Early Settlers and Challenges in Dudley Town

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.

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.

Today, the area is said to be haunted and, despite 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.

Thank you to the incredible Dave White of Bring me the Axe Podcast for Research!

References

Barlow, Bart. 1980. "A lost town populated by legends." New York Times, October 26: C2.

Campos, Chris. 1976. "The death of a town is the life of a curse." The Journal, May 29: 1.Cornwall Conservation Commission. 2012. The Land and People of Cornwall, Connecticut: A Conservation Perspective of Our Town's Natural Treasures. Historical evalutation, Cornwall, CT: Cornwall Conservation Commission.

Cornwall Historical Society. 2014. The Truth about Dudleytown. September 29. Accessed October 29,2023. http://cornwallhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-truth-about-dudleytown.html.

Drozdowski, Ted. 1978. "Old ghouls still haunt state's cliffs, villages." The Morning Record and Journal, October 28: 35.

Hartford Courant. 2006. "True curse haunting family's forest land was progress." Hartford Courant, October 25: B2.

Hutter, David. 2008. Man pays price to spot Dudleytown ghosts. August 3. Accessed October 3, 2023.

https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Man-pays-price-to-spot-Dudleytown-ghosts-12147138.php.

New England Historical Society. n.d. The Dudleytown Curse, Connecticut's Village of the Damned.

Accessed October 3, 2023. https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-dudleytown-curse-connecticuts-village-of-the-damned/.

Pallatto, John. 1980. "Only the ghost hunters walk in legend-cursed Dudleytown." Hartford Courant, November 1: 9.

Pettit, John. 1996. "The spirits were willing, but the flesh was weak." Record Journal, October 31: 1.

Revai, Cheri. 2006. Haunted Connecticut: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Constitution State.

Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Rierden, Andi. 1989. "A hamlet that can't get rid of its ghosts." New York Times, October 29: C2.

Ryan, Bill. 1986. "Dudleytown legend haunts Cornwall." Hartford Courant, April 13: 12.

Siedzik, Jason. 2011. In Cornwall, Dudleytown movie makers arrested. December 8. Accessed October 3, 2023. https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/In-Cornwall-Dudley-Town-Movie-Makers-Arrested-16886230.php.

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