn't crazy looking or anything but you could tell he had no clue about modern clothing. Looked like an Amish person who was given five minutes at a five-and-dime to get ready for the outside world.
So I guess I really don't have an answer to your question! I agree, that is a strange scene back there. There is obviously residential type activity and evidence of people living in that broken-down house, but how could someone live in it?

If someone travels that way soon, it would be interesting to know if that broken-down house is the only residential-type structure on that plot.
 

Ben Ruset

Administrator
Site Administrator
Oct 12, 2004
7,616
1,863
Monmouth County
www.benruset.com
I've always wondered about the people that live there as well. The house looks like it's too far gone to be livable, but then again the Cedar Bridge Hotel doesn't look so hot and it's inhabited as well.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,177
MikeBickerson said:
I have a picture of the chimney behind the school house.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?A2A112058

That might be the young man that my friend Red met, I think the kid said that he lived in the little house behind the gun club, but I'm not sure...

That photo does not show up here. Does that happen to anyone else?

Guy
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
The property is bl. 47 lot 4 in Shamong and is owned by Stephen Soviczky.
It actually has a mailing address of 717 Quaker Bridge Road.
He owns one other small floating lot that is detached from the dwelling.
Last years taxes were $819.52.
That's a steal in Shamong!
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,177
RednekF350 said:
The property is bl. 47 lot 4 in Shamong and is owned by Stephen Soviczky.
It actually has a mailing address of 717 Quaker Bridge Road.
He owns one other small floating lot that is detached from the dwelling.
Last years taxes were $819.52.
That's a steal in Shamong!

I did a search on MapQuest and it came up. First I used Atsion which didn't work, but Shamong did.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.ad...p;state=nj&zipcode=&search=++Search++

So I played around and there are quite a few address or lots on Quaker Bridge Road. If you try 650 for example, it is almost to the actual Quaker Bridge.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.ad...mp;zipcode=&historyid=&submit=Get+Map

Guy
 

sschliv

New Member
Sep 1, 2003
24
0
Jokerman,

I don't think anyone actually lives there year-round and I don't believe the owner of the property is poor.

I met the owner once while investigating that area for the first time. I believe the boy you refer to is his grandson. He refered to the "gazebo" as a pre-fab and said that his grandson enjoyed camping there.

He also owns a recently opened Irish-themed shop in Mount Holly and I have often seen his grandson hanging out outside of it.

Unfortunately, This is at least the second pre-fab he has had brought to the site, because vandals burned the former one(s) down.

I wish I remembered some of the history of the spot that he spoke of, but I can definitely tell you that the property was "grand-fathered" when the surrounding area became State Forest.

Hope this helps with the mystery.

Jim
 

stizkidz

Piney
May 10, 2003
1,044
8
Tuckerton
I know this is unrelated, but I recently drove the entire length of Quaker-Bridge Rd. I was floored to discover that it eventually ends up (after a short drive on another dirt road after turning right) onto Bulltown Rd! Very interesting drive and I saw some strange things on the way. Towards the end, it seems as though the composition of the forrest changes rapidly - from pine trees and sand road to underbrush and gravel road. At one point there was an odd clearing with a wall of the thickest forrest growth I have ever seen blocked off by a small fence (this is 8 miles or more from 206). That is why I love the Barrens, for its mysteries.
 
For those that aren't on Barry's list, my friend Red posted about this there.

He should join this board and cut out the middle man... :)

AH HA! I can answer that. I believe actually posted something about that a while back when I first joined the group but all the same I might not have. So anyhow...on with the story...

A little over a year ago, my best friend and I decided to have a look at the area around this house you have mentioned. Both of us had seen it on numerous occasions and nobody else I knew had ever seen it or noticed it and thenceforth the mystery of the Atsion house was thrust upon me to find some answers.

I started at the Ethridge General Store (aka Ranger Station) and asked the ranger if she knew anything about the house. She only knew that somebody lived there and that it isnt state property or stag club property.

