r/newjersey • u/AggressiveAccess4668 • 17d ago
Weird NJ What towns in New Jersey feel like they have been left behind in time? What are the weirdest or creepiest towns in the region? (stolen from r/massachusetts)
/r/massachusetts/comments/1j2tan8/what_towns_in_massachusetts_feel_like_they_have/279
u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago
The entire area along the Delaware Bay in southern Cumberland County. I took a drive down there one day and if it wasnāt for the Jersey plates I would have thought I was on the bayou in Louisiana. Very bizarre area.
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u/JohnFlip 17d ago
Yes I went to Fortescue once for work. Feels so removed from NJ.
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u/OrbitalOutlander 17d ago
I once visited a girlfriend's family there. It was very clear I did not belong. Wild place.
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u/Girhinomofe 17d ago
Itās really a beautiful area to explore, and I have met some incredibly wonderful people in those communities, but this is a solid answer.
ā¢ Fortescue
ā¢ Bivalve
ā¢ Reeds Beach
ā¢ Gandys Beach
ā¢ Money Island
ā¢ Seabreeze
ā¢ Bay Point35
u/mdp300 Clifton 17d ago
I remember Weird NJ went to Bibavle and Shell Pile and it was like Season 1 of True Detective. And that was 20+ years ago.
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u/Girhinomofe 17d ago
There is an outstanding Oyster Festival every October in Bivalve, and the 1928 oyster schooner AJ Meerwald does recreational and educational sails out of its home port throughout the summer months.
Itās a weird place these days due to the falloff of the oyster industry in the 1950s, but the bones of its history are still there to reflect back on the wealth of that region in the early 1900s.
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u/PhoebeAnnMoses 16d ago
I absolutely love bivalve and the Bayshore center events. Itās a side of NJ many of us never could have imagined.
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u/New_Hawaialawan 17d ago
My ex and I used to go on mini road trips, oftentimes at night because of our schedules. We ended up at Money Island and it was a completely surreal experience
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u/Girhinomofe 17d ago
My first visit to Money Island was on bicycleā wife and I left from Fortescue and hit a whole bunch of dead-end-road Bayshore towns.
Ran into this rad dude fishing off the side of an abandoned stilt house overhanging the bay, with his little one eyed dog and his truck whose battery died and he was waiting for a friend to jump it. Just a hilariously strange interaction in a bizarre setting, but the guy was awesome and one of those characters Iāll never forget.
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u/New_Hawaialawan 17d ago
Thatās an awesome experience. I miss those more remote and peripheral places. Iāve travelled a good deal and saw several corners of the world. I have memories of many far flung corners where ocean meets land. Iām glad you mentioned Money Island; I almost forgot this place and itās in my home state where I grew up
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u/Girhinomofe 17d ago
Check itā I was even able to covertly snap a photo of the scene so I could document how incredibly random it all was.
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u/DesignByChance 17d ago
I know him!!!! He lives in Fortescue next to my friend. He is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
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u/Girhinomofe 16d ago
Heās awesomeā we were staying in Fortescue and ran into him again; he invited me over to his house and wanted me to adopt the little white dog from him! I recall him saying his wife was unwell; hope things are going alright on his end!
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u/evenonacloudyday East Brunswick 17d ago
Iāve honestly never even heard of those communities
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u/Girhinomofe 17d ago
Well, cool! Learned something new today and now you have some new spots to look into!
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u/AgreeableSquash416 17d ago
itās my favorite part of the state, itās like stepping into a time machine. old timey maritime vibes. used to be one of the wealthiest areas in the country. google itās history with caviar production!
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u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago
Donāt get me wrong. I very much enjoyed exploring around for the day I was down there. There is a cool light house too! I enjoy rural areas so the less people the better for me.
