In the early 1900s, some say, plantation owner Manuel Rionda built this tower for his wife, so she could look out over the New York City skyline. Others say he built it as a mausoleum or for religious purposes. An underground tunnel connected the tower to his home. According to local legend, the wife was looking out from her tower when she saw Manuel with another woman, and, distraught, she jumped to her death. Since then, hauntings have been reported. Some say her spirit lived on here, and people were pushed