A Trip to Dudleytown!
Below is a post from July 1999 on a trip to Dudleytown, CT. Enjoy!
Dudleytown (located in Cornwall, Connecticut), while deemed haunted, as well as cursed, remains to this day a place of fascination for those that dare to be scared!
There are differing legends as to how Dudleytown became a virtual “ghost town”, as well as continuing controversy over which stories are true, the fact remains, Dudleytown captures our imagination.
In the1700’s settlers began to build a small community in a place that would seem to defy colonial logic. What made them want to live on top of a rocky mountain with poor soil and nothing but dense forest? One can only speculate, however impossible it must have been to clear the land, something drove them on. Imagine there high hopes and hard work crumbling around them as they realized their crops wouldn’t grow, their live stock kept disappearing and the plague and consumption was spreading among them. Did this slowly drive some to madness?
There was talk of Demons, strange hoofed creatures and missing children. Was General Swift’s wife struck by lighting because the curse befell her too? Why would one God fearing woman decide to hang herself and many years later another wife kill herself too? How did a town last for over 100 years and then simply cease to exist?
The ancient legends and their origins remain a mystery but I can assure you that the Legend of Dudleytown lives on!
Whether you call it a curse or just plain bad luck, Dudleytown and its dark remnants are affecting those that dare to seek it out. In our own time there have been stories of visitors experiencing strange phenomena, hearing un-earthly sounds, capturing spirit photography and worst of all bringing home their own dose of the curse.
On July 11, 1999, The Seeker team traveled to Dudleytown to investigate the site and document our own findings. With cameras and a VHS recorder we found our way to Dark Entry Road (now called Bald Mountain Road) at 11:30 a.m. The weather was beautiful, clear and unseasonably cool. Rumors had it that we would experience either an eerie quiet or incessant owl screeching. We found Dudleytown to have all the appropriate sounds one would find on a hike through the Connecticut hills. There was no shortage of stone walls and we were quick to find our first root cellar.
Overgrown with new growth trees and hidden by years of leaf compost, a little searching and we managed to find the foundations of several houses as well as two school houses, bridges a dam and a possible mill foundation. The amount and size of the stones used to shore up the cliffs on the old fire road were impressive; a good example of that Ol’ Yankee ingenuity. One legend we now know to be right on the money is the Darkness! High noon on a clear sunny day and in some areas we needed flash on our cameras!
There were no hoofed creatures that we could see but there is an air of sadness there you won’t find on an average hike through the woods. Perhaps its looking at the emptiness and the sign of hard work gone to waste. Looking at the stone walls and imagining the farms they once contained you could almost see the sheep grazing. Or standing in the foundation of a school house hearing the children scratching out their lessons on the local slate. Its not such a hard stretch to imagine that the dedicated country folk that were so determined to see their dreams produce, would stay on, after parting their worldly existence. After all, this town existed against all odds and must have taken a rare amount of courage and endurance to create a life in Dudleytown.
The Seeker team spent four hours trudging around Dudleytown but it wasn’t until we left that the bad luck hit! At the intersection of Cemetery Hill Road, a local truck driver crashed into our car! As our driver slammed on his brakes, we noticed the driver coming at us as if we were invisible! There was nothing we could do but brace ourselves and hope for the best.
After waiting over an hour for a State trooper to come and investigate the crash, the truck driver admitted that he never even saw us! He was issued a ticket and as no one was hurt and the car was still driveable, we headed for home. On our way a dog running up the road seemed not to see us either and almost got hit! Coincidence or Curse? We’ll let you decide!
~ THE PICS ARE IN !! ~
No Parking after DARK!! Entrance to Dudleytown.
Strange mist on left hand side.
Three very dense anomalies. Does it look like smoke to you? (I don't think so)
View from Dudleytown path.
Seeker investigator says "I am Durga the Demon slayer!" Guess they didn't like that!
In this unusually dry Summer, the falls are nothing more than a trickle.
The mill is long gone but the dam remembers!
Shaggy the skeptic tapes the scene.
Bridge over troubled waters!
Retention wall Vs mountain road. The mountain is winning.
A few minutes out of Dudleytown and we're documenting our own CRASH scene! The guy leaning on the truck is the local who hit us.
Hey! It's not the "Mystery Van" But it gets us around. 173.000 miles without a dent, that is until now! Good thing the guy that hit us was going slow!
We have added links that will take you to other sites with information pertaining to Dudleytown.
If it’s the Oooogy Booogy stuff your interested in check these out….
