Ruins in the Pine Barrens
April 20, 2017
Estell Manor Park
THE RUINS OF a munitions plant lay hidden near the bank of a river in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. The plant, now only a broken shell of crumbling brick walls with empty windows and doorways, had once been filled with activity—as well as explosives—during the Great War. A century later, nature has reclaimed her land—but the memory of the past yet remained, ingrained in each leftover brick of the former plant.
The nearby river appeared completely ordinary, flowing calm and smooth and blue—but, oh, what it must have witnessed over the decades, the centuries! The river watched as the munitions plant was built, brick by brick; the river watched as workers labored to birth deadly, unforgiving weapons; the river watched as the building fell into decay and the woods slowly but inexorably asserted their ground once more. . . .
The ruins of a powerhouse and, beside it, a still-bubbling artisan well kept the former munitions plant company a little ways down the riverbank.
Estell Manor Park
THE RUINS OF a munitions plant lay hidden near the bank of a river in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. The plant, now only a broken shell of crumbling brick walls with empty windows and doorways, had once been filled with activity—as well as explosives—during the Great War. A century later, nature has reclaimed her land—but the memory of the past yet remained, ingrained in each leftover brick of the former plant.
The nearby river appeared completely ordinary, flowing calm and smooth and blue—but, oh, what it must have witnessed over the decades, the centuries! The river watched as the munitions plant was built, brick by brick; the river watched as workers labored to birth deadly, unforgiving weapons; the river watched as the building fell into decay and the woods slowly but inexorably asserted their ground once more. . . .
The ruins of a powerhouse and, beside it, a still-bubbling artisan well kept the former munitions plant company a little ways down the riverbank.
These places brought to mind the legend of the Jersey Devil, the mythic monster of the Pine Barrens. Perhaps this was the place where the Jersey Devil was born. Perhaps the Jersey Devil had once been an ordinary man, a plant worker making munitions, and then—bam!—a tragic accident transformed him into a monster who stalked the woods of South Jersey, snatching people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Undoubtedly, there was a story in there somewhere.
Ooooh. If I ever go to this part of New Jersey, I know I'm going to stop here . . . I like your pictures (and your imaginings), and I'd like to see what I can come up with.
ReplyDeleteThank you! This park—Estell Manor Park—is definitely a fun place to visit here in South Jersey: It has lots of trails, a long boardwalk through the woods, playgrounds, a river, ruins . . . Definitely one of my favorite haunts!
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