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Little People's Village
In the sleepy town of Middlebury in New Haven County, securely
tucked away within a triangle of forest between Routes 84, 63 and Middlebury Road, are the ruins of a small, odd
house. What is more odd, however, are the remnants of even smaller houses . . . a "little people's village".
The Legend
Stories abound regarding the Little People's Village of
Middlebury, including how a man and his wife resided here while he built this Lilliputian town dedicated to his wife and her
obsession with being Queen of the Little People. From Shadowlands, we have the following description:
"Located in the woods, on the side
of an abandoned road (possibly old Waterbury Road), is a village of sorts, a number of very complex and detailed small stone
houses standing about three to five feet high built into the hill. Some of the buildings are A framed, others are more
traditional, they have the appearance that they are gutted and 'condemned', inside of the little houses are elaborate room
structures, staircases; pathways lead up hills through the woods to them, tiny pathways. The area is overgrown.
Built into the side of a rock is a 'thrown' [sic] a life sized chair of sorts with several symbols around it - the legend
is that if you sit on it you will die in 7 years - this is only legend though. Next to the village itself is the ruins
of an old stone house with iron bars on the window...very negative energy comes from here. In the evening the road to
the village is so loaded with negative energy that it is virtually impossible to travel it...it is soundless and still.
En route to the village and at the village itself several pentagrams can be seen from time to time on the ground. Overall
a very eerie, very negative feeling pervades the area of this extremely mysterious village in the woods."
The Shadowlands update following this paragraph reads:
"November 2003 Update: It
is actually right off I84 exit 17 on the Middlebury/Waterbury line. All the other info is pretty accurate, there is
really only one little house left and that is partly destroyed. The stone house is still there and so is the thrown
[sic]. There is also a cellar that you can go down into. Place is very spooky. Legend is that there was
a man and women [sic] who lived there and she was crazy and thought she was the Queen of the little people. She made
her husband build her a thrown [sic] and all the little houses. Then she killed her husband and herself or he killed
her and himself. There are different variations of the story."
Indeed, there are. We have run across our fair share
of them in our research. Anything from "demon midget villages" to how the wife took an axe to her husband while
he sat upon her throne! When Creepy Connecticut arrived at the
site, it was immediately obvious that there were glaring errors in the Shadowlands version of the story.
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| The sylvan paradise surrounding the ruin |
The site is, indeed, located alongside Old Waterbury Road
in Middlebury. Be aware that Old Waterbury Road is the entrance to the site but that it is actually no longer used as
a traffic road. Several different websites describe entering the lands around the Little People's Village by going
through an old junkyard and climbing a hill to reach the road. They claim that there are "no trespassing" signs posted.
Well, of course there are . . . the junkyard is private property. There is an easier and more legal way to enter the
site. The entrance of the Old Waterbury Road looks almost like a small parking lot with two homes adjacent
to the lot. Following the road into the "parking lot" leads you directly to a chain and cable barricade, barring vehicular
entrance to the road beyond. Simply parking your car alongside this barricade and continuing on foot is the easiest
way to access the site. There are currently no posted signs of "private property" or "no trespassing", therefore,
we assume that the road is still accessible to the general public. Please refrain from trespassing upon the junkyard
site. The road beyond appears almost as a trail rather than a paved road, especially now with all the Fall leaves upon
the ground.
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| The service road that one can use to LEGALLY enter the area of the ruin |
Following the road about a quarter-mile in, you'll notice
that many trees have been felled in order to widen the pathway. There are some spectacular traprock formations along
the trail and the sylvanesque scenes are very pleasant. As the trails opens up (following a bend in the road to the
left) you'll see below you on the right what appears to be a partially abandoned (or severely unkempt) junkyard, complete
with rusted machinery, cars and trailers (we assume that this is the property that other websites are advising people
to cross into illegally). Near the road on the right, you'll see the foundation of what may have once been a trolley
station, its wooden roof and upper walls missing. The old trolley tracks run parallel to this service road. We
located turn-of-the-century photographs of structures that may or may not have been trolley stations. There is a noticeable
similarity between this early-1900s structure and the one we located near the trolley tracks by the road.
