Abandoned 1700's Paper Mill & Ghost Town NJ Pine Barrens Harrisville

This area is off limits but you can view from outside the fence and there is n area across the street closer to the dam that you can view and explore. Please make sure you park over by the dam in the parking lot otherwise you will get a ticket.
Harrisville was a small production community that was settled from around 1795 to 1914, located about 6 miles northwest of New Gretna in the New Jersey Pine Barrens by Basto Villiage and Bass River. It is best known for producing paper under the Harris family's ownership in the mid 1800's. It was abandoned and then burned down in 1914 leaving only ruins. It is a part of the history of the Pine Barrens and New Jersey. Only the decayed ruins of this town exist today.

[@Ron4885]

What a find! There's a tremendous amount of labor with this type of construction, as you might guess. Reminds me of something you would see in medieval europe. Thanks for showing us this.

[@MultiRabe]

This is a totally wonderful video Patrick...very well done indeed!

[@donrutter6765]

There is a fence around that whole place, you hopped it. When I was a kid I climbed to the top of it. Joe Potts and his wife Martha were the first ones there and it was a foundry for cast iron. They went out of business and so did the other few people afterwards who ran it as a paper mill.

[@phoenixjnyc]

What a awesome find. Love the history. Thank you so much for the share

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

Thank you I love history too

[@phoenixjnyc]

@@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures you are very welcome. Same here

[@larrysherk]

I believe that what you took for "medallions" are tie rod ends. Long and tall masonry walls have to be tied together for their own stability and to keep floor joists in their slots.

[@trinacrawford8150]

Thanks for taking your time. I subscribed and so did my daughter.

[@ahoybuttrnuts]

I've been here last year they do have it fenced in but still easily able to access. Looks very interesting with how nature grew over it Definitely a spot for a fairytale photoshoot and near by if I'm not mistaken is other abandoned areas .

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

Very cool

[@MichaelTJD60]

Harrisville is on my list of places to check out.

[@chevys1016]

you should make a part 2

[@niverrtkb]

Thx for videos. I am now in Missouri but I grew up in Nesco NJ. not far from Batso

[@539Productions]

The weathering in certain areas almost gives the appearance of a coral reef!

[@smerd1]

The medallions would have been joined to the opposite walls with steel rods and another plate on the outside of that wall to stop the walls falling outwards due to subsidence 👍

[@bestfoodsnewjersey6635]

Great video!

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

Thank you very much

[@MariaJimenez-kk9ge]

Pretty amazing...

[@beabsmag]

I went there with friends few times in the 70's. we had a picnic. there was no paved road and parking lot. We had to go through the woods and bushes, and then two big fields. There should be still lots of blackberry and raspberry bushes there. I picked buckets of them and brought my mother back there and we made some good pies from them. the houses were there, but not lived in then. There was a dirt road and a path in back that led to a waterfall and small pool where we could drink the very fresh water. As we went back, it looked like someone from the government had come there and were going to protect the settlement. As far as the witch tales go, even back in the 70's there were stories of witches holding rituals in Watchung Reservation. Probably there are some, as there are also very wealthy areas nearby, like Short Hills. Before Rt 78 went through the reservation, all the roads were small country roads and you had to be able to just find the "right" place to walk into the bushes and woods there. There were no signs saying what that place was then, but I thought the houses were from the 1700s and there was no electricity then to the houses.

[@brandonslocum3249]

Mary Gregory dude ur crazy alot of the berries in the pines are uneatable theres alot of poisonous berries in the pine barrens

[@barrywainwright3391]

FYI, all the history and info about these ghost towns are in the books written by Henry Carlton Beck. I have all his books. There's a lot of old history in the Pinebarrens.

[@Grungerocproductions]

Cool spot haven't seen this one in south jersey yet

[@Papadishes]

takes nice video your audio is great. I just recently subscribed to you I like the outdoor videos nice work.

[@ripcord2562]

Im a Jersey boy to from the central part of the state moved to south jersey off of RT 9 and 539 now in Fla I miss the pine Barrens the bay and ocean the smell of low tide and all the great people i met over the years IM really glad to see no one took a spray can to the ruins I never got out that way much never new it was there NJ has a lot to see if you know where to look and the time to do it .miss the pine barrens water and food cant beat it cant drink the water in Fl smells bad like sulfer drink bottle water here the Nj woods are quiet peaceful and cool to walk in

[@brandonslocum3249]

I moss the pines too i used to quad every weekend

[@Papadishes]

what kind of camera or phone are you using to record this with?

[@AngelaShiflet]

very cool😎

[@TCobb47]

Patress plates used to support retaining walls. It's neither medallions nor hubcaps.

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

Good to know

[@mrbizzarro]

What an excellent location to explore. after coal was found in Pennsylvania, the bog iron was no longer viable. later, some iron mills were converted to paper mills. unfortunately, it didn't work out due to lack of fuel "pine trees mostly" Also, due to the high iron content in the water, the paper took on a yellow/brown color which made it undesirable.