Haunted Places
Paranormal Research Society
If it’s the modern day calamities associated with Dudleytown then bookmark our page as we will add updates as we receive them. If you decide to take your chances with a visit we’d be glad to tell your tale.
If the Dudleytown mystery doesn’t satisfy your craving for fear, then be sure to check out the up and coming horror movie The Blair Witch Project. This is a completely fictional movie, but the similarities to Dudleytown are uncanny. After seeing this movie you might just decide to cancel your next trip to Dudleytown. Or will you???????
WARNING: The Dark Entry Forest Association owns the property and is having anyone who trespasses arrested. I was told the fine is $75.00.
This association is shrouded in secrecy and will seemingly stop at nothing to keep people out of Dudleytown. However, try as they might, They weren’t able to stop an author (who was doing research for a book for National Geographic) from going there. He entered Dudleytown via the Mohawk trail. You can read about how they tried to stop him and his Dudleytown experience by clicking the following link. http://pages.cthome.net/rwinkler/dudleytown.htm
Check out this review By Casey Hailey, CPNet.com Staff
Another great review By Susan Wloszczyna at USA TODAY
Dudleytown (located in Cornwall, Connecticut), while deemed haunted, as well as cursed, remains to this day a place of fascination for those that dare to be scared!
There are differing legends as to how Dudleytown became a virtual “ghost town”, as well as continuing controversy over which stories are true, the fact remains, Dudleytown captures our imagination.
In the1700’s settlers began to build a small community in a place that would seem to defy colonial logic. What made them want to live on top of a rocky mountain with poor soil and nothing but dense forest? One can only speculate, however impossible it must have been to clear the land, something drove them on. Imagine there high hopes and hard work crumbling around them as they realized their crops wouldn’t grow, their live stock kept disappearing and the plague and consumption was spreading among them. Did this slowly drive some to madness?
There was talk of Demons, strange hoofed creatures and missing children. Was General Swift’s wife struck by lighting because the curse befell her too? Why would one God fearing woman decide to hang herself and many years later another wife kill herself too? How did a town last for over 100 years and then simply cease to exist?
The ancient legends and their origins remain a mystery but I can assure you that the Legend of Dudleytown lives on!
Whether you call it a curse or just plain bad luck, Dudleytown and its dark remnants are affecting those that dare to seek it out. In our own time there have been stories of visitors experiencing strange phenomena, hearing un-earthly sounds, capturing spirit photography and worst of all bringing home their own dose of the curse.
On July 11, 1999, The Seeker team traveled to Dudleytown to investigate the site and document our own findings. With cameras and a VHS recorder we found our way to Dark Entry Road (now called Bald Mountain Road) at 11:30 a.m. The weather was beautiful, clear and unseasonably cool. Rumors had it that we would experience either an eerie quiet or incessant owl screeching. We found Dudleytown to have all the appropriate sounds one would find on a hike through the Connecticut hills. There was no shortage of stone walls and we were quick to find our first root cellar.
Overgrown with new growth trees and hidden by years of leaf compost, a little searching and we managed to find the foundations of several houses as well as two school houses, bridges a dam and a possible mill foundation. The amount and size of the stones used to shore up the cliffs on the old fire road were impressive; a good example of that Ol’ Yankee ingenuity. One legend we now know to be right on the money is the Darkness! High noon on a clear sunny day and in some areas we needed flash on our cameras!
There were no hoofed creatures that we could see but there is an air of sadness there you won’t find on an average hike through the woods. Perhaps its looking at the emptiness and the sign of hard work gone to waste. Looking at the stone walls and imagining the farms they once contained you could almost see the sheep grazing. Or standing in the foundation of a school house hearing the children scratching out their lessons on the local slate. Its not such a hard stretch to imagine that the dedicated country folk that were so determined to see their dreams produce, would stay on, after parting their worldly existence. After all, this town existed against all odds and must have taken a rare amount of courage and endurance to create a life in Dudleytown.
The Seeker team spent four hours trudging around Dudleytown but it wasn’t until we left that the bad luck hit! At the intersection of Cemetery Hill Road, a local truck driver crashed into our car! As our driver slammed on his brakes, we noticed the driver coming at us as if we were invisible! There was nothing we could do but brace ourselves and hope for the best.
After waiting over an hour for a State trooper to come and investigate the crash, the truck driver admitted that he never even saw us! He was issued a ticket and as no one was hurt and the car was still driveable, we headed for home. On our way a dog running up the road seemed not to see us either and almost got hit! Coincidence or Curse? We’ll let you decide!
~ THE PICS ARE IN !! ~
No Parking after DARK!! Entrance to Dudleytown.
Strange mist on left hand side.
Three very dense anomalies. Does it look like smoke to you? (I don't think so)
View from Dudleytown path.
Seeker investigator says "I am Durga the Demon slayer!" Guess they didn't like that!
In this unusually dry Summer, the falls are nothing more than a trickle.
The mill is long gone but the dam remembers!
Shaggy the skeptic tapes the scene.
Bridge over troubled waters!
Retention wall Vs mountain road. The mountain is winning.
A few minutes out of Dudleytown and we're documenting our own CRASH scene! The guy leaning on the truck is the local who hit us.
Hey! It's not the "Mystery Van" But it gets us around. 173.000 miles without a dent, that is until now! Good thing the guy that hit us was going slow!
We have added links that will take you to other sites with information pertaining to Dudleytown.
If it’s the Oooogy Booogy stuff your interested in check these out….
Haunted Places
Paranormal Research Society
If it’s the modern day calamities associated with Dudleytown then bookmark our page as we will add updates as we receive them. If you decide to take your chances with a visit we’d be glad to tell your tale.
If the Dudleytown mystery doesn’t satisfy your craving for fear, then be sure to check out the up and coming horror movie The Blair Witch Project. This is a completely fictional movie, but the similarities to Dudleytown are uncanny. After seeing this movie you might just decide to cancel your next trip to Dudleytown. Or will you???????
WARNING: The Dark Entry Forest Association owns the property and is having anyone who trespasses arrested. I was told the fine is $75.00.
This association is shrouded in secrecy and will seemingly stop at nothing to keep people out of Dudleytown. However, try as they might, They weren’t able to stop an author (who was doing research for a book for National Geographic) from going there. He entered Dudleytown via the Mohawk trail. You can read about how they tried to stop him and his Dudleytown experience by clicking the following link. http://pages.cthome.net/rwinkler/dudleytown.htm
Check out this review By Casey Hailey, CPNet.com Staff
Another great review By Susan Wloszczyna at USA TODAY
Blair WitchProject
vs.
Dudleytown
DUDLEYTOWN | BLAIR TOWNSHIP |
| Actual Town, actual Legends | Fictional Town, Fictional Legends |
| Dudleytown established 1700's Edmond Dudley be-headed and he and his kin are cursed by Witchcraft... Dudley brothers Abiel and Barzillai bring their inherited curse to the Cornwall Connecticut mountainside. | Blair Township established 1700's Elly Kedward the accused Witch is banished in the dead of winter and curses the entire town. Tied to a tree and left to the elements, she is presumed dead. |
| Town plagued by mysterious deaths and disappearances. Thomas Dudley found hacked to death in Dudleytown; murderer never found. | Town plagued by mysterious deaths and disappearances. 8yr.old Robin Weaver is reported missing, her search party is found disemboweled; murderer is never found. |
| Children vanish residents fear curse John Brophy's 2 sons disappear and his wife dies of unknown causes. 1901 Brophy lives in solitude as the local hermit. He would speak to know one, though when he did venture off the mountain the locals claimed to hear him mumbling tales of Demons with a crazed look in his eyes. Later Brophy's house burned to the ground, neither him or his remains were found. | Children vanish residents fear curse 7 children abducted and later found murdered by local hermit. Rustin Parr walks into a local market and tells the people there that he is "finally finished". Police find the seven missing children. He is quickly tried and hanged. |
| Deserted, the town becomes a proverbial "ghost town" reclaimed by the mountain and its thick forest, nothing but stone walls and foundations remain. | Also deserted and reclaimed by the mountain, Blair lays silent and waits. |
| Years later new residents try their luck. 1930 Dr.William Clark builds a summer home and the curse awakens from its sleep. When returning from a business trip he finds his wife alone and laughing hysterically, she had gone completely Insane! They quickly moved away from Dudleytown. | Years later new residents try their luck. 1824 Blair becomes Burkitsville here too the curse rekindles and eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull 10 yr. old Eileen Treacle into the creek. Her body is never found. |
| 1990's Seeker as well as other Paranormal organizations document their mysterious findings and keep the Legends alive. | 1990's Montgomery College Students set out to document their own findings and end up becoming part of the legend. They are never seen alive again. |
Labels: Connecticut Paranormal Group, Cornwall CT, Dark entry, Dudley Town, Dudleytown Vs the Blair Witch Project, Seeker, Seeker Ghosts
posted by Seeker at 10:58 PM
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