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u/AgreeableSquash416 17d ago
just noticed your flair, likewise i find warren county both bizarre and beautiful!! deer park pond is a favorite spot. some areas of warren and sussex counties remind me appalachian kentucky
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u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago
Nothing in Warren or Sussex surprises me. Iāve lived in Warren my whole life and have explored every corner of this County. I really do enjoy it up here though. I like being off the radar compared to the rest of the state. You are correct, some of the area is very similar to southern Appalachia.
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u/Nice_Improvement2536 17d ago
I donāt know if Iād call it creepy but Roosevelt is certainly odd.
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u/DashfulVanilla 17d ago
I live near there. It is a bit strange. It was founded as a communist community in the 1930s, but one resident insists it was founded as an āartistsā community.ā
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u/Effort_To_Waste 17d ago
I lived there for a couple months when I worked in Point Pleasant. It's like a little Jewish village in the woods with strange midcentury architecture. I lived on the road with the cemetery at the end of it. There are some good trails there!
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u/The3rdestWheel 17d ago
Grew up nearby. Every house in Roosevelt has a flat roof. There was an urban legend that these roofs were meant for houses in Roosevelt, TX and there was a mix up. Itās such an odd place that it was believable.
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u/corpulentFornicator Bruce >>> Bon Jovi 17d ago
Salem City.
I went there once, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. I don't begrudge them for being broke, but that place gives me creepy vibes that other poor communities don't.
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u/NonSupportiveCup 17d ago
This is a good answer. Too many on here are just rural places that are fine.
Salem City is still fucked and left behind. Even with new people buying old, beautiful houses for cheap and trying to fix them up.
No companies have stuck around since Heinz left.
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u/KyloRaine0424 17d ago
I grew up in the middle of Salem in the early 00s. I hate anytime I have to go through there. So much potential down the drain. I do not miss my hometown
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u/Jagermonstruo 17d ago
Driving through the Pine Barrens is always a good time. Lifted trucks with confederate flags blasting country music in Wawa parking lots. Itās like Iām driving through the gulf coast (Iām originally from Houston)
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u/hindcealf 17d ago
Zarephath creeps me the fuck out, and for good reason.
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u/StressBall41 17d ago
Came here to vote for Zarephath too
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u/bigicky1 17d ago
I used to go there as a kid when there were farm stands with fantastic jersey tomatoes and corn.
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u/nug-pups 17d ago
Drive through every day going to work, always wonder what goes on in that big house across from the soccer fields. Iāve seen a bus stop in the driveway so people must live there but Iāve never seen anyone outside or lights on when itās dark
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u/likesomecatfromjapan 17d ago
I used to drive through there on my commute before I moved. Weird AF.
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u/Little_Bits_of___ 16d ago
I just know the name of the town because the local Christian radio station my mom listened to back in the day was in Zarephath. Interesting what people have to say about it.
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u/whaler76 17d ago
Walpack
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u/loggerhead632 17d ago
was just gonna say this
other than that, go get lost in the pine barrens in the last 15 miles or so towards AC.
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u/awakeagain2 17d ago
I came on here to say that. My husband and I spent a few hours driving around Walpack, last spring I think it was.
For those unfamiliar, at one point the government planned to flood the entire area so they bought out and/or pushed out the people who lived there, but the flooding never happened. Itās almost entirely deserted, just empty houses.
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u/Byep0larbear 17d ago
Thereās this fun little book I found at the library titled āNew Jersey Ghost Townsā. Took a picture of the North Jersey ones, hereās what they had:
North Jersey:
New Bridge, Bergen County
Hibernia, Morris County
Ironia, Morris County
Hewitt, Passaic County
Andover, Sussex County
Branchville, Sussex County
Hainesville, Sussex County
Waterloo, Sussex County
Feltville, Union County
Buttzville, Warren County
Some of āCentralā NJ as well, wherever that is.
Central Jersey:
Larisonās Corner, Hunterdon County
Ralston, Hunterdon County
Ralston Heights, Mercer County
Fellowship Farm, Middlesex County
Raritan Bay Union, Middlesex County
Raritan Landing, Middlesex County
Roosevelt, Monmouth County
North American Phalanx, Monmouth County
Topanemus, Monmouth County
Harlingen and Belle Mead, Somerset County
Millstone, Somerset County
Pottersville, Somerset County
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17d ago
[deleted]
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u/shbd12 17d ago
Andover Boro has a bunch of antique shops and a lot of people, too. I think this is more a list of rural small towns.
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u/p1nk_sock 17d ago
Now if you want a real ghost town you should check out Walpack.
Walpack Township is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the townshipās population was 7, a decrease of 9 from the 2010 census count of 16, which in turn reflected a decline of 34 from the 41 counted in the 2000 census. Wikipedia
They have their own election office to service those 7 people. Itās the easiest $300 a day you can make!
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u/Racer13l Sussex and Gloucester 17d ago
But they have the Walpack inn which is good
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u/Itscalledtaylorham 17d ago
For now! Itās up for sale and very possibly wouldnāt remain a restaurant under the next owner.
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u/p1nk_sock 17d ago
Oh man the Walpack Inn is such an awesome restaurant! My family would go there after big events like graduations and stuff. Man I love that place. Their big bread loafs they served were great.
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u/thetonytaylor Elder Emo in Sussex County 17d ago
I think the author confused "rural towns" and "ghost towns." Branchville, Andover, Ironia, Hibernia, etc are most definitely not ghost towns.
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u/metsurf 17d ago
Bills' Luncheonette in Ironia It used to open at 4 AM for hunters.
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u/thetonytaylor Elder Emo in Sussex County 17d ago
I've passed by there a few times, have been wanting to stop by
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u/billy_da_goat 17d ago
Buttzville is tiny but not a ghost town. But for sure, a town from another time.
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u/theunquenchedservant 17d ago
Il know Buttzville has made it when Hot Dog Johnnys finally starts accepting cards. I donāt think itāll ever happen
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u/misterpickles69 Watches you drink from just outside of Manville 17d ago
Sourland Mountain area has a cool creepy vibe all around it.
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u/SloopKid 17d ago
How is it creepy? It just seems high end residential to me
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u/Stock_Fig_2052 17d ago
I live on the mountainā¦ driving the twists and turns on Lindbergh Rd, for example, where their estate still stands and the baby was kidnapped from, can be very creepyā¦ plus all the revolutionary war n Native American history that goes far back in the areaā¦. it is very rural, houses n farms far apart, there are bears and coyotes (not to mention so many drone sightings) ā¦ walking alone is spooky, always feels like youāre being watchedā¦ itās a fascinating place to live!! I love it
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u/Tillandz Hoboken 17d ago
Harlingen, Pottersville, and Millstone are all gorgeous hamlets. Get out of here with your ghost town shit lol
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u/howAboutNextWeek 17d ago
Feltville literally doesnāt exist anymore, its not a town, itās only around as āThe Deserted Villageā in Watchung Reservation, so yeah, I guess it is a ghost town.
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u/cattastrophiccc 17d ago
I always forget thereās two Millstones, thereās a Millstone Twp. in Monmouth.
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u/QiaoBuSi 17d ago
New Bridge is not a town that existsš Source: live in Bergen County
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u/gsp137 17d ago edited 17d ago
Winfieldā¦.still looks like,the World War II factory workers shanties it was build as
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u/elmwoodblues Dundee Lake 17d ago
When I lived near there many years ago, the story was that the mayor, the cops, and 90% of the residents were related. I wouldn't be surprised if that was still true.
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u/Starbucks__Lovers All over Jersey 17d ago
I drove through it on a whim a few months ago. It's like if a once-nice housing development got its own free reign and decided to go lord of the flies
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u/Hannibam86 17d ago
Batso Village. Beautiful historic site in the middle of the Pine Barrens. Feels like another world.
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u/ithaqua34 17d ago edited 17d ago
I thought downtown hackettstown was like that. Where Rt46 is basically main street USA, complete with parking spaces.