Well this of course was just the answer we were looking for because it was an excellent excuse to go trespassing and have an adventure. We parked my truck across the road at the church (very inconspicuous eh?) and went to have a look. There is an old late 50s - early 60s AMC Rambler station wagon near the house which is in rough shape and has probably spent most of its life at its present location. Near the fireplace/foundation of the other house mentioned is a lot of old trash...tires, the hood of an old ford, an old radio, and lots of other odds and ends...especially parts of old appliances. There are also PILES of trashbags nearby other PILES of alcohol bottles. There is also the gazeebo, an outhouse, and in the front (actually behind the stag club) is what I beleive is called a Virginia cottage.

After this we both decided we should head over to check out the extremely dilapodated double house next to rt 206, about 1/10 mile south from Atsion Road. Well, we pulled up and from the near the house a man started walking in our general direction. So, not knowing what to do we just said "hi". The man came up to the car and turned out to be a 23 year old guy named Paul. He was walking back from the house off of 206, which was his grandmother's house until she died in 1970 and the state took the property. He told us just about everything you could want to know about Atsion.

The old double house, which is fenced off for obvious reasons was a railroad era house and dated back to the mid 1800s I think. I forget a decent amount of the story about the house until the 1900s. Until the 20s, one of the female Ethridges had run the post office at Atsion. Paul told us that she used to steam open everybodys mail and bills and find out everything about everybody. Then, in the 20s, she died and Pauls grandmother took over as postmaster and the practice of opening letters was discontinued.

As I mentioned earlier, the house was a double house built for 2 families to live in. For some time a circus clown by the name of Bill Bailey lived next door with his wife and two children. He was on television for sometime in the 50s and 60s too. Unfortunately, he was also a raving alcoholic and ofter was quite verbally abusive and wouldn't bring home much money after going on business trips up to New York. Pauls grandmother was always generous with the Bailey family and made sure they got a warm meal. One time Bill came home and got wind of this and was furious. He went and had some nasty words with Pauls grandmother. Pauls grandfather in turn beat up Mr. Bailey pretty good. As of last time I was at the house, a sign with "Bill Bailey" painted on it lay that once hung from the house lay on the ground. The house has fallen beyond repair since the state owned it. According to Paul, the deterioration started with a 6 inch hole in the roof that the state wouldn't fix.

Anyhow, the real point to all of my ramblings is that Paul's uncle owns the house that this whole post is about and sometimes he stays there. His uncle, Mr. Duffy, is a retired Waterford Elementary school teacher and owns a shop in Mt. Holly now that deals in Irish imports. It is called Pot 'o' Gold and is on High street. Paul works there and sometimes he too stays at Atsion in the Virginia Cottage. Both men are very nice and will talk to you for hours about the pines, as they are bubbling with knowlege.

Their main concern with the area is vandalization. Paul said that they've chased partiers out of the Atsion school house before with a shot gun, and although they wouldn't dare shoot, it scares people so they will think twice about doing stuff like that. All the same they think it is great that people are interested in the pines and with the state would allocate more money to the preservation of its historic towns.

I hope that answered your questions.

Red

Then John posted:

Nice story mike. Is this the house behind to stag club ?
It looks like a late 19th century house in the front,
with a porch and nice lattice trim, along with hundreds of
beer bottles in the front yard from the 20th century :)
The unfinished plywood rear appears to have been added
on much later.

And Red replied:

Yes it is the house behind the stag club I can never find any mention
of this house in the Atsion pamphlets or in books or on websites so
I'm not sure about the answers. Paul said that at one point his
uncle began adding on to the house but then stopped and I believe
that was about 15 years ago. As for the house's age, he said that it
was built in the 1700s and then renovated in the late 1800s. I half
beleive him because everything else he said seemed pretty valid and
he knew nearly everything about the area, however, if that house was
really that old I feel it would have definately made it's way into a
book or pamphlet or something...being that it would be the oldest
building at Atsion (unless I am mistaken).

Red
 
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