Burlington County Prison Museum — Attraction in Mount Holly Township

I came here on a whim in 2022 and because of Covid I was there entirely by myself. The woman working talked at length about the jail. What she didn’t tell me was what happened at noon - that a melody composed by Satan himself entices visitors to their damnation. I was almost a victim of the Prison’s lust for souls, only barely escaping it’s snare with my life. I was on the second floor in one of the cells, alone - with only the hum of fluorescent lights and the muffed howl of the wind outside breaking through the silence. I stepped into a cell and observed the spartan conditions that the inmates endured. The second I turned around to leave the cell, that’s when it happened. A disembodied melody began to play. At first it was soft enough for me to dismiss it as maybe a video playing downstairs, but then I stepped out of the cell and walked down the hall a few steps. The music felt like was coming from above, not below - both uncanny and alluring. The song itself was difficult to describe - it resembled an organ but muffled. It’s notes upbeat, almost hopeful - but given the environment, the juxtaposition made it eerier. After a few minutes, I ruled out it being someone’s phone ( like a construction worker that had a playlist devoted to organ music ) because it stayed the same volume, no matter the room I went into. I stepped towards one of the stairwells and thats when everything changed. The volume of the song increased. Now there seemed to be a source. I started walking toward the stairs - where it got louder, and louder with each step. I followed the music and could see an open, very heavy door - a door I had not seen when I had passed by the first time. Behind that door was a short hallway with a wooden floor. The music definitely coming from here, but why? This empty hall was out of place, almost from a different era - using this otherworldly chord of the damned to lure me deeper and deeper into the Prison. I was unnerved, terrified, but I had to see what was causing this music - this intoxicating siren’s call that had wafted its way into my soul. I stumbled past the dead-eyed statues of the internees, they’re pale, blank faces smirking as I was pulled into the Prison’s clutches. One step at a time, I descended the stairs, fixating on the door at the other end of the wooden floor hallway. The door was shut, with glass windows on the left - windows with no bars. The music was deafening, my heart racing as I stepped through the portal and onto the wooden floor. I walked an eternity in those ten steps to the closed door, the music blaring its cacophonous anthem. That’s when a movement outside caught my eye and snapped me from my trance. If only had never come to this wretched place, if only I had kept driving instead of pulling over to see what was in this derelict building. The deafening music hit its crescendo as I turned to look out the window and to my unparalleled horror, I could see it. The Prison’s most lethal instrument, the gallows. The Prison wasn’t content to just torture me, It wanted me to die, to have me become part of the exhibit, it’s hangman’s scaffold beckoning me to come outside. And then, as abruptly as it started it stopped… Turns out the music was a church next door. It wasn’t an organ, it was just bells that sounded weird because of the building. Gift shop was really top-notch, staff was friendly, and the exhibits were really professionally made....

My old paranormal team was scheduled on March 2, 2024 for an investigation. 2 members from went earlier in the day for some interviews and get some B roll done. We were scheduled for a 7pm start and we like to get to locations about 15-20 minutes early due to all of our gear that has to be brought in and some places can be a hike😁. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day so everything was wet and limited space to put gear down. Anyway, we knock, no answer so we wait a couple minutes and knock again in case they were somewhere inside and needed a minute. Then it got to 7:30 and our one member who does the work of booking locations, called the numbers he was given and left messages. We had gear piled up on the 2 benches since everything was wet and some equipment is in soft cases. Finally, someone called the Park Ranger and he proceeded to call people. We entertained ourselves while waiting and said hello to everyone who went by. Very friendly area! Finally Park Ranger John showed up around 8pm to let us inside and I thank him so much. Since we lost an hour waiting, we were given an extra hour or we could have some money refunded but we picked the extra hour. He left us a number for Jeremy in case of problems or when we needed to be let out since we were locked in. Jeremy was also great and we did get a chance to talk to him too. The four of us got set up quickly and broke off in pairs since 2 of us didn't get a tour. Now comes my absolutely favorite part of the night, my partner and I went downstairs to get extra batteries(remember we don't have any lights on in the whole prison) and I hear them scream and I look to see this light area moving....it was Lynn, she was the one to volunteer to stay while we investigated. Lynn(I hope I'm spelling your name right) was fantastic. We had an amazing investigation with awesome evidence which I'm not giving away here. Please check it out the Burlington County Prison is a really amazing place and it offers public events if you would like to check it out for yourself and I do recommend it. Thanks again to Park Ranger John, Jeremy and Lynn who is a great person, really enjoyed her being there since the reason nobody was there to let us in at 7 was just due to a simple error, they forgot that they had scheduled us so it was not a big deal. We had a great investigation and got lots of amazing good evidence. I will add pictures when I...

I had some free time on a Saturday afternoon so I drove down to near-by Mount Holly. If you live in this part of New Jersey, it seems like every other building is "historic." Lots of old stuff preserved around here and there is a lot to see in terms of historic places. So as I passed the Burlington County Prison Museum I realized I had lived here for over ten years and never stopped in. An interesting experience for sure. The place is bigger on the inside than you would think viewing it from the front. There are three floors to explore as well as the yard. Near the entrance, there are some interesting exhibits about a detective who worked the area and some of his cases. The rest of the museum is light on lengthy displays and more about exploring the building. The architecture is interesting, the prison resembles a dungeon. Thick wooden doors and old-school cross-bars, through narrow low hallways on the first level which is partially subterranean. Old graffiti is still extant on some of the cell walls, interesting to read the scribbles and get some insight of how the past isn't really much different than the present in some respects; times change, but does human behavior really change? Hard to say. I wandered around for about 45 minutes. This is a great place to visit when you have some extra time, maybe on a lunch break or as part of a day off, rather than sitting in front of the computer. Go out, explore, check out the Burlington Country Prison Museum! Also, public executions were performed in the yard, I didn't ask, but I would assume there are stories of...