Living on the north shore of Massachusetts gives you access to a ton of alleged paranormal sites and one of my all-time favorites would have to be Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. This place for some reason has drawn me back year after year and it continues to fascinate me. It’s one of those places that’s completely beautiful but at the same time creepy as hell.

One of the things that I’ve always found really interesting is the lack of information on the history of the place. Maybe I haven’t dug enough but it seems as though I can never get the real story which is why it’s probably intrigued me this long. Even Newburyport locals have a tough time filling you in on the details. But what you will find is, the park is the site of what use to be the estate of Frederick Strong Moseley which spans over 400 acres and runs along the Merrimack River. The estate was called “Maudesleigh” and had been built over a 19th century farm.

In 1985 the property was acquired by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management where it became Maudslay State Park. Today the park is full of ruins, bridges, maze-like gardens, a pet cemetery, and endless woods. You can spend hours in this place and still not see everything.

But what brought me here originally years ago was the story of “The Gates of Hell”. The original entrance into the estate is an old rod iron gate that leads back to the foundation of one of the homes on the estate. Why it got this name? Who knows? But this is where all the stories begin. Just some of the stories are goblin sightings under the bridges, satan worshippers conducting black celebrations, hell hounds, an old guy called Mr. Jingles, a murdered police officer, a ballroom full of guests dying in a fire, and the list goes on.

Now I know a lot of this sounds like urban legend and you know what, it probably is, but Maudslay can still deliver a chill right when you least expect it. For instance I’ve been there at night, which really isn’t recommended or allowed, so don’t get caught, but it’s freakin’ scary. You just always have a very strange feeling of being watched. Again this could’ve been my imagination but when you’re standing in a moon-lit maze at midnight you’re brain starts to spin some loopy thoughts. Can you say “Shining?” Yeah, you know exactly what I mean. I’ve also had a very strange experience in the rhododendrons which is on one of the main walking paths. It was late afternoon, very sunny and warm, birds chirping away and as soon as I walked into this section of rhododendrons everything went completely silent and the temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees. I stood there waiting for the birds to start again figuring I had just startled them but nothing. There wasn’t even a sound of wind or the trees moving. It was almost like someone flipped a switch and just turned everything off. Again, weird.

Recently I had the urge again to go visit the strangeness of Maudslay. But what made this trip extra interesting was the unexpected snow storm. So I shot some quick photos of the different locations. I think I captured some interesting stuff but see what you think. I’m interested if anyone finds anything in them. And if you’re ever in the Newburyport area make sure you swing through Maudslay State Park, you won’t be disappointed. Oh and say hi to Mr. Jingles.