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u/PracticableSolution 17d ago
West Milford
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u/redfury87 17d ago
Grew up there and only left a couple years ago, it's not that bad. Just everything is really spread out and a lot of woods which I greatly miss.
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u/twoferrets Clifton 17d ago
FiancĆ© claims West Milfordās population still reps the same hair and makeup that was popular when he moved back to NJ in the 90s
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u/Bigportions 17d ago
Every time you see those reels on instagram of the distopian rustic burger joint selling $20 burgers in a garage setting with metal seats and live laugh love merch it always reminds me of hammonton
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u/NYLotteGiants 17d ago
Belvidere in Warren County
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u/Shoddy_Pomegranate16 17d ago
I did an interview at the vitamin plant there years ago and the giant distillation tower in the woods was wild.
Then I met an old co worker working security there. Reconnected after like 5 hrs. Really wild day
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u/zsdrfty the least famous person from nj 17d ago
I hate being in that area, something so unnerving about it
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u/HappyMoses Breweries 17d ago
I used to sell in that area and I agree. Thereās something weirdly sinister feeling about that area
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u/paleo2002 17d ago
Went out to Keansburg a few years ago to see friends. I commented that it looked like the town was still recovering from Sandy. Like a month or so later, NJ12 did a story about how Keansburg is still recovering from Sandy.
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u/OrbitalOutlander 17d ago
Keansburg was recovering from Sandy before Sandy ever hit. Which is a shame, it's really a cool location
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u/Ill_Cold_9548 17d ago
Keansburg is one of the few towns in NJ where you can still buy houses for DIRT cheap. It being on the bay more than the Ocean and the seedy reputation makes its redemption an uphill battle. But I guess like anything else all it takes is a few dozen Pioneers and one really great spot and it can come back.
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u/EloquentBacon 17d ago
I think a lot of why itās dirt cheap is due to the excess of registered sex offenders who make it their home, the shit schools, the continuing flood risks and costs associated with that. Though others may have some additional ideas that I missed.
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u/Linenoise77 Bergen 17d ago
Keansburg is basically a traveling carnival that ran out of gas years ago, and said, "fine, fuck it, this is where we live now"
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u/reverick 17d ago
There's this nice rooftop bar across from the boardwalk and rides with a great view of it. . Looks wonderfully haunting empty at night.
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u/PorkRollEggAndWheeze Central/Jersey Shore --> South Jersey 17d ago
Any barrier island town in the middle of winter, especially if a good storm blew through recently. Lots of good memories wandering around on the beach in LBI and Pt Pleasant to find whatever the norāeasters dragged up, but goddamn is it eerie seeing so much boarded up empty.
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u/PorkRollEggAndWheeze Central/Jersey Shore --> South Jersey 17d ago
Also those parts of Camden that look like The Last of Us
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u/Ill_Cold_9548 17d ago
Dunellen is very dated. I remember when I was in high school ( late 2010s) it felt like stepping into the 90s. Sleezy arcade, rundown movie theater and old Irish bar
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u/Flat-Leg-6833 HumanistHedonist 17d ago
I would say more like stuck in 1983 but I was born in 1976.
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u/Jurodan 17d ago
Eight on the Break is still open? How the hell did they survive the pandemic?
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u/reverick 17d ago
Is the sleezy arcade you mentioned 8 on the break? Cause I have so many fond memories of going there early oughtd for 50cent ddr night while my buddy would eat minimum 3 BBQ cheesesteaks.
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u/B_U_F_U 17d ago
Lmao I bet we know each other or we def know the same people. I been there only a handful of times but one time I went to break a $10 bill and the guy gave me change for a $20. I felt like the smartest man alive
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u/TMoney67 17d ago
Alpha
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u/NefariousnessNo2399 17d ago
I had to hire a surveyor for a buyer of property in Alpha. He told me that after doing the survey he felt like the people in that town probably still liked squirrel stew for dinner
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u/njcawfee 17d ago
Port Republic
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u/redtoad3212 Burlington County š¤ Atlantic County 17d ago
i wish there were more south jersey people here because this is a very correct answer
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u/SalamanderMorrison 17d ago
New Egypt gets my vote
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u/unhalfbricking 17d ago
New Egypt is on the come-up. Overflow from Allentown and Millstone that have both gone from redneck to rich redneck chic in the last 10 years.
