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Midgetville

Midgetville refers to a legend of a small town inhabited by little people. There are a few urban legends of Midgetvilles across America.

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1 The Wedderburn Property
2 Jefferson Township
3 Other Reported Sites
4 Clinton County, Michigan
5 Debunked Urban Legend
6 References

The Wedderburn Property

The 8 acre Wedderburn Property on the border of the Washington & Old Dominion trail in Vienna, Virginia. Due to the small sizes of the homes, local youth have renamed the place "Midgetville" and tell stories of hostile little people who inhabit the buildings and throw rocks and shoot guns at outsiders. In 1882 the site was a small summertime resort that people went to when they wanted to escape the stressful lifestyle of Washington DC. In 1892 the area was purchased by Alexander Wedderburn. In 1901 the hotel burned to the ground, but a normal sized two story building was built around the same time at the corner of the property. In 1930, one of his sons, George, built six small Spanish-style cottages. A courtyard in the middle of the property was sometimes used as a fairground or a farmers market. The cottages were rented to people, but the place had become overgrown with Ivy and covered with trees. In 2002 the family signed a deal with contractors to tear the place down. The Wedderburns briefly established the Wedderburn Music School on site. As of 2007, the place stands abandoned and ready for construction. ^[1] ^[2] For a virtual tour of the property, go to www.KeepMidgetville.com

Jefferson Township

New Jersey has its own urban legend about a Midgetville in a location called Jefferson Township on the Milton side of town. The houses are located on a secluded dirt road. There are at least 6 small houses with small doors, small windows, and small furniture inside, and some have very ornate exterior decorations. There is 1 normal sized house on the grounds.

Rumor has held that Alfred Ringling, famous for the Ringling Brothers Circus, built a few small-sized houses that had 4 foot doors. However the houses, at least recently, all appear to be built within the last 40 years and some are built with vinyl siding which was not available during Ringling's time. Many stories from people who have been there tell of hostile midgets who shoot guns at outsiders.
Weird NJ

Other Reported Sites

Kentucky on SR 44 between Shepardsville and West Point.

New Jersey: Morris Plains, Waldwick, Totowa, Singac, Button Woods, and Fair Lawn.

California: Long Beach, Corona, Etiwanda, Palm Springs and the Mount Soledad area of San Diego. One popular rumor has it that the midgets from Wizard Of Oz went off and built their own community of houses in Long Beach, California It is by the Virginia Country Club in the Bixby Knolls area.

Pasadena, Maryland, just south of Baltimore.(The Pasadena Midgetville was torn down in 2004 to make way for a new waterfront community)

New Britain, Connecticut, at the end of Long Swamp Road over the highway bridge. A sign outside warns outsiders not to enter. The usual legends of rock-throwing midgets predominate, but there have also been multiple sightings of "an eight-foot-tall man with a red beard," contributing to the legend that "Midgetville" is government land given to circus freaks long ago and established under similar laws as Indian reservations.

New York- In Oakdale at the end of Idle Hour Blvd.

Muskego, Wisconsin reportedly off of Mystic Drive and on a private road. It is blocked off and tresspassers are prosecuted.

Carnegie (pittsburgh) Pennsylvania there are midget houses off a small road that they shoot guns at you (edited by cowboy wayne ricciuti)

Clinton County, Michigan

Slightly west of the intersection of Jason and Forest Hill Rd. There is a large green gate blocking off a drive that leads back to spread of undersized houses complete with pond and lighthouse. Reports of possible bear traps in the woods and being shot at for trespassing.

Debunked Urban Legend

A midgetville often mentioned in Edgewater, New Jersey was actually Hartnett's Camps, a summer campsite / bungalow community from the 1920's. No midgets, dwarves, or little people had ever inhabited there. Today, it is owned by the Edgewater Colony, a private high-end co-op community with a security patrol.

Another midgetville in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, behind the Taylor Hospital, actually turned out to be a community of artists in small houses.

The Pasadena Midgetville is no longer there. These homes were small summer cottages that were small 1 bedroom homes. There was also a very small hotel on the property. All of the cottages and the hotels were wiped away by a recent hurricane. Only 1 stands as of now.

References

^ Salmon, Jacqueline L.. "Emotional Investment: A Family's Decision to Sell Vienna's 'Midgetville' Ignites Bitter Opposition", Washington Post, August 26, 2004, pp. VA16. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.
^ Harrison, David. "Suburban Legends: Vienna's Secret Garden: Do retired circus midgets live in small, isolated cottages surrounded by thick woods? Or is it just a tall tale?", Connection Newspaper, October 28, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-10-21.

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