Tags: Folklore, Historical, Mystery, Rhode Island, Roadside Oddity, Ruins, Tower

I had been meaning to get to this one for a number of years, but it was usually out of the way.  Since we were touring a mansion in Newport, I finally had a chance to get to the “Viking Tower” in Touro Park.  Nobody seems to be clearly sure of its age or who built it.  There are 2 major sides to the theory of this structure’s origin – some people think it’s the remains of some sort of mill from the 16-1700’s, while others feel it was built much earlier – around 1000 – by Vikings.

The tower, windmill, or whatever it was sits in the middle of the park, surrounded by a small fence.  There are lights at its base, and a statue of William Ellery Channing – a prominent Unitarian from the 1800’s – is nearby.

I found a 360-panoramic of Touro Park.  Kinda trippy.

…wow, ‘trippy’ isn’t in my spellchecker.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Tags: Maine, Tower

This bridge, right next to Fort Knox, is one of only 3 of its kind in the world. Visitors can ride to the top and get a 360-view from the 42-story tall observatory. On a clear day you can supposedly see up to 100 miles.

Yeah…that’s pretty far down.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Tags: Marker, Monument, Sussex County, Tower

Not really a whole lot to say about this one. This is the highest point in New Jersey, and to celebrate this fact, they built a large phallus on it. High Point is 1,803 feet above sea level, and the tower is an additional 220 feet. Unfortunately, the tower was closed the day we visited.

I actually attempted to visit this place quite a number of years ago. As we pulled up, the rangers closed the park right in front of us because a thunderstorm was rolling in.

Quite possibly one of the most strangely worded gift shop signs I’ve ever seen:

Popularity: 32% [?]

Tags: Bucks County, Historical, Tower

Found in Pennsylvania’s part of Washington’s Crossing State Park (just up the road from the Revolutionary Soldiers’ graves, actually), is a 125′ tall tower on Bowman’s Hill. It was completed in 1931 and is in honor of George Washington, as well as the hill’s significance as a lookout during the Revolution. There’s not much else to say, other than the view from the top is nice. I was a bit bummed to find out you have to take the elevator up; no one is allowed to take the steps anymore.

When we came to this park in 4th grade, a group of us were at a nearby picnic area and saw the tower up on the hill. We attempted to climb up the side of the hill, but it was a bit too steep and one of us came tumbling right back down. He got cut up pretty good too. The teacher was pissed. It was funny.

You only climb 23 steps from the elevator to the top.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Tags: Abandoned, Military, Ruins, Somerset County, Tower

Fair amount of photos. Go walk your dog. Or cat. Or ferret.

This was somewhat of an accidental find. We learned of an unused water tower with a geocache on top of it. Somehow Bill from LostinJersey found out an entire abandoned depot was not far from it as well. We decided to explore the depot area before going to the water tower.

Our goal far off in the distance.

At the time, we didn’t know what the place was or how long it had been abandoned. It turns out it’s the Belle Mead General Depot and it was abandoned sometime in the 1960’s. Mercury was stored here as well and according to some sources is currently leaking into the ground.

There weren’t too many buildings – one big one and a couple little ones. The area was huge and we did a good amount of walking. There are also several torn up rail lines.

Most of the buildings were far in the back.

Ah, finally…..the water tower.

The ascension.

The depot from the top of the tower…

Popularity: 18% [?]

Tags: Delaware, Delaware Bay, Military, Tower, World War II

This was my main reason for visiting Lewes. I had read about 7 concrete towers along the coast that were from World War II. Back when German U-boats were a possible threat in the Delaware Bay, many concrete towers were built along the coast to keep watch for them. There was at least one on the Jersey side too, as I had found last fall. But unlike the one in New Jersey, you can climb some of these.

I saw 5 other towers from the top of the one I climbed. I also looked down and saw people had made designs on the ground that you can only see from the top of the tower. Figuring this is the closest to Nazca I’m going to get for a while, I figured I’d take some pics.

In another section of the park, you can find some guns, cannons, and buildings from when it was still a fort. None of the buildings can be entered.

Popularity: 12% [?]