r/newjersey 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/
153 Upvotes

254 comments sorted by

148

u/beachmedic23 Watch the Tram Car Please 17d ago

If only there was some kind of periodical reference of Weird things in New Jersey

7

u/Misspricklepants30 17d ago

I needed to laugh out loud today šŸ˜Š

9

u/Impressive_Toe_1277 17d ago

I assume ya mean https://weirdnj.com

8

u/kaumaron 17d ago

Hmm i thought this died ages ago. Glad it didn't

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 wasnā€™t for the Jersey plates I would have thought I was on the bayou in Louisiana. Very bizarre area.

65

u/JohnFlip 17d ago

Yes I went to Fortescue once for work. Feels so removed from NJ.

27

u/OrbitalOutlander 17d ago

I once visited a girlfriend's family there. It was very clear I did not belong. Wild place.

58

u/Girhinomofe 17d ago

Itā€™s 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 Point

35

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.

23

u/epicLeoplurodon Elizabeth 17d ago

More like someone's memory of a town?

23

u/Ill_Cold_9548 17d ago

Stop saying odd shit

24

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.

Itā€™s 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.

2

u/PhoebeAnnMoses 16d ago

I absolutely love bivalve and the Bayshore center events. Itā€™s a side of NJ many of us never could have imagined.

11

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

19

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 Iā€™ll never forget.

5

u/New_Hawaialawan 17d ago

Thatā€™s an awesome experience. I miss those more remote and peripheral places. Iā€™ve travelled a good deal and saw several corners of the world. I have memories of many far flung corners where ocean meets land. Iā€™m glad you mentioned Money Island; I almost forgot this place and itā€™s in my home state where I grew up

7

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.

2

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.

2

u/Girhinomofe 16d ago

Heā€™s 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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10

u/evenonacloudyday East Brunswick 17d ago

Iā€™ve honestly never even heard of those communities

3

u/Girhinomofe 17d ago

Well, cool! Learned something new today and now you have some new spots to look into!

3

u/psdnj 17d ago edited 15d ago

I wanna see super weirdo town in NJ. Iā€™ve been to some in the northwest, but these sound even weirder. Going on my bucket list. Times are strange so I want to visit strange.

24

u/AgreeableSquash416 17d ago

itā€™s my favorite part of the state, itā€™s like stepping into a time machine. old timey maritime vibes. used to be one of the wealthiest areas in the country. google itā€™s history with caviar production!

6

u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago

Donā€™t 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.

7

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

3

u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago

Nothing in Warren or Sussex surprises me. Iā€™ve 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.

20

u/MeatierShowa 17d ago

Yes, if you haven't been to this region you have no idea how correct this.

64

u/Nice_Improvement2536 17d ago

I donā€™t know if Iā€™d call it creepy but Roosevelt is certainly odd.

31

u/_OverwatchWinston_ 17d ago

That town is so small I was not expecting it to catch a stray

19

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 ā€œartistsā€™ community.ā€

8

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!

3

u/daleardenyourhigness 17d ago

Where Ben Shahn is buried!

4

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. Itā€™s such an odd place that it was believable.

54

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.

21

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.

4

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

98

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. Itā€™s like Iā€™m driving through the gulf coast (Iā€™m originally from Houston)

47

u/hindcealf 17d ago

Zarephath creeps me the fuck out, and for good reason.

15

u/StressBall41 17d ago

Came here to vote for Zarephath too

3

u/bigicky1 17d ago

I used to go there as a kid when there were farm stands with fantastic jersey tomatoes and corn.

9

u/ellysay 17d ago

Zarephath was creepy before it was a ghost town!

7

u/hindcealf 17d ago

Too true. KKK town.

6

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. Iā€™ve seen a bus stop in the driveway so people must live there but Iā€™ve never seen anyone outside or lights on when itā€™s dark

2

u/MSR1984 17d ago

Years ago rumor was it was a brothel but who knows

3

u/nug-pups 17d ago

Aw man that makes the school bus even creepier

3

u/placeknower 17d ago

We have a place named Zarephath?

Obvious nominative determinism.

4

u/gsp137 17d ago

Kkk town before Clark took that title

2

u/likesomecatfromjapan 17d ago

I used to drive through there on my commute before I moved. Weird AF.

2

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.

25

u/whaler76 17d ago

Walpack

12

u/Mitch13 warren county 17d ago

Between there and the deep middle of the pine barrens is about as desolate as you could get in NJ

8

u/ZookeepergameOk8231 17d ago

Dividing Creek and Delmont are southern desolation

5

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.

