THE AREA
- Guide To Landmarks & Stations -
Reforestation Area 1986 Image Video
(wmv, 4 MB)
"There is a something in you, as in every one, every man, woman, girl, and boy, that requires the tonic life of the wild. You may not know it, many do not, but there is a part of your nature that only the wild can reach, satisfy, and develop." |
This is the introductional text found in the area's commercial flyer as well as on its website.
An eerily macabre notion considering the abduction of young boy Trevor.
The area closed down in 1984 following his disappearance.
Plans for a reopening in 1986 were made but quickly dropped due to negative public reaction.
The area has been lying abandoned since.
On these pages I will give you an impression of what attractions ('stations') the area used to be offering to
its visitors and what they included in their wilderness education program.
The Hiking Trails
click for Hi-Rez Image
(WARNING: 0,3 MB)
A signpost.
The Foyer
View of the Foyer. This is where visitors used to enter and could buy commercial material.
Photograph taken December 2010. It has since been destroyed.
The Hatchery
The Hatchery was Reforestation Area's avian breeding station.
Its goal was to re-establish a flourishing bird population and save endangered species from extinction.
Documents prove it was actually supported by Trevor's father Joseph Applebaum
who was an expert on bird breeding.
Hatchery suffered a pipe-burst years before Reforestation Area was closed
and was never refurbished due to missing budget.
Update: As of June 12th 2012, it is now being used a store-room
for the remaining Natural History Museum -props by the demolition workers.
A "Bird-Door" - Birds would fly in and out through here.
Looking down into the hatchery.
The Breeding Station
- no image -
The breeding station - much like the hatchery - was a combination of workplace and sightseeing-spot.
It was used to breed insects which were fed to the birds (this fact wasn't advertised on the commercial poster).
As of Mai 2012, it has been completely destroyed due to heavy vandalism.
The Observation Deck
The Observation Deck used to be a place to enjoy the view of the Area.
It was also used as a transmitting antenna for the Area's own radio station.
An almost 26 feet high ladder reached up into a platform in a large pine tree.
Naturally, it could only be climbed during the day and under the supervision of a trained guide.
Ladder to the sky ;-)
Trevor Applebaum Memorial Shrine
- REMOVED -
There used to be a map here with a bicycle-path to the Memorial's exact location.
It's been removed. See Diary-Post from Mai 4th, 2011.
R.F. Mining Facilities
The Mines were a sort of haunted house attraction aimed at a younger audience.
People would enter through the gift-shop and later have to crawl out to exit the attraction
A tape would play back once the tunnels were entered, containing a mining-song from the turn of the century.
The historical mining site was actually located about 30 miles away from the attraction.
A tunnel.
The Natural History Museum
The park's main attraction. Exhibitions used to have a special theme and vary every year.
Most of the exhibitions were themed around forest education. The final one before closing down in 1984
was an indoor-forest made from live trees which were sustained with forest-soil & heat lamps.
After the park's shutdown the stuffed animals and dead trees remained in the museum.
Heavy vandalism has been taking place in late 2010/early 2011 and the museum was mostly smashed to pieces.
Update: The new property owner has stated plans to "refurbish" the museum & turn it into a general Reforestation Area memorial.
According to the new property owners, the new museum will offer "all the things we have always loved about Reforestation Area".
Wilderness and nature friends, however, remain immensely sceptical and take it as an insult to the memory of the Area.
Miscellaneous
The Area's commercial flyer as found in the entrance hall ('foyer')
(click to enlarge)
An abandoned stroller. While it clearly did not belong to the Applebaums,
it is unclear who left it there.
First tree planted in Reforestation Area in 1959.
Allusion to Reforestation Area & the creature from the Applebaum Abduction
Tape (see evidence-section) on the cover of "Cryptomania" Magazine in 1986
"Orbs" & "Ectoplasm" manifestation.
Update: GhostHunterKim told me these were actually not real ghosts but dust particles and/or visible breath
illuminated by the camera's flash, so I removed them from the evidence section as they are not true paranormal evidence.
They are nonetheless very impressive looking photographs, hence they will remain in the area-section.
