Ghost Town For Sale [UPDATED]

“$800,000 bid, now 9, will you do 9? $900,000 bid, now 10, who will bid 10?”

At a starting bid of $800,000, a Connecticut ghost town named Johnsonville will be on the auction block come Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The town has an interesting past, but would you expect any less from a ghost town? This tale includes an old mill village, a man with big bucks and an even bigger idea, and Billy Joel. Originally a mill village, the 60-plus-acre property is home to a small pond, two churches, and a restaurant, among other buildings.

The History

“The nearby Neptune Mill supplied twine for fishing nets to the Connecticut coast, and workers here built a village that prospered all the way until the 1960s,” according to the National Geographic footage from Abandoned, a show about forgotten places. “But when the demand for twine disappeared, so did the villagers.”

Footage of Johnsonville is featured at the end of the article.

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According to the Damned CT website, Raymond Schmitt, the “somewhat eccentric owner of AGC Corporation,” an aerospace equipment manufacturer, purchased Johnsonville in the early 1960s. He wanted it to be a tourist attraction, even going so far as to purchase vintage buildings from afar and have them moved to town.

“After Schmitt took possession of the property, he purchased other vintage buildings and had them moved to Johnsonville, including a Victorian stable and chapel, which hosted weddings,” the Damned CT page on Johnsonville notes. “Schmitt didn’t formally run tours on the property, but he did open the property for visitors on a regular basis. He also allowed special events including charity benefits and weddings.”

The Emory Johnson Homestead in Johnsonville was built in 1842 and served as the home of Emory Johnson, who owned the nearby twine mills, according to the Historic Buildings of CT website. Under Schmitt’s ownership, the home became a museum dedicated to Victorian-era furnishings.

Ultimately, his grand plans of a tourist attraction never came to complete fruition. Online research shows differing reasons — Schmitt’s death before his dream could be realized or a dispute with the town’s zoning officials are two of them.

When Schmitt died in the late 1990s, his heirs auctioned off all his holdings, including Johnsonville, according to an April 2013 Patch article on Johnsonville.

“In 2008 MJABC LLC, a hotel developer, bought the village with its odd and imported collection of 19th century buildings,” the April 2013 article noted. “The firm filed plans for a mixed-use development on the site that included 133 upscale, single-family houses and townhouses. The plans also called for a health club, recreation center, meeting hall and post office. The proposal, however, fell apart because of the high-density housing component in the plan and the lack of public sewers and water in the area.”

In 2013, the village was on the market again, at a listing price just under $3 million.

Billy Joel, Hollywood & The Auction

The village of Johnsonville had a starring role in the 1993 video for Billy Joel’s “The River Song.” Scroll down to see the music video and other links related to Johnsonville.

The movie “Freedom,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and originally billed as “Something Whispered,” was partially filmed in Johnsonville.

If your interest is now sufficiently piqued and your pockets a little bit deep, the whole property is available for bidding via Auction.com. There is only a two-day window to place bids, from Tuesday, Oct. 28, through Wednesday, Oct. 30. Jim Kelly of RM Bradley Company is the listing agent.

“This historic village presents a unique redevelopment opportunity to combine the historic value of the 19th century village with 21st century living as permitted uses include: single family, multifamily housing to include market rate and affordable, senior housing, arts/entertainment center, B&Bs, inn, restaurant/banquet facility, retail shops and schools,” according to the Auction.com listing.

But Does This Ghost Town Have An Actual Ghost?

Some say Schmitt’s ghost still roams through Johnsonville. But it seems that most folks writing about the town online didn’t see an apparition. Have you?

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Photo Credit: Screengrabs from Vidaao video

Editor’s Note: The initial starting date of the auction was Oct. 20. The date was changed on Auction.com on Wednesday, Oct. 8. This article, originally posted on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 4:49 p.m., has been updated to reflect the change.