Essex County Penitentiary



The Essex County Penitentiary (also known as the Newark Street Jail) is the oldest public building in Essex County, New Jersey.

History
It was built in 1837 on the new Morris Canal to replace an older jail/courthouse that burned to the ground 2 years prior. It has seen a few renovations over the years. In the 1890s, 112 new cells were added to the complex, and the total of cells just before the building was left to rot stood at 300. It served as Essex County’s main jail until 1970, when a new jail was constructed.

The Essex County Penitentiary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, but no effort has been made to repair or preserve the property.

Paranormal Activity
So far as paranormal activity is concerned, the Essex County Penitentiary is a hotbed of activity. There are uneasy feelings, cold spots, shadow people, and disembodied footsteps, and such reports are common for those brave enough to explore the derelict structure.

Former security guards tell the story of an “Old Man Brown” who still watches over the cell blocks. It is believed that this is the spirit of a former Warden. There are many places where people get the feeling that they are not alone in small spaces, or that they are being watched, and these instances are usually attributed to the ghost of Old Man Brown.

Perhaps concurrent with this haunting, people can often hear phantom footsteps close to the old Warden’s quarters, which was always patrolled regularly by guards.

Perhaps the most flamboyant story about Essex County Penitentiary is that about the inmate in the Central Hall who managed to commit suicide by lighting himself on fire. How the man managed to pull this off is still a mystery, but fire had consumed 90% of his body. There is still a charred mark on the concrete outside the cell in the shape of a man in the fetal position, which is typical in burning deaths.

The spirit that is said to haunt this section of the jail seems to be angry and violent, as this is where abusive EVP has been captured and pushes and hair-pulling have occurred.

There have also been reports of phantom sounds that resemble heavy machinery that have been heard in the area of the prison that served as the workshop.

Further Investigation
The Essex County Penitentiary has grown in esteem since it was featured in a televised investigation on the SyFy series "Ghost Hunters," but it is still a very dangerous place to visit because of the disrepair and the fact that as an abandoned structure.