A Ghost Town with a Ghost

CBS News reports that the town of Johnsonville, Connecticut, is once again up for sale. The asking price is $2.4 million.

The former mill town was once the hub of the twine industry and a major supplier for the fishing industry and both world wars. With industry growth and competition, however, the mill ceased to operate and the village of Johnsonville was eventually deserted.

In the 1960s the town was purchased by Ray Schmitt, an eccentric millionaire and collector of Victorian memorabilia, who planned to restore Johnsonville as a tourist site, but faced numerous delays, including the mill being struck by lightning, and died in 1998 before he was able to complete the restoration.

The town was eventually purchased in 2001 (prior to the events of 9/11) by a hotel group who wanted to turn it into a residential community for people over the age of 55. The subsequent financial crises and economic recession put an end to these plans, and Johnsonville remains a ghost town.

According to local folklore, this ghost town has its own ghost: supposedly that of Ray Schmitt, "who has remained on the property he worked so hard to develop, unable to put it to rest."

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