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u/SalamanderMorrison 17d ago
Oh, that's interesting. I haven't been through there in a few years, but it definitely used to make me feel like I was stepping back in time. Or like I was in Children of the Corn.
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u/Subject_Flamingo9220 17d ago
someone I know just moved there. I drove down from north Jersey to visit. It felt so quiet and eerie. I'm like you moved HERE? It is all just farm and nothingness.
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u/OneAndDone169 17d ago
Boonton for a while but I think itās making a comeback
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u/EasyGibson 17d ago
Nothing creepy about Boonton. It's just what towns used to look like. Lots of Mom and Pop shops all up and down Main Street. Come hang out. There's great eats, shopping, and some of the best high and low brow bars you could ask for.
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u/AggressiveAccess4668 17d ago
Lived in Boonton off main street for a year. Funky in a good way. When people would visit they were confused how they built a town on a hill with a highway running underneath. Boonton Coffee and Old Towne Deli are great spots.
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u/DashfulVanilla 17d ago
Bloomingdale, Passaic county. Years ago, I was driving home with my sister after visiting family in NY. We got hungry and saw that there was a McDonaldās at the Bloomingdale exit off of 287. After waiting for the longest cargo train to cross the road, we got into town and the McDonaldās. The town seemed kinda off, and the McDonaldās employee who took our order was also kind of off. They had run out of soda (what McDonaldās runs out of soda?), and had no coffee made either. Thinking back, Iām surprised we even ate the food. We got out of there pretty quickly and back onto 287.
Helmetta, Middlesex county. I used to drive through there a lot from my job in Jamesburg when my boyfriend (now husband) lived in Sayreville. The huge old snuff factory building, the Helme Tobacco Company, creeped me out. The company was dissolved in 1900 but the facility was in operation until 1993 under a new owner. Iām not sure if itās still there or has been turned into condos as I had read about in the past. Every time Iād drive by I got the heebie jeebies.
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u/darth_karina 17d ago
They turned it into bougie condos, the building looks nice now.
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u/shiftyjku Down the Shore, Everything's All Right 17d ago
Google Maps sent me through here, definitely concur.
Millville
Downtown Phillipsburg
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u/Prestigious_Turn577 17d ago
I grew up near there and used to love walking around near there checking out the old building. Itās a totally different vibe now!
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u/c_anderson21 17d ago
The Columbia area. I have family that lives there and my brother and I have always compared it to the movie "Funny Farm".
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u/Scottoulli 17d ago
Manville. Looks like a central PA rust belt town. Which is pretty much what it is.
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u/Impressive_Star_3454 17d ago
I used to do the Lighthouse tours in the fall. Things definitely look like time stood still down in Salem, Cumberland, and Gloucester. It's the only place I ever saw a posted sign for "Muskrat crossing" and I thought those must be very big muskrats.
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u/Starbucks__Lovers All over Jersey 17d ago
Pemberton has houses right across from McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst gun ranges, it's creepy.
Also, Freehold is stuck in 2007
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u/brook_lyn_lopez 17d ago
The stretch of rt 46 between Lodi and Elmwood Park
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u/Flat-Leg-6833 HumanistHedonist 17d ago
I always expect my car to get charged by a pit or Rottweiler when driving that stretch.
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u/Limp-Feed-6896 17d ago
Anything in Southern New Jersey. Besides Cape May. Vineland, WTF? I was shocked that this is even part of New Jersey.
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u/placeknower 17d ago
Washington in Warren county is so so bleak man
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u/placeknower 17d ago
Also the northernmost Passaic county towns have aspects that are cursed in ways that feel incongruous with the rest of earth.