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| The small trolley station structure near the tracks |
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| Was this a trolley station in the early 1900s? |
Shortly after this, you'll notice a large electrical tower
above you and to the left. This tower stands directly beneath a sheer incline that rises up to what appears to be an
area where a daycare center can be seen. The tower also looms directly over the eastern end of the Little People's Village
property. When you see this tower, walk toward the woods directly beneath it. There, you'll see the remnant
walls of the property's stone fence and house.
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| This tower marks the beginning of the property |
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| The daycare center above the Little People's Village |
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| The stone fence below the tower |
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| The stone fence leads to the "house" |
The partially burned out husk of a home is chaotically devised
and illogically arranged, resembling a 12th Century Black Forest cottage crossed with a deep-South shanty lost somewhere in
the Bayou. The stones, mortar and wood used in the construction are indicative of a person without means and who
may have bitten off more than he could chew once construction began. Lava rock, quartz, basalt and feldspar are interspersed
amongst the cheap cement and the window frames are poorly measured, each one completely different from the next. The
roof of the house is completely gone and there are telltale signs of a fire having engulfed the house at one time.
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| Drew runs the EMF meter near the ruins (notice the clay pipe near his feet) |
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| The front door arch into the "house" |
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| Vines crawl up and over the walls |
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| Lava rock, feldspar, brick and mortar all combine to create this strange "house" |
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| The remnants of the metal roof have collapsed into the "house" |
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| Charred wood litters this structure, hinting at a fire in the not too distant past |
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| A pair of windows beneath the collapsed roof |
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| More examples of the haphazard building materials |
Before the framed arch of the front door is a
small stone porch with a rectangular opening at your feet. NOTE: Be very careful when walking
around this site! There are multiple collapsed holes in the cement where you may break an ankle! There is a small space under this porch that you can literally climb into (if you get down on your hands and
knees). Contrary to the Shadowlands report above, there is no "cellar that you can go down into". The area referred
to as the "cellar" is actually just a crawlspace under the front cemet porch. You cannot walk into it as the opening
and exits are only four feet high.
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| There are holes everywhere . . . be careful! |
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| The rectangular hole is an ingress/egress point for the crawlspace under the porch |
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| The crawlspace is a tight spot |
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| The crawlspace only extends back three or four feet before ending at the foundation wall |
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| Looking out from within the rectangular hole |
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| Looking to the right from the above picture |
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| Looking down upon the exit from the crawlspace (photo above) This looks to have once been stairs |
The house must have been miniscule, too.
There is literally only enough room for one . . . perhaps, two tiny rooms. The construction, as stated before,
is shoddy at best and this was apparently not a wealthy home. What the house was used for was hard to say upon
first inspection. There is an abundance of clay pipes (more than forty) running all throughout the structure and its
outlying property. What these pipes were used for is anyone's guess, but GHOST members have a theory. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
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| Clay pipes, clay pipes, everywhere! |
The iron bars upon the windows are not a fictionalized account,
yet we cannot determine what would have been the use for such bars; surely, the bars were not for security, for only two of
the multitude of misshapen windows have bars.
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| One of two, barred windows |
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| One of many misshapen windows |
The road leading to the site was said to be "soundless
and still". GHOST members found that a rather curious assessment, since Routes 84 and 63
are within a mere 500' of the site and the sounds of the traffic are constant. As for the pentagrams upon
the ground, we assume that they were etched into the dirt at one time and washed away with the rain or snow, for nowhere could
we locate these symbols. In fact, nowhere in the entire site (either upon the ground, rocks, trees, or ruins) could
we locate any such symbols, although the name "Donna" appeared spray-painted upon some traprock along the road. A child's
rubber ball was also upon the ground, the words "Ninja Turtle" scrawled across its surface. We assume this was not a
demonic sign.
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| Perhaps they knew GHOST member Donna Lee was arriving |
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| The dreaded Ninja Turtle soccer ball: a sure sign of satanic ritual! |
Behind the house, hidden amongst the leaves and bushes,
are a tiny set of stairs made of stone leading up the hill. They bend and wind upward again, ending on a small trail
above the house. From this vantage point, you can actually look down into the remnants of the house.
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| These baby sized steps lead up to the area above the rear of the "house" |
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| Look at me! I'm a giant! Ha ha! |
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| Overlooking the L-shaped "house" from the tiny path above and behind (right side) |
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| Gazing through the front door from above (left side) |
Moving along the trail, you begin to notice
the remains of small structures . . . the Little People's Village! The homes are all mostly or completely destroyed,
although (unlike the report by Shadowlands) there is more than only one intact miniature house. GHOST members counted as many as fourteen little house foundations.
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| Many incomplete foundations litter the grounds |
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| Some are mortar, some are stone and others are brick |
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| Was this a mini-Tudor? |
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| This, the most famous of the houses, is deteriorating fast |
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| This courtyard of the house above appears to have had posts or something protruding from its stones |
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| The metal railing of the front balcony |
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| Close-up of the front balcony |
The Throne
If you're dilligent, you can locate the original entrance
to the property from the northern side. There is a long stone wall that runs east to west with a small break in between
where a few steps are situated. This would bring you directly into the middle of the village of the Little People.
To the right of this front entrance, up the trail about 50-60 feet (and set into the steep wall of a hill) is the so-called
"throne". To the left of the throne, upon the hillside (and hidden by underbrush) is the other intact miniature
home. It has an A-frame roof and broods behind the weeds and bushes.
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| The actual front entrance to the ruins; straight ahead is the "throne" and behind are the tracks |
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| The A-frame house to the left of the "throne" hidden by underbrush |
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| Another difficult-to-locate miniature house |
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| The mysterious man-made stalagmite, standing between the "house" and the "throne" |
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| Was this a castle-like tower for the Little People's Village? |
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| The Throne: Sit on it and you'll die in 1, 3 or 7 years! We're not sure which! |
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| Drew takes his chances on the Throne! |
The throne itself is a curious structure. It is almost
unrecognizable as a chair of any sort and one would have to be extremely tall in order to approach and sit down in this throne
(the wife in the legend would had to have been 7' tall in order to comfortably sit upon her throne). The "symbols" upon
the throne are not symbols at all. In fact, upon close inspection, it is readily apparent that they are the residual
smudge marks from decorative plaques or other stone- or metalware that was at one time recessed into the drying clay.
Over time, these decorations were obviously removed or had merely fallen off of the superstructure due to the harsh elements.
There is a disagreement amongst GHOST members as to the actual use of this structure. It
is either a throne of very large proportions or it is not a throne at all, but a tribute altar of some sort. While this
memorial does resemble a chairlike construction (it does require close scrutiny to recognize this) the fact is that the dimensions
are not consistent with the story that it was fashioned for a woman. As previously stated, the woman would had to have
been huge. The possibility does exist that a stepping stone or two could have been set at the base of the throne, making
for easier access, however there is no evidence of such stonework currently. Additionally, the throne sits above the
pathway (about 5 feet) upon a large outcropping of oddly shaped stone. The stone is at once unbalanced, uneven, and
difficult to access. It seems that the site has many other better locations for a throne than this tough-to-reach area.
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| What curious item used to rest here? |
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| Was this a cameo photograph of a loved one? |
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| Clay and cinderblock do not a throne make |
The altar theory came about simply because some
decorative embellishments were pressed into the drying clay. While thrones have been known to be decorated with fanciful
gilded edges that included animals' heads, it seems that this structure was more suited to be a small altar than a huge throne.
The structure, nevertheless, shows signs of a conflagration as well. Could this have been a dedication altar to the
man's wife or child?
There is a curious imprint that repeatedly decorates the
back of the throne from bottom to top, and that is the image of leaves. The imprints almost appear to mimic a gigantic
sunflower stalk with the previously held decorations as the centers for the flowers.
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| The leafy pattern is repeated throughout the structure's clay |
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| I'm not convinced by, nor impressed with "the curse" |
Secrets Revealed
It has been discovered (and confirmed by two independent sources)
that this house (surprise, surprise) was not a house at all! It was actually a very popular roadside attraction
along the very busy trolley line that ran from Waterbury, through Middlebury, and into Quassy Lake Resort
from 1908 to 1929. The so-called house was actually a gift/souvenier shop (hence the close quarters) that showcased
the Little People's Village.
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| One of the Quassy Resort's many attractions in the early 1900s |
There was no woman who deemed herself the Queen
of the Little People and, for all intents and purposes, this was simply a tourist attraction. The throne was,
as surmised, not a throne but part of a fountain and floral garden (hence all the clay pipes). While we're still not
sure why all the clay pipes were in place throughout the property, we have a theory. If you look at the three photographs
directly below, you will note that the first shows the miniature house from above, a tiny swimming pool in its front courtyard.
The second photo shows a close-up of the pool, while the third is a shot from the ground, cutting across the pool. This
third shot reveals the most obvious picture of the opening of a clay pipe; one that appears to be situated directly over the
small swimming pool. We believe that several or all of the little houses were supplied with piping so that small ponds,
pools and fountains could be fed with water. If this is so, the Little People's Village would have been a splendid sight
to behold!
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| Was this "house" the central control point for all the water valves? |
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| Yet another miniature house with clay piping. Was this a fountain? |
There is even an elderly person in Middlebury
who vaguely remembers that an old man with a long white beard was the proprietor of this tourist attraction.
How the story of the man and his demented wife got started remains
a mystery. As is true with many of the strange stories around the Constitution State, it appears that curious passers-by feel compelled to explain away the site by creating
an equally strange tale. They see a small structure, they call it a house. They people it with a man and his wife.
They see the space beneath the front porch and call it a "basement". They spot the little houses and they create the
myth of the Queen of the Little People. Finally, the see the fountain and floral garden, badly damaged and in disrepair,
and they create the "throne" story. Once you have all the information, you begin to see the truth. The truth is
that the Little People Village was nothing more than a turn-of-the-century tourist trap. To paraphrase P.T. Barnum:
"There's a sucker born every minute!"
What's Next?
For now, it appears that the Little People's Village is only in jeopardy
due to the occasional visit by local vandals. Curiosity-seekers around the state and the nation appear at intervals,
interested in glimpsing the small dwellings for themselves, close-up and personal. For the most part, however, the
ruin is near the end stages of its life. It won't be long before the developers come knocking on the doors of the little
people to plow them under and wipe them permanently from the face of the planet. With civilization so close already
(a daycare center can be viewed above the site, resting at the edge of the hill) and a very deplorable looking junkyard below,
the days of the little people are numbered. This last remaining vestige of forest in the triangle between two highways
and a road is destined for oblivion in the near future. Try to see it before it fades into the dusts of history.
GOOSEBUMP
FACTOR: 0
Barry A.
A. Dillinger
November
7th, 2005
UPDATE: Creepy Connecticut has been contacted by a woman who currently
lives in Maine who happened to have grown up in the very same area of the Little People's Village. She is nearly ninety
years old and remembers the roadside attraction that existed on that site and thanked GHOST members for presenting the truth
about the Little People's Village.
January 13th (Friday) 2006
UPDATE: It
has been brought to our attention that the former tourist attraction currently known as the Little People's Village was actually
known as "The Fairy Village" in the 1930s. A former resident of the area remembers, too, that the proprieter with the
long white beard owned a small black and brown dog. We believe this is the first time this information has come to light
in reference to this site (see the letter). Thanks, Jacqui!
February 13th, 2006
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