It was a nice cool, windy day and after servicing a client we decided to go on a drive to find the abandoned Brooksbrae Brick Factory location. The trip was unplanned so we uncharacteristically headed out unprepared. Normally we come equipped with ample food, drinks, battery power, digital and video camera to properly document our findings. Not to mention usually we properly and extensively research a location so that we can understand it before our arrival. From where we were our way point was 9.8 miles away (Mount Misery). We have been at the MT Misery locations a few times but that was a few years ago, so we decided to go back.
While venturing down Four Mile Road we saw several flashing lights and determined as we approached that they were police and they have the road blocked off. Several cars were pulled off to the side of the road and we assumed either an accident, a tree fell or possible a Pine Barrens fire.
AN ACCIDENT
Apparently a truck carrying what looked like pallets flipped over and a car plowed into them landing on top..also somehow there was an additional truck that was flipped on the side of the road. The police requested that pictures not be taken anymore due to the fact it was a possible crime scene.
A nice little gem in Vincentown along Route 70. There are many legends and stories that go along with this location; we will touch on a few of them.
Updated Video
There are tales of orgies, animal sacrifice and ghosts haunting this location. One of the legends that attempts to explain the ghost girl (that lived in the house) was that a 17 year old girl named Maria Alacon died in a car crash in 1978 on Church Road and 541 as she was heading back to Lenape High School from lunch. They say the accident decapitated her. In this crash Brian Pittman (from Main Street in Vincentown) was also killed. The driver of the car lived but people claim it wasn’t his fault for at the time there was no traffic light at this intersection and they were hit by a large truck carrying logs. Maria's mother was very religious and knew of the evil sources that the house possessed and finally left the property.
Some say a girl still lives on the property. Could this be Maria? Some say the kitchen floor shakes from the captured anguish and anger in the house. The current owners decided not to tear the house down due to the historic value and the legends that surround the location.
Many people wonder why the road and this location had the name Purgatory in it. The Oxford Dictionary also states that the word Purgatory refers to streams that flow in a ravine. Purgatory Road takes its name from Purgatory Run because the road crosses the headwaters of that stream. The toponym “Purgatory Run” dates to at least 1838 and is generally associated with Bear Swamp. Purgatory Run may have received its name because it may have contained enough water to make its presence known, but not enough water to power a mill, thereby making it a source of suffering. Bear Swamp could have brought temporary suffering to the landowner, likely a member of the Prickett family. I am sure the swamp was quite a dismal place, although, once the owner had harvested the Cedar trees, I suspect he no longer felt the place was a purgatory.
UPDATE: The Purgatory House caught fire and burned down in Sept of 2011. The cause is under investigation
UPDATE: 3-26-15 THE PURGATORY HOUSE UPDATE We were out with a client and afterwards found ourselves right next to Purgatory Road and the Purgatory House so we decided to stop and obtain an update. As we have known there was a fire a few years back and the place burned down, all that was left is a pile of rubble and the chimney along with a temporary lake that formed due to the melting snow and the torrential downpour that occurred today.
Based on the "Coming Soon" signs along Route 70 in the same area we can only assume that shortly this property will also be sold to developers to make mini malls or more housing developments.
The Purgatory House was an interesting location with a haunting past and we are glad that we were able to document it prior to its untimely demise.
(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)
