Post by Joanna on Oct 10, 2014 22:43:33 GMT -5
Eerie Ghost Town for Sale in Connecticut
You could be the owner of a ghost town in Connecticut that will hit the auction block just in time for Halloween. But it will cost you an arm and a leg. Online bidding for the historic mill village at Johnsonville in East Haddam, Connecticut, starts at $800,000 October 28. Covering about 62 acres, the property is described in its listing as a “19th century village with 21st century living.”
Jim Kelly, senior vice president of RM Bradley, a private brokerage firm, said he wanted the listing to fall into the Halloween season to pique interest, and it has worked. Since the auction website was launched a few weeks ago, it has received more than 650 hits. “It’s considered a special purpose property, given the uniqueness and nature of it, and it’s driven a lot of traffic,” he said. “There’s quite a large field of considerable interest.”
The interest has ranged from an educational institution for a potential campus site, private equity partners for development purposes and outdoor camp and entertainment groups, Kelly said.
The picturesque property includes a chapel, general store, meeting house, waterfall, 15-acre pond and more. “The mill, unfortunately, stopped production after a lightning strike and fire in 1972,” Kelly said. “At that time, it was the third oldest, continuously operating manufacturing enterprise in the U.S.
Mr. [Raymond] Schmitt held the estate from the mid-70s through 1998, and it has been uninhibited since 1998 and sold to the current owner in 2001.” The owner, a real estate entity, has held the property since then. The company had plans to turn it into a residential development with a potential bed-and-breakfast and hotel and to restore the village. “They bought it prior to September 11 in 2001 and incurred two recessions,” Kelly said of the owners. “Financing was tight. It was a huge project and they wanted to ride the storm out and decided to let someone acquire it and develop it.”
Is Johnsonville Haunted?
In East Haddam, a few miles north of the fabled Goodspeed Opera House and near the border of Moodus, is a large parcel of land that was once the thriving community of Johnsonville. Once a bustling mill community, then a Victorian tourist attraction, it is now an abandoned ghost town, stuck in limbo waiting for someone to either come and restore it or to put it out of its misery.
Of course, Johnsonville didn’t begin with the intentions of becoming a deserted village. Originally founded in the early 19th century, Johnsonville was home to a number of twine mills that used the Moodus River as a power source.
In the early 1960s, Raymond Schmitt, the somewhat eccentric owner of AGC Corporation, an aerospace equipment manufacturer, bought the property with unclear intentions. He seemed to want to make it a tourist attraction, but despite his efforts, never really officially did so. After Schmitt took possession of the property, he purchased other vintage buildings and had them moved to Johnsonville, including a Victorian stable and chapel, which hosted weddings. He didn’t formally operate tours on the property, opened the village to visitors on a regular basis. He also allowed special events including charity benefits and weddings.
According to a November 2000 article in Business New Haven, he also had “an exceptional collection of antique horse-drawn carriages, which he displayed in the livery stable.” Following are additional details of the property according to the Business New Haven story:
“One of the jewels is the Emory Johnson h. Built in 1846 by the son-in-law of one of the original owners of the mill, the four-bedroom house has three fireplaces, pillared porches, a formal garden and original Victorian-era details. In later years it served as a museum depicting décor and furnishings of the 1800s.
“A small one-and-a-half story single-family dwelling was built in 1900. A two-story Colonial-style house was built in 1846. The remaining residence is a two-story dwelling built in 1800.
“The office, overlooking the 15-acre Johnson Millpond, was built in 1899. The former location of the Neptune mill office, the building was once a post office. The Gilead Chapel, which seats approximately 75 worshipers, was built in 1876 and moved to the village from Waterford in the late 1960s.
“No one knows the exact age of the one-room Hyde School, which was the original schoolhouse for the community of East Haddam. The Red House Restaurant was built in 1900 and has been renovated into a restaurant/banquet facility for 150-200 people. A clock and toy store, originally used as a meeting house, was built in the 1800s; Frank General Store was built in 1845 in Peru, Mass.
“The Gilbert Livery Stable was reportedly built in Winsted in 1920. Its three levels contain oak stalls with unusual woodwork, including beadboard and raised panels. All of this is in a beautiful setting with views of the river, a millpond, island, waterfall and some man-made features such as a covered bridge, wooden dam and paddlewheel riverboat.”
In 1994, Schmitt got into a disagreement with the town of East Haddam and shut down the attraction, putting the property up for sale. Schmitt died in 1998 and his estate started selling off many of the antiques and other pieces of the property, including some of the buildings. At one point the property was listed for $3 million, not a bad price for 60-plus acres of scenic Connecticut countryside.
Some suggest the ghost of Schmitt roams the grounds of Johnsonville, content to spend eternity in a place for which he had so much affection. We haven’t heard of any other specific ghost stories here, but like any long-abandoned settlement, there’s an undeniable creepiness inherent to the place.
We took a trip to East Haddam in April 2011, which included a ride down Johnsonville Road and through the abandoned village. We stopped and took photos of the buildings that were still there, including the chapel and Johnson House (above). The village is in okay condition – some of the places could use a little paint and care, but it’s not like the walls are collapsing and the ceilings are caved in.
“Like any good “abandoned” area, it was very quiet – although the funny thing is that just on all sides of Johnsonville is normal suburbia, with plenty of modest homes containing average American families. Kids ride bikes down the street, men tend their lawns, minivans are parked in driveways ... Johnsonville is like a weird dead spot in an otherwise regular Connecticut neighborhood.
We didn’t see or experience anything unusual, although it would’ve been great to hang around and take more pictures.
If You Go: The remains of Johnsonville can be found on Johnsonville Road in East Haddam, just off Route 149 near the Moodus end of town. “No Trespassing” signs are posted throughout the property, although there’s nothing to stop you from driving along Johnsonville Road.
Sources: Susanna Kim, ABC News, October 9, 2014, and Ray Bendici, Damned Connecticut.
