Clinton Road (New Jersey)

Clinton Road
Namesake Former community along road
Maintained by West Milford Township
Length 9.3 mi[1] (15.0 km)
Location West Milford, New Jersey, USA
Coordinates 41°03′15″N 74°27′08″W / 41.054275°N 74.452189°W / 41.054275; -74.452189Coordinates: 41°03′15″N 74°27′08″W / 41.054275°N 74.452189°W / 41.054275; -74.452189
South end Route 23 in West Milford
North end Warwick Turnpike in West Milford
Other
Known for Legends of paranormal activity

Clinton Road is located in West Milford, Passaic County, New Jersey. It runs in a generally north-south direction, beginning at Route 23 near Newfoundland and running roughly 10 miles (16 km) to its northern terminus at Upper Greenwood Lake.

The road and the land around it have gained notoriety over the years as an area rife with many legends of paranormal occurrences such as sightings of ghosts, strange creatures and gatherings of witches, Satanists and the Ku Klux Klan. It is also rumored that professional killers dispose of bodies in the surrounding woods—with one recorded case of this occurring.[2] It has been a regular subject of discussion in Weird NJ magazine, which once devoted an entire issue to it. In the words of a local police chief, "It's a long, desolate stretch and makes the imagination go nuts."[3]

There are very few houses along the road and much of the adjoining property is undeveloped publicly owned woodlands (either City of Newark watershed or state forest) and the road itself is a narrow two-lane highway that receives little maintenance, is not part of New Jersey's county route system and was until fairly recently unpaved for some of its length, connecting two areas of minimal population and growth and thus having little traffic even at the busiest times of day.

It is also notorious for having the country's longest traffic light wait.[4] This occurs at a double intersection where Route 23 crosses the road. The two lights can cause motorists to wait for 5 minutes in total. The lengthy wait was a result of traffic planners giving increased priority to Route 23 to reduce backups during rush hour.[5]

History

The road, like the reservoir and stream in the area, gets its name from the now-vanished settlement of Clinton, which was located about where the road crosses the brook.[6]

Legends and folklore

The different areas along or near Clinton Road have been much cited as the setting of urban legends, especially by the publication Weird NJ, which has devoted numerous articles to the subject.[7]

18th-century smelter mistakenly believed to be a Druidic temple

Cross Castle

In 1905, a man named Richard Cross built a castle on high land near the reservoir for his wife and three children. Later in the 20th century, it fell into ruin after a fire had destroyed part of it and thus became a popular destination for hikers and local teenagers looking for secluded locations to camp out and have parties.[13]

According to Weird NJ, "visitors have written telling of strange occurrences in or near the castle site, such as people going into seizures and having bruises appearing on their bodies afterwards, or having strange, disturbing visions. Writings that suggest Satanic symbols have been reported as appearing on the castle's interior walls, particularly in areas that were supposedly inaccessible."[13]

Newark's water department razed the castle as an attractive nuisance in 1988, but the foundations remain and several hiking trails still lead to the site.

The Iceman

In May 1983, a human body was found in the woods close to the road. According to Weird NJ, legend dictates that a cyclist going down the road discovered the body after investigating a vulture feasting at a spot in the nearby trees.

An autopsy found that the man had died of foul play, remarking something initially puzzling: ice crystals in blood vessels near his heart. His interior organs also had decayed at a rate far slower than his skin. Pathologists concluded that someone had frozen his body after death in an attempt to mislead investigators into believing he died at a later time than he actually did. The man was identified as someone on the periphery of mafia activities in nearby Rockland County, New York. The investigation ultimately led to the 1986 arrest of "The Iceman" Richard Kuklinski, a New Jersey native involved in Rockland organized crime, who confessed to being the killer.[2]

See also

References

  1. "Directions from Paterson Hamburg Turnpike to 506 Warwick Turnpike". Google Maps. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark; Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best-Kept Secrets; Barnes & Noble Books, New York, New York, 2003, p. 206
  3. Justo Bautista & Maia Davis (August 13, 1998), "Haunted-House Nightmare", Hackensack Record reprinted in The Seattle Times.
  4. Caren Chesler (June 24, 2001), "On the Road; The Longest Light", The New York Times.
  5. Mike Frassinelli (June 14, 2010), "N.J. motorists continue to be frustrated by 'nation's longest traffic light'", The Star-Ledger, Various publications have paid ironic homage. In 2001, the New York Times declared it 'America’s longest traffic light,' a year after The Star-Ledger in an editorial called it America’s second-longest light behind one in Delaware. New Jersey Department of Transportation officials say they have no ranking or idea where the intersection stands nationally. ... Actually, it’s a two-lights problem — two long lights at two closely spaced intersections confronting motorists on Clinton Road. The 2½-minute red lights are at either end of the double intersection.
  6. Moran, Mark and Sceurman, Mark; Weird NJ: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best-Kept Secrets; Barnes & Noble Books, New York, New York, 2003, 200
  7. Moran & Sceurman, 200-07.
  8. 1 2 Moran & Sceurman, 204.
  9. Moran & Sceurman, 205.
  10. "NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM" (PDF). UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. April 7, 2012. p. 8. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  11. From an interview in the television special "Most Terrifying Places in America 2" (2009) on the Travel Channel
  12. Moran & Sceurman, 203.
  13. 1 2 Moran & Sceurman, 202.

External links

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