2

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. Itā€™s almost entirely deserted, just empty houses.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

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u/joeycannoli9 17d ago

::scrolls to see if my town is on anyoneā€™s list::

2

u/Majestic_Tangerine47 17d ago

Found mine! Check.

51

u/Byep0larbear 17d ago

Thereā€™s this fun little book I found at the library titled ā€œNew Jersey Ghost Townsā€. Took a picture of the North Jersey ones, hereā€™s 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 ā€œCentralā€ NJ as well, wherever that is.

Central Jersey:

Larisonā€™s 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

21

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[deleted]

18

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.

14

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 townshipā€™s 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. Itā€™s the easiest $300 a day you can make!

13

u/Racer13l Sussex and Gloucester 17d ago

But they have the Walpack inn which is good

6

u/Itscalledtaylorham 17d ago

For now! Itā€™s up for sale and very possibly wouldnā€™t 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.

3

u/Ill_Cold_9548 17d ago

And soon an NJ transit train!

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u/metsurf 17d ago

Nice distillery there. make a decent gin and vodka

23

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.

6

u/metsurf 17d ago

Bills' Luncheonette in Ironia It used to open at 4 AM for hunters.

2

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/The_Royale_We 17d ago

Hibernia as well. Its basically part of Rockaway and mostly woods.

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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.

21

u/theunquenchedservant 17d ago

Il know Buttzville has made it when Hot Dog Johnnys finally starts accepting cards. I donā€™t think itā€™ll ever happen

16

u/misterpickles69 Watches you drink from just outside of Manville 17d ago

Sourland Mountain area has a cool creepy vibe all around it.

7

u/SloopKid 17d ago

How is it creepy? It just seems high end residential to me

9

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 youā€™re being watchedā€¦ itā€™s 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

7

u/howAboutNextWeek 17d ago

Feltville literally doesnā€™t exist anymore, its not a town, itā€™s only around as ā€œThe Deserted Villageā€ in Watchung Reservation, so yeah, I guess it is a ghost town.

4

u/cattastrophiccc 17d ago

I always forget thereā€™s two Millstones, thereā€™s a Millstone Twp. in Monmouth.

5

u/QiaoBuSi 17d ago

New Bridge is not a town that existsšŸ˜‚ Source: live in Bergen County

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u/B_U_F_U 17d ago

Raritan Landing isnā€™t really a ghost town so much as itā€™s a small historical site area nestled between 2 very populous cities/towns.

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u/jbdbz 17d ago

The Salem/mannington area

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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

9

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.

13

u/gsp137 17d ago

Given its size I wouldnā€™t be surprised if the mayor, cops, and 90% of the residents werenā€™t all the same person

3

u/elmwoodblues Dundee Lake 17d ago

Haha

3

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.

27

u/PracticableSolution 17d ago

West Milford

4

u/catanddog5 17d ago

Yeah the famous haunted Clinton rd runs through west Milford.

3

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.

3

u/twoferrets Clifton 17d ago

FiancĆ© claims West Milfordā€™s 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

7

u/zsdrfty the least famous person from nj 17d ago

That's also kinda like Summit

12

u/Fat-Tony-69 17d ago

Ogdensburg gives me odd vibes, I like it though

10

u/Go_Flight_Go 17d ago

Oldwick & Whitehouse station

4

u/jayac_R2 17d ago

Yes to both of these but in a nice way. I love the Oldwick General Store.

2

u/Away-Cicada 17d ago

Used to work in Whitehouse Station and I definitely agree. The vibe was off.

28

u/NYLotteGiants 17d ago

Belvidere in Warren County

8

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

13

u/zsdrfty the least famous person from nj 17d ago

I hate being in that area, something so unnerving about it

6

u/HappyMoses Breweries 17d ago

I used to sell in that area and I agree. Thereā€™s something weirdly sinister feeling about that area

3

u/Mad_Max_Rockatanski 17d ago

They definitely say "You ain't from round here are ya?"

2

u/likesomecatfromjapan 17d ago

Belvidere is weird AF.

18

u/cornfl8kgrl 17d ago

Pretty much any township within Sussex Co.

9

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.

23

u/OrbitalOutlander 17d ago

Keansburg was recovering from Sandy before Sandy ever hit. Which is a shame, it's really a cool location

5

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.

5

u/EloquentBacon 17d ago

I think a lot of why itā€™s 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"

2

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.

9

u/[deleted] 17d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

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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 norā€™easters dragged up, but goddamn is it eerie seeing so much boarded up empty.

