Tags: Abandoned, Fort, Military, Monument, Ruins, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II

2004 Trip / 2006 Trip

Sandy Hook is an odd lil’ place. The north end is where the interesting stuff is. The area was used in the 1800’s & early 1900’s for military training and weapons testing. An interesting site to see is the Nine Gun Battery. This building went further down the beach than I could see! It’s obvious it hasn’t been used in years from its condition. There were also a few signs on it saying it was hazardous to enter. Well, if it wasn’t a busy beach and if the Coast Guard wasn’t just down the beach, I’d go in and look around.

If you’re an army & war buff (I’m not), Sandy Hook has a lot of stuff for you to check out.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Tags: Abandoned, Ocean County, Religion, Roadside Oddity

I have not taken any photos of the church since 2002 but have checked up on it a few times. It seems the current owner is not going to knock it down, which is what many people thought at the time.

A lot of people pass by this place and don’t even realize it. Birdsville is right behind Rt. 9 in South Toms River. It’s wedged right between a development and a factory or junkyard (it had guard dogs, that’s all that matters), so there was no way we could get in without having someone see us. From what I saw, all the entrances are sealed off anyway. The church isn’t really that exciting, but it’s just odd that such a building is in a very populated area and noone seems to know it’s there.

The church is made entirely out of concrete and was started in 1914 (it was never finished). It was built with no plans, so it’s an interesting-looking building. The builder had a fascination with birds and put in many birdhouses & birdbaths. He lived in the church for a while and planned adding more rooms to it, but he died in 1930. The church changed hands quite a few times and housed other businesses at different points in time. Now, sadly, the whole property is grown over with weeds and vines. It’s also for sale. It’ll be a shame when it’s bought and the church is knocked down.

The Church’s archway


Some of the trucks on the Church’s property

Sideshot of the Church

8/6
I went by the church to get a few photos when I noticed the property had about 10 trucks on it. Apparently a company bought the church or is just using it to store trucks. I didn’t want to get out and take pictures because I didn’t feel like dealing with big trucker dudes. I couldn’t get any decent shots from the car either. So I’ll have to go back on a Sunday when nobody’s working to get a few pics. I just hope they don’t tear the church down.

11/2
Church is still standing. I snapped 4 pics from the car & took off.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tags: Bergen County

Visited 9/01
Written 7/02

This isn’t really exciting, but I did go to it, so I feel I must write about it. When I first read a small blurb about Bergen Mall and the strangeness of its basement level, I was pretty excited. Apparently, the mall looks like it’s from the 50’s or 60’s and the basement contained some kind of Christmas village. A few months back, my brother, Cat, and I decided to check it out. We read about the ‘mall that time forgot’ and were expecting a small, near-empty mall with really old designs and lighting. Either the kid wrote up the article a while ago and they’ve since redone the place, or he was on something. The only thing ‘old-fashioned’ were the chandelier-type lights hanging from the ceiling. Everything thing else about the mall was just that – a mall: lots of stores, crowded hallways, and a decent food court. Of course, this was the ground floor. We then proceeded to the basement level…….

Taking the escalator down, the first thing we saw in the fabled basement was a mob of people and 2 TV’s. The people were all crowded around the entrance to….a chapel? That’s right, there’s a chapel in the mall basement. We went sometime after the 9/11 attacks, and a priest or minister or whatever he was was talking about the attacks. Inside the chapel was packed, hence the crowd outside. Looking further down, we saw signs for an auditorium and even a dance studio. We passed the management office, and I was starting to get annoyed because I saw nothing about the Christmas village I read about. We finally came across it further down the long hallway. This was the highlight of the trip; rows and rows of tiny red & green buildings. I think only 3 or 4 were occupied at the time, which made it even stranger. There were almost no lights to light the little ‘roads’ between rows of stores (they did have street signs). It looked like a town out of one of those old claymation Christmas movies, but in a basement of a mall, and nearly abandoned.

After walking around down there for a little bit, we left quasi-disappointed. Sure, the place was kinda bizarre, but not really enough to make the 2 hour trip worth it. Stokes was only an hour away, so we went there the rest of the day. There’s only 2 things that would make me go back to Bergen Mall: to see if anyone else uses the village during the Christmas season, and that mall has one of the coolest Burger Kings I’ve ever been to.

Popularity: 5% [?]