Episode 520: Dudleytown: Connecticut’s Cursed Ghost Town

<p>Deep in the woods near Cornwall, Connecticut, in a valley known as the Dark Entry Forest, lie the remains of the small village of Dudleytown. Settled in the mid-eighteenth century by British colonists, Dudleytown was a thriving mining community that for provided charcoal and other minerals for the growing steel industry in and around New England. But by the late nineteenth century, the mining industry had shifted west and slowly, but surely the population of Dudleytown shrank until there, by the early twentieth century, there were only a handful of people living in the village. By 1924, the village of Dudleytown was completely abandoned and fell into the ownership of a private trust, who sought to restore the forest ecosystem to its pre-colonial health.</p><p><br></p><p>In retrospect, historians and others familiar with the region have cited a variety of social, economic, and ecological reasons for the collapse and abandonment of Dudleytown, yet there are those who believe the abandonment of the village has a darker and more supernatural explanation. There were rumors of widespread madness among the villagers, unexplained deaths and other tragedies, and a curse that dates back to the founding of village in the 1740s.</p><p><br></p><p>Today, the area is said to be haunted and, despite</p><p>being private property, it has become a popular destination for ghost hunters and legend trippers who are determined to find out whether Dudleytown is truly a cursed village or just a victim of shifting social and economic trends.</p><p><br></p><p>Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring me the Axe Podcast for Research!</p><p><br></p><p>References</p><p>Barlow, Bart. 1980. &amp;quot;A lost town populated by legends.&amp;quot; New York Times, October 26: C2.</p><p>Campos, Chris. 1976. &amp;quot;The death of a town is the life of a curse.&amp;quot; The Journal, May 29: 1.Cornwall Conservation Commission. 2012. The Land and People of Cornwall, Connecticut: A Conservation Perspective of Our Town&amp;#39;s Natural