-History-
Borrowed from mountainsanitorium.net
"Originally constructed in 1862 to hold Confederate prisoners of war, the Essex County Jail Annex functioned as a state penitentiary for many years before eventually being replaced by a new facility to alleviate overcrowding. The penitentiary was largely self-sufficient. As late as the 1970’s patients still tended to apple and peach orchards on the grounds, and fields on the lower parts of the rolling grounds contained farmland. A piggery and chicken coop also were located at the jail, but these were eventually abandoned and torn down. The county took over the facility eventually and the Essex County Penitentiary became the Essex County Correction Center and housed mostly sentenced inmates. The jail eventually merged with the Essex County Jail in Newark in the early 1980s and was rechristened the Essex County Jail Annex, a name it would carry for the rest of its term.
The prison population changed during this time period. Suddenly more violent prisoners were housed on the grounds, many awaiting sentencing. The Essex County Jail Annex was filled with deplorable conditions. Buildings were falling apart and overcrowding was a massive issue. At its peak the jail housed more than 1,800 beds. Essex County finally finished construction of a new prison in Newark in 2003, and all county lockup services were transferred to this new address and the jail in Caldwell was closed. "
Apparently Jermain Jackson's (brother of Michael) filmed his video Dynamite here in 1984, which I didn't know until I began typing this up actually.. The site was supposed to be razed since it was emptied in March 2004, but 5 1/2 years later and most of it still stands, with no major demolition in recent years. In 2005 the property was sold to K Hovnanian Companies and CenRose Hilltop, LLC for over 16 million dollars, but they have yet to turn it into parkland as promised.
These pictures were compiled over several visits although the meat of them are from the first two. We explored every cell block, the wardens house, administration, etcetera, plus a pretty neat little powerhouse which was an unexpected bonus. There were LOADS of inmate records lying about including affidavits, criminal histories, mugshots, even x-rays, many of which were plastered with the inmates social security numbers, and other delicate info. It's really criminal of the state to leave peoples documentation lying around like this. Anyway this place was a blast, and now that I've written you a novel, on with the pictures.
-Pictures-
1)
Save this building
2)
3)
4)
Not I.
5)
The countdown
6)
7)
No photochop sans watermark. The light was incredible in here
9)
More showers. Dont drop the soap
10)
Some lovely gang graffiti, hopefully from it's prison days
11)
Home sweet home
12)
Full cranial
13)
14)
On the beautiful sun porch. We planned to come back with beers and lawn chairs but it never materialized
15)
16)
Many, many records
17)
Auditorium
18)
19)
20)
21)
CN gas grenade used in police exercises held here
22)
Thats a jumpsuit
23)
Gas dispersion system
24)
Mess Hall
25)
26)
Spike n Seth
27)
Riot helmet
28)
These still opened and closed the doors
29)
30)
Borrowed from mountainsanitorium.net
"Originally constructed in 1862 to hold Confederate prisoners of war, the Essex County Jail Annex functioned as a state penitentiary for many years before eventually being replaced by a new facility to alleviate overcrowding. The penitentiary was largely self-sufficient. As late as the 1970’s patients still tended to apple and peach orchards on the grounds, and fields on the lower parts of the rolling grounds contained farmland. A piggery and chicken coop also were located at the jail, but these were eventually abandoned and torn down. The county took over the facility eventually and the Essex County Penitentiary became the Essex County Correction Center and housed mostly sentenced inmates. The jail eventually merged with the Essex County Jail in Newark in the early 1980s and was rechristened the Essex County Jail Annex, a name it would carry for the rest of its term.
The prison population changed during this time period. Suddenly more violent prisoners were housed on the grounds, many awaiting sentencing. The Essex County Jail Annex was filled with deplorable conditions. Buildings were falling apart and overcrowding was a massive issue. At its peak the jail housed more than 1,800 beds. Essex County finally finished construction of a new prison in Newark in 2003, and all county lockup services were transferred to this new address and the jail in Caldwell was closed. "
Apparently Jermain Jackson's (brother of Michael) filmed his video Dynamite here in 1984, which I didn't know until I began typing this up actually.. The site was supposed to be razed since it was emptied in March 2004, but 5 1/2 years later and most of it still stands, with no major demolition in recent years. In 2005 the property was sold to K Hovnanian Companies and CenRose Hilltop, LLC for over 16 million dollars, but they have yet to turn it into parkland as promised.
These pictures were compiled over several visits although the meat of them are from the first two. We explored every cell block, the wardens house, administration, etcetera, plus a pretty neat little powerhouse which was an unexpected bonus. There were LOADS of inmate records lying about including affidavits, criminal histories, mugshots, even x-rays, many of which were plastered with the inmates social security numbers, and other delicate info. It's really criminal of the state to leave peoples documentation lying around like this. Anyway this place was a blast, and now that I've written you a novel, on with the pictures.
-Pictures-
1)
Save this building
2)
3)
4)
Not I.
5)
The countdown
6)
7)
No photochop sans watermark. The light was incredible in here
9)
More showers. Dont drop the soap
10)
Some lovely gang graffiti, hopefully from it's prison days
11)
Home sweet home
12)
Full cranial
13)
14)
On the beautiful sun porch. We planned to come back with beers and lawn chairs but it never materialized
15)
16)
Many, many records
17)
Auditorium
18)
19)
20)
21)
CN gas grenade used in police exercises held here
22)
Thats a jumpsuit
23)
Gas dispersion system
24)
Mess Hall
25)
26)
Spike n Seth
27)
Riot helmet
28)
These still opened and closed the doors
29)
30)
Last edited:
