walpack center, also known as wallpack center (i have no idea why there are two different spellings, but as you can see it's spelled one way on this sign, and the other way on the post office in town) is in walpack township, sussex county, new jersey. why is this place of interest you ask? because it's a quant little town, abandoned and gives off the appearance that one day everyone just decided to pick up and move out. weird right? not so weird. apparently the residents of the area were not so thrilled about leaving, but had no choice. from what i have read, the government siezed (by condemnation in many cases) most of the property with hopes of building a dam (tocks island dam project) in the 1960's. people lost their homes or received below value price for their property (some families had owned their property for generations) for a project that never came to fruition. so now the land and homes sit, unused and lonely and are now part of the delaware water gap recreation area. walpack center wasn't the only town to succomb. i also drove through bevans (which appeared to have at least a few residents left) and also millbrook village. but while driving through the woods up and down dirt roads, the most striking is walpack center. you are driving and driving and see nothing then out of nowhere you see a cute little town, so you stop. but there's not a soul in site. there's a post office and a school and a church and what looks like an old gas station.
but that's it. no people. save for one, single house that has a 'residence' sign posted out front, which i assume is meant to keep people from peeking through their windows. from what i understand, the entire town is being restored thanks to the historical society and it seems that there is a small museum (looked like it was in the post office, i looked in the window and there was an fbi wanted poster on the wall, cracked me up!) since they are attempting to restore and preserve the buildings, they don't want you tromping up and down on entering the buildings, as most of the doors were locked (of course, i tried). i suggest you park at one end of town and walk around (don't worry, it's not that big so you don't have to walk far) so you don't miss anything. you may want to bring bug spray, depending on what time of year you visit, i learned this the hard way...i am still scratching. it's a very cool little town, and because the lawns are being mowed and some houses have been repainted, it really does give the appearance that people just up and left. so it's a little creepy, a little weird, but totally worth the visit. while poking around i did find one houseand it's basement storm doors were not only unlocked, but propped open. so how could i resist?? i couldn't. it was quite dark and i couldn't really see anything so i just started snapping pictures. i could see the shadow of steps in the corner so i snapped a picture and this is what i saw when the flash went off...
i was so happy to see there wasn't a person standing in the corner with his back to me (blair witch project, anyone?) but to be honest, i high tailed it out of there because once the thought was in my head, there was no getting it out. i spent lots of time walking around and looking in windows (except the house with the residence sign!!) and there was a really cool lamp post that totally reminded me of the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe that was kind of near the road, but not close enough to either the road or any house to make sense for it to be where it was. also, it was broken. i loved it.
i decided to get back in my car and head farther up the road, because there was a sign advertising the walpack inn and i thought it might be interesting to check it out. of course, it was closed. guess they don't serve zombies. or gnomes. then i spotted a home with a very long drive way...only to discover it wasn't used as a home at all. it was a recreation center. that would explain the basketball court out front, i guess. still weird.
right next to the rec center there was another farm, with a little red building and inside the building, i found a chair sitting in front of a window....looked like someone had been sitting there right before i arrived. super eeire. and while i was in there, the front door decided to creak shut behind me. if anything will give you the willies, it's that sound going on behind you while you are trying to snap a photo from inside a building that apparently doesn't want you to be there.
my favorite spot was an old farm that was quite large (i imagine a well off family lived there because there were at least 2 large barns and many other out buildings all over the property. i don't like poking around in the weeds (snakes!) and most of the place was heavily overgrown. but after fighting through some of the undergrowth, it opened up into a clear yard where i found the best sight i would see all day! that's right folks, creepy old baby carriage. i wanted so badly to pick this thing up and take it with me, but i didnt. i had to remind myself that if someone else had taken it, it wouldn't have been there for me to find and how disappointing would that have been? severely.
after climbing through weeds, sans bug spray because i am an idiot and didn't bring any, i was making my way back to civilization when i saw a sign that said 'buttermilk falls' and thought, i can't come all this way and not see falls of buttermilk! so follow the direction of the pointing sign i did. i sort of felt like i was driving off into the woods down a dirt road and was beginning to think that maybe it was some sort of trick that was meant to bring me out to the middle of nowhere to my death (ya know, like the hills have eyes? maybe i watch too many horror movies, but seriously, look at me, it's sort of a requirement) when i almost drove by what i was looking for...there it was, right next to the road in plain sight.
there's a small parking area. i parked. and lucky me, there was a chick changing her clothes in the car next to me...she laughed and waved. the water (no buttermilk, much to my disappointment) falls were worth a look see. nothing crazy impressive, but if you are in the area, make sure you check them out. i only spent a few minutes here, that's all i needed. i have lots more photos of the area on my facebook page, make sure you log on and check them out!! on to my next adventure...