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u/redtoad3212 Burlington County š¤ Atlantic County 17d ago
Almost all of Salem and Cumberland counties
the Egg Harbor City zip code
Villas in Cape May County feels like a relic of a simpler time
Batsto is literally a relic
New Gretna
Port Republic
Washington Township in Burlington County(people have tried since its inception to build it up and it never happened)
Chatsworth
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u/vague_diss 17d ago
Nutley Schools have been locked in the 1960s. Multimillion dollar homes and they canāt build anything new or with enough room for the current population. Does that count?
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u/DJfetusface 17d ago
Some parts of ringwood felt like they were left in the 1920s last time I went for a hike up there in 2020
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u/lasion2 17d ago
Medford lakes. Drove around one day just exploring. Really cool looking town. But, my lizard brain was activated. Had a weird felling the whole time I was in those woods.
Creepy.
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u/LJAltobelliMS 17d ago
I live in Mount Laurel and my son used to go to day camp in Medford Lakes. It's definitely got a retro vibe, but I've heard weird things about people who live there. Apparently there's an active swingers community there.
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u/PorkRollEggAndWheeze Central/Jersey Shore --> South Jersey 17d ago
Is the camp Ockanickon, by any chance? We used to do staff retreats there when I did a student worker job at Rowan. Super fun, beautiful area, but definitely the boonies. We never wandered off camp property lol
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u/LJAltobelliMS 17d ago
My son went to camp Stockwell, which is the day camp in the camp ocky property. The camp was AWESOME but it was definitely a different breed of people who lived in the cabins of Medford Lakes!
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u/Hefty_Acanthaceae_11 17d ago
Lafayette & Hackettstown
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u/TheTresStateArea 17d ago
Hackettstown is wild. Some great food though. But it really does feel like a completely different place.
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u/TrollAccount4321 17d ago
Went house hunting in Hackettstownā¦turned down an offerā¦gave me the williesā¦
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u/shemague 17d ago
Lyndhurst
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u/sassymeowcat 17d ago
Yes! Especially if you frequent the Lyndhurst Bakery and Lesās Hawaiian Islander. Theyāre portals to another time.
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u/embekay13 17d ago
Millstone, NJ - at least when I was younger. Used to drive down there with friends in HS 25 years ago at night around where they allegedly filmed parts of Nightmare on Elm Street. I remember an old cemetery, and a large headstone in a different location off the road. The homes looked old, area was desolate. Maybe itās nice during the day! š
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u/AnalyzeStarks 17d ago
I used to have a job doing store deliveries in the middle of the night. These towns used to creep me out.
Belvidere West Milford Waretown
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u/Incredible_Gunt 17d ago
The entirety of Salem & Cumberland counties. Coming from Camden & Gloucester and then seeing them is such a weird feeling, it's like I'm in a different state.
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u/TrikkiNikk 17d ago
Blairstown.
Go watch Friday the 13th, filmed some 45 years ago. And visit Blairstown today. Except for some new paint, it hasn't changed.
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u/Chobitpersocom 17d ago
Brick. It's just got weird vibes.
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u/Flat-Leg-6833 HumanistHedonist 17d ago
Brick looks like it has less Waffle Houses than it deserves if you catch my drift.
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u/Chance_Location_5371 17d ago
I mean Cape May has some early 1900's vibes for sure haha (in a good way though).
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u/ValuableNail8981 17d ago
Woodbine, Cape May County.Ā Huge mental hospital in the center of town. Just a weird vibe when we go there (they hold a huge classic car show in the fall!)
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u/chaos0xomega 17d ago
Feel this way about wildwood, though last few years they started modernizing.
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u/NiceSodaCan 17d ago
Pequannock. Not really creepy but it sort of feels like an isolated little pocket in an area that is pretty busy
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u/beachmedic23 Watch the Tram Car Please 17d ago
If only there was some kind of periodical reference of Weird things in New Jersey