History
Johnsonville was originally a company town built to house the workers of the Neptune Mill, which made twine and rope for the fishing industry. The original town included offices for the company, the mill, a library, post office, general store, houses for the works, and a mansion built by the mill owner. The mill and village prospered together until the early 1900s, when the industry changed and the old-fashioned water-powered mill could no longer compete. Without major industry in the area, the residents left and the town was mostly vacant.
In the 1960s, the remaining Johnsonville properties were purchased and plans were made to transform them into a Victorian-era tourist attraction with a restaurant, museum, and event space. In 1972, the mill building was struck by lightning, burning it to the ground. The original buildings were restored and several other historical buildings had been moved to the area. However, the business was never a success and finally closed in 1994. The owner died in 1998 and his family sold off the land. The current owner has been unable to do anything to the property, which has been largely untouched since it was shut down 15 years ago. Today, the Johnsonville Village includes a church, school, general store, town hall, saloon, several homes, the mill owners’ mansion, sawmill, carriage house and a Victorian Garden.
Richard Jabara and Mike Dirgo
Blastco
Metal cleaning, sandblasting and industrial painting
Quakertown, PA
Id just like to say Im a huge fan of your show! I love the suspense of the ind, and the items you guys walk away with and restore are truly amazing. Ill be looking on the site for more items that I like and placing my bid. Thanks for putting on such a great show!
I love your show and i have got to say this was probably my favorite episode. Thank you for what you guys do and the fact that you restore antiques is awesome. I think mark is way cute but you have an awesome team and your wife does a great job finding these places. One place you must check is the overturn hotel in the catskills has been abandoned 14 years they left everything behind the owners name is Stuart Ultmann i think you might be able to get some awesome pieces from this hotel you can see it on youtube everything looks in pretty good condition but that might be heaven for you jay.
Hey this place seems really cool. I’m a photographer and I’ve been looking for some abandoned homes or I guess any other kind of building that’s been abandoned to shoot in. Can anyone go to this place to check it out or would I be trespassing? I don’t want to take anything I just want to shoot some photographs.
Any way I can buy this property?
I have friends and relatives who are looking to buy such land with all those houses.
I would love to buy this property and make it into a home for homeless American veterans. It would be perfect.