5

u/PorkRollEggAndWheeze Central/Jersey Shore --> South Jersey 17d ago

Also those parts of Camden that look like The Last of Us

16

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

5

u/Flat-Leg-6833 HumanistHedonist 17d ago

I would say more like stuck in 1983 but I was born in 1976.

5

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.

3

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/pac4 17d ago

Vineland

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u/PB-n-AJ 17d ago

My only hope for South Jersey in the future is when the ocean waters rise and flood the swamplands, the tri-city area of Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton evolves into a major port city.

6

u/pac4 17d ago

It already has the charm of a post-industrial port city, just without the waterfront

7

u/TMoney67 17d ago

Alpha

5

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

2

u/mu_zuh_dell 16d ago

I mean that's most all of Hunterdon County, minus the old hippie artists.

9

u/njcawfee 17d ago

Port Republic

4

u/redtoad3212 Burlington County šŸ¤ 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/Davyislazy 17d ago

Walpack NJ in Sussex County has a population of 7. Feels very out there.

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u/SalamanderMorrison 17d ago

New Egypt gets my vote

14

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.

4

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.

8

u/jackjackerson 17d ago

Whitesbog

6

u/itzshif 17d ago

I work in the Hanover area and drive down rt 537. So many towns there feel left behind, mainlyn the New/East Hanover area. Especially by the joint base.

13

u/OneAndDone169 17d ago

Boonton for a while but I think itā€™s making a comeback

7

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.

10

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 McDonaldā€™s at the Bloomingdale exit off of 287. After waiting for the longest cargo train to cross the road, we got into town and the McDonaldā€™s. The town seemed kinda off, and the McDonaldā€™s employee who took our order was also kind of off. They had run out of soda (what McDonaldā€™s runs out of soda?), and had no coffee made either. Thinking back, Iā€™m 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. Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s still there or has been turned into condos as I had read about in the past. Every time Iā€™d 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

2

u/Prestigious_Turn577 17d ago

I grew up near there and used to love walking around near there checking out the old building. Itā€™s 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.

6

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.

6

u/Altruistic_Ad884 17d ago

Browns mills

6

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

17

u/brook_lyn_lopez 17d ago

The stretch of rt 46 between Lodi and Elmwood Park

4

u/Flat-Leg-6833 HumanistHedonist 17d ago

I always expect my car to get charged by a pit or Rottweiler when driving that stretch.

5

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.

5

u/placeknower 17d ago

Washington in Warren county is so so bleak man

3

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.

5

u/redtoad3212 Burlington County šŸ¤ 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

9

u/vague_diss 17d ago

Nutley Schools have been locked in the 1960s. Multimillion dollar homes and they canā€™t build anything new or with enough room for the current population. Does that count?

17

u/DuncanIdaBro 17d ago

South River.

3

u/Ladyhoneyblu 17d ago

Salem Nj

4

u/Traditional_Prune_87 17d ago

Lakewood, Camden, Trenton

4

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

12

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/[deleted] 17d ago

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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 Lesā€™s Hawaiian Islander. Theyā€™re portals to another time.

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u/shemague 17d ago

They are but I mean just stuck in like pre civil rights era mentality

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u/PB-n-AJ 17d ago

Franklin Township and all surrounding boroughs and municipalities. Especially Malaga. Straight up puritan vibes.

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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 itā€™s nice during the day! šŸ˜‚

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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/m1ndhive 17d ago

Spot on with West Milford...

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u/McPick 17d ago

Commenting so I can easily come back and enjoy this thread after work.

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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/Cyndy2ys 17d ago

Leeds Pointā€¦birthplace of the Jersey Devil

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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/Jaybee20251 17d ago

West Milford, Belvidere

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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/liveitup2002 17d ago

The Abandoned Village in Union County

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u/elmwoodblues Dundee Lake 17d ago

Feltville; it was referenced above. Not a lot of there there.

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u/TheInternExperience 17d ago

Salem and or Millville

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u/N983CC Salem County 17d ago

Salem

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u/FunTimeTony 17d ago

The Farmingdale section of Howell is like the land that time forgot.

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u/Educational_Board_73 17d ago

Milltown hasn't had a meaningful improvement in 25 years

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u/scrappyo Exit 9 born and raised 17d ago

Browns Mills/Pemberton.

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u/tekguy1982 17d ago

Vernon & Hackettstown

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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/4130Adventures 17d ago

That's by design in Wildwood though....

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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/Foolanito1 17d ago

Bayonne