Recently I decided to take a quick drive to Shades of Death Road. in Allamuchy. I had been here years ago but thought that I would take pictures and do a little more research this time.
The Road itself, is not any more frightening than the quaint dairy farms around it. Anyone passing through the moderately busy road during the day wouldn't think twice about Shades of Death, other than the ominous name. There is even an annual half marathon held here in the fall.
The reports of murder and hauntings however, make it a little more exciting than that........
Though most are unsure as to why the road has its name there are plenty of tales that could be the reason behind the horrifying label. Shades of Death history goes back to the 20's and 30's with several reports of robbery by bandits and highwaymen. There have been at least three reports of murder along this road. The first involved the death of a traveler at the hands of a bandit who struck him over the head with a tire iron. The second conclusive report was of a woman killing and beheading her husband and burying the separate pieces on either side of the road. The third murder was of a local named Bill Cummins. Reports say the killer was never caught, though I've heard from locals that he was.
The name could also stem from rumors of highwaymen being lynched along the road by locals or stories of the ghosts of two boys who were killed by a car while playing on the road.
In the late 90's rumor spread of hundreds of creepy polaroid photos found by police not far from the side of Shades of Death Road. The blurry photos depicted a television changing stations and women sitting on a metal object. A factual conclusion was never released to the public.
These murders could be why the name Shades of Death was chosen for this road but my opinion causes me to believe that it was named for the swamplands that once covered the area around the road. The swamps bred an unusual amount of mosquitoes that caused the deaths of many residents due to malaria. The swamps were later dredged, but the name and history behind the road remained.
Farther along Shades of Death Road you can find Jenny Jump State Park. The story of Jenny Jumps name is equally fascinating. Lenape Indian tribes once covered much of Allamuchy. During this time there was a small white family living nearby the cliff face of what is now the park. Legend has it that a young white girl named Jenny was picking berries when an Indian attacked her. Jenny ran away to escape the Indian and found herself trapped between her attacker and the ledge of the cliff. Unwilling to suffer her fate at the hands of the Indian, she jumped over the cliff to her death. Some claim to see her ghost still wandering the shores of Ghost Lake, a man-made body of water created in the early 1900's by two men damning up a creek nearby.
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