[@auntlavinia8170]

Exactly right!

[@chevys1016]

the stuff at 1:04 looks like hubcaps

[@MillerMeteor74]

The paper mill was built in the 1830s, if memory serves, definitely not before 1800. The 18th Century forge is long gone. I believe the structure you found across the highway was the grist mill. I don't remember when it was built. When the paper mill shut down for good in the 1890s (I think) the entire town was given to the boy scouts to use as a camp. In 1914 a forest fire swept through. After that the whole town was looted. Walls and entire buildings were dismantled and the stones and bricks hauled away by regular people to use as foundations, patios, etc. The gas street lamps were all stolen, as well as the Springfield Gas Machine, which made the gas for the street lamps. The little structure you saw outside the fence was made to encase an artesian well, which still runs to this day. Nice video. Thanks.

[@MillerMeteor74]

You're quite welcome.

[@donrutter6765]

Before it was a paper mill, Joe Potts and his wife built Marthas furnace as a foundry for making casr iron objects. They made cannon balls for the revolutionary war. It went out of busininess and then became a paper mill 3 different times under 3 different owners. Upstream is where they made the paper and floated it down. The rover was polluted up until the early 1900's due to the mercury and arsenic used in the paper process back then.

[@donrutter6765]

The structure he was at is where the owner of the paper mill lived. He hired workers to help build the sandsyone structure, and the people who helped were also allowed to live there.

[@williamhiggins4220]

D Rutt, you should stop by Batsto to check the statements you are making here, Batsto Village Office and visitor center has photos and documented proof of that Historical areas past.

[@barrywainwright3391]

No you are wrong. Sandstone construction is typical from the 1700s. The Harrivillle paper mill dates back to the late 1700s.

[@markyork1]

imagine all the chemicals just dumped after every pulp batch

[@hooviridis8388]

I've seen some structures on Rt 50 in Estell Manor near the County Forest. Are these them?

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

The ones you mention in Estell manor are different

[@TheOmegaeyes]

I was looking for this place back in October but was not able to find it. Where exactly is it, how do you get to it?

[@southerngirl2433]

Love rock Structures , good job :-)

[@64maxpower]

is this near the Wading River?

[@louisedillon2413]

Is Harrisville Falls still there. Used to swim there 50 years ago.

[@brettduffy1992]

Off nj 50 in Atlantic County or is it a different one

[@64maxpower]

Lets do a Pine Barrons road ride Patrick

[@alexroshko3239]

Are you from sj?

[@lillyvalley7362]

you should check out the estelleville glass factory ruins. there's tons of melted glass on the ground in all different colors.

[@lillyvalley7362]

no problem, i urbex in central NJ. my interest is mostly houses. if you want you can check out my facebook page "forestspirit urbex"

[@ripcord2562]

i think the spot where you are is know as Marthas furnace. if i remember right Its been a lot of years

[@williamhiggins4220]

Marthas Furnace is approximately 3 or 4 miles north of the Harrisville Ruins back in the woods on a sand road across the road from Harrisville.

[@ivang97997]

looks like early 1700's stone structures and this place worth to do some metal detecting, nice found and be safe!

[@joemellon5444]

It's owned by the state and is an historical site, so don't get caught.

[@williamhiggins4220]

100% No metal detecting at Harrisville or NJ state forrest property.

[@markeaton489]

Found something just like this out in egg harbor township in the middle of the woods..

[@Dirtrider300]

Where about in EHT did you find ruins like this? I curious I was born and raised there I never found anything like this Id like to check it out

[@chevys1016]

how many saw a fence at 8:52

[@donrutter6765]

Yes, he opened the gate on the west side and walked in.

[@jdyrj777]

Whats up with that orange water?

[@larrysherk]

iron - part of why it was a slightly insane place to attempt a paper mill.

[@fatboy1848]

isn't that Jersey Devil territory? you must visit after midnight. ...

[@vivianpower5409]

You need to research what it means when you come across a set of ruins like that in the woods. Did you not notice there are no sounds including birds. No birds is a warning. 😬

[@NewJerseyOutdoorAdventures]

Oh wow thanks. What’s the warning?

[@WildBoiAce856]

It's a hubcap not a medallion lol 😂

[@TCobb47]

Its actually structural supports

[@neilbrown3359]

you know they had slaves there!

[@donrutter6765]

There is a fence around that whole place, you hopped it. When I was a kid I climbed to the top of it. Joe Potts and his wife Martha were the first ones there and it was a foundry for cast iron. They went out of business and so did the other few people afterwards who ran it as a paper mill.

[@donrutter6765]

When the Potts family ran it as a foundry, they made some of the cannon balls for the revolutionary war.