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Devil's Tower - Alpine NJ Real Haunt

   
  • 12 The Esplanade
  • Alpine, NJ
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  (7 reviews)
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Yes - Open To Public
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The Devil's Tower was built in 1910 by a millionaire sugar importer named Manuel Rionda. Before it received the name Devil's Tower, it was formally known as Rio Vista. According to reporting from Forbes, the tower was built and dedicated to Rionda’s wife, Harriet Rionda, who was buried on nearby land but later moved to Brookside Cemetery, Englewood. Rumor has it that Mr. Rionda built the tower for his wife so she could look out at the New York City skyline. Others believe he built it as a mausoleum or for religious purposes. But, even with Mrs. Rionda’s death and later Mr. Rionda’s death in the mid 1900’s, many believe Harriet Rionda’s spirit still lives on at the tower.

The tower was connected to Rionda’s home by an underground tunnel. According to the local legend story, his wife was looking out of the tower when she saw Manuel with another woman. While she may have suspected infidelity for years, according to reporting from New Jersey Magazine, distraught from the site, she jumped off the tower, killing herself. Since her rumored suicide, there have been many reports of hauntings, including people who have said they have been pushed by something unseen. Others have reported strange noises and because of this, Manuel locked up the tower, filled in the tunnel connecting the home to the tower and even removed the elevator leading to the top of the tower proclaiming, “Nobody will ever go up here again,” according to reporting from Try To Scare Me.

Since that time, people started calling it Devil's Tower. Witnesses report still hearing noises and smelling perfume, while at other times you can hear a scream as the wife jumps from the tower or a workman falls from it. Her ghostly spirit has also been seen as a shadowy figure in the windows.

Some have said that if you drive or walk backward around the tower a certain number of times, the devil or Manuel's wife appears.

Devil’s Tower and the spirit surrounding it clearly seems to be here for good, keeping a dark cloud around the rich community of Alpine. Even after Mr. Rionda’s death there were plans to demolish the tower by the Town but activities were halted and eventually aborted after several workers fell to their death.

Clearly, this place stands as one of the most terrifying historical sites on New Jersey. And even though many local legends point to Mrs. Rionda committing suicide after witnessing infidelity, in reality, she died of natural causes in 1922, according to Untapped Cities.
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  • Not sure

    I grew up in this area. 20 years ago when I was in my 20’s we did see something in the tower. This tower is surrounded by multi million dollar homes! It’s the first thing you see going into Rio Vista. I would definitely check it out and the homes are to die for!

    Posted 9/6/19

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    0 out of 1 found this review helpful

  • Crazy Place to visit

    I went to the tower on a few occasions after hearing from a close friend who grew up in a nearby town about the "legends" & supposed haunting. The first time I went I'll never forget. As we approached the tower the fog thickened to the point you could barely see 20 feet ahead. Its blocked off by a sign but you could still approach. Without going into great detail all I can say is you get an ominous feeling, especially at night. I saw shadows and light spots appear here and there around the tower almost flickering on and off. My heart rate elevated and I got sick to the stomach. I quickly pulled away. What's even more striking to me is what occured after. Immediately after visiting I started having an unusual streak of bad luck. Everything from misplaced things on a daily basis to an unbelievable losing streak in Atlantic City. My friend for some weird reason suggested I visit the tower again to "put it behind me". I did, and after a second unpleasant experience I went home and the streak of bad luck was over. I cant explain what occured. I heard SEVERAL stories from my friend and his friends about Devils Tower experiences they had that made mine pale in comparison. Bottom line is if you visit, and are not chased away by police for trespass you'll know what I mean...

    Posted 8/25/19

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  • Devil's Tower Spook

    I used to go around with my friends and/or sisters to a bunch of Weird NJ places. I've been to devils tower a handful of times but I for some reason I haven't been back since my last encounter. I was with my two sisters and we parked the car and left it unlocked. We are standing at devils tower with our phones out when we just keep hearing small rocks or pebbles inside the tower and when we were trying to figure out what it was, we heard a huge BANG inside the tower. Then we hightailed it to the car and the doors were somehow locked. So we had to open the doors and we were out. The scariest part, which had me in tears automatically on the spot, was when I was turned around in the backseat of the car looking up at the tower, and in the little circle window I see a white figure in the space where its supposed to be black because it was dark out and it's an opened window space. Scariest experience ever and I have no idea when I'll be visiting again.

    Posted 1/11/19

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  • Climed to top and reppeled out window

    I use to climb up to the top in the mid 1970s. The tower is actually a water tower. There is a large wood water tank just behind the clock. To get to the top windows with the good view you had to climb a broken down ladder. There was a lot of dead birds and droppings around. Nice cool breezes inside tower during hot summer days. There is also a stone church that we use to explore. The church is now just behind the gate near the tower.

    Posted 2/15/18

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    1 out of 1 found this review helpful

  • Eh

    This was the place to go in HS. There was a tale that if you drove around the tower backwards three times the ghost would appear hanging in the middle of the tower. We only did it once and nothing happened but still cool to go look at. Wouldn't travel there if it wasn't close to where I live. You can get out and walk around it but the middle section is chained off so there isn't much to see.

    Posted 2/16/17

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  • I climbed this dumb thing to the lower roof

    There was nothing spooky about it at all back in 1998. There were spikes to stop you from climbing it but you could use them to assist you onto the lower roof. It was an ok place to do nothing for bored teenagers but that's about it.

    Posted 1/29/16

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    1 out of 1 found this review helpful

  • Not really open

    You can drive by it but it's fenced off. Cool to look at, interesting story but that's about it.

    Posted 1/26/16

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    3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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Real Haunt Listing Info

Visitors to this page: 19,828
Last edit to this listing: 4/3/2017 (1031 days ago)

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