The Story of This Abandoned Place in New Jersey Is Truly Fascinating

I absolutely love exploring creepy attractions, haunted cemeteries, and spooky places. The scarier, the better. New Jersey has its fair share of creepy attractions, including several abandoned sites. One of these places, the former town of Harrisville in the Bass River area of the Pine Barrens, is a creepy ghost town hidden in the woods.

The Pine Barrens, a protected ecosystem in New Jersey, has long been thought of as a mysterious area full of paranormal activity and infamous Jersey Devil encounters. The woods here are full of ghost towns, including the remains of an industrial town called Harrisville. The small industrial village was a thriving community from the late 1700s to the late 1800s. Originally called McCartyville, the name later changed to Harrisville when the town switched hands in 1855.

The community centered around producing paper, and a sizable group of workers and their families lived here. Harrisville originally contained a grist mill, tenant homes, a paper mill, and owner’s mansions. There was also a store, a post office, and a school. It was a pretty little town adorned with gas lanterns and white picket fences. For a while, it seemed that Harrisville was quite the place to be. 

However, financial difficulties and growing competition eventually overtook the area and the papermaking factory closed in the 1890s. As the residents of Harrisville moved on to explore other opportunities and more prosperous communities, the town became largely abandoned. In 1914, a forest fire overtook Harrisville and destroyed the majority of its property and furnishings. Vandals then stepped in and took what was left. Harrisville was sadly no more.

Unfortunately, much of the town has been lost to history. The buildings are long gone and the area has been overtaken by natural growth. It’s hard to imagine that people actually lived and worked here. 

While little is left of this once vibrant community, you can still view the remains of the decaying paper mill. If you visit Harrisville, take time to appreciate the surroundings and try to imagine what once took place here. Can you hear the lost voices of the people of Harrisville?

Have you taken a visit to Harrisville ghost town? Did you find it spooky and scary? If you are a lover of abandoned places, you will definitely want to check out the book, Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through The World's Forgotten Wonders by Oliver Smith. To find out more about taking a tour of the ghost towns of the Pine Barrens, visit the Pinelands Preservation Alliance website. For more creepy haunts in the Garden State, check out Clinton Road, the most haunted street in New Jersey, as well as the historically haunted Piscatawaytown Cemetery.