Jersey City Ghost Stories, Spooky Places, Hauntings

Jersey City, an old city with a rich history, has its share of strange and interesting stories.  In honor of Halloween, below are a few highlights of weird places, scary stories and reported hauntings in Jersey City:

St. Joseph's Church on Baldwin Avenue

St. Joseph's Church has a strange history involving mysterious lights that appeared for over a week, once in 1921 and again in 1954.  Further adding to the mystery, a sexton who went to investigate the lights in 1954 died in the belfry.  In 2011 local historian and storyteller Bob Leach released a documentary film about the mystery, Eyes of St. Joseph.

The Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery

This cemetery is the eternal resting place to many historic figures including former Mayor Frank Hague, hundreds of Civil War soldiers and a local victim of the Titanic.  Quite a few artifacts were discovered in 2008, including indications that World War I soldiers trained on the grounds, Civil War graves, hidden entrances to crypts and an artillery depot that had been covered by overgrown brush.  To learn more about the cemetery, visit www.jerseycitycemetery.org.

The Lady in White at The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal

This is the old train terminal in Liberty State Park.  In 2009 Jersey City Independent investigated the reported paranormal activity, which included ghost trains, ghostly sights and footsteps.

Ghost of Pearl White

Spooky ghost story about the ghost of silent film actress Pearl White haunting a former boarding house in Jersey City.

Bergen Tunnel (aka Dead Man's Tunnel)

This creepy-looking two mile tunnel is next to Dickinson High School.  Stay away though: it is very dangerous and there have been numerous accidents involving people on the tracks and trains.

Pulaski Skyway

Weird New Jersey speculates that the body Jimmy Hoffa could have been dumped in the burning fields below the skyway during the 70s and 80s.

IMGP5504rd / STC4blues / CC BY-NC-SA

Miniature Castle in Liberty State Park

Certainly an unexpected sight if you come upon it while walking through the park. According to The Lostinjersey blog the castle was built in 1982 by sculptor Charles Simonds in a work called Left Turns.  It is believed he constructed three works of art in Liberty State Park but this is the only one that has been found (or remains?).