Visited 12/02
Demolished sometime afterward
According to sources, Ancora Village, now abandoned, once was a community of minimum risk patients deemed suitable to live outside the hospital walls (mostly veterans, hence its name, Veteran’s Haven). However, because of a series of escapes, murders, or a lack of funds, depending on which set of rumors you choose to believe, it was closed down. The houses still stand, though it appears a few have been demolished.
~ Daemon
I don’t know much about Ancora. I heard some stories that the hospital was also abandoned but found out this wasn’t true when I drove by it. There are no side streets to park on and Ancora’s roads are blocked off. I must say I wasn’t expecting much out of the village either. I was expecting maybe 10 houses down some side road. How wrong I was! There were about 50 houses, all emptied out and some boarded up. Someone emailed me and said they actually saw the furniture being moved out back in September. Mail boxes and street signs were still up. The place just looked frozen in time.
There were a few spots that looked like they might’ve been foundations for houses. Maybe these ones were knocked down already. I’m sure the rest of the town’s not far behind.
Hi,
I have a few questions for you about Ancora since you’re the first real source I’ve found who has actually been there before its demolishing.
Firstly, I’m wondering what your original interest was in scoping out this now demolished village? Did you encounter any authorities barring you from entering the ground during your time there? If not, did you go throughout the village and explore the site entirely?
My curiosity stems from the reoccuring internet rumor of a small town (or village) that was included in an early war veterans hospital which ended up taking in prisoners. The rumor is that a number of patients ended up murdering each other and the facility and eventually the town ended up shutting down all together. I am currently unable to recover the dates of any such events and now this ‘cookie-cutter’ style village is raised.
I have not collected much information from between the time period of the late 1980’s to what I’m finding now in your post from the very early 2000’s. Do you have any information on the town between this time frame of any value? Or any information of curious speculation from any time frame for that matter?
Looking forward to hearing back,
SM
I grew up there. We lived on Forest Drive from 1963-1976. Both parents worked at Ancora. The homes you show were a thriving, multicultural community. Just wondering if you have more photos than those you posted. I would love to see them, esp if higher res than what is on your blog. Many thanks!
This is a must read about many friends I grew up with there.
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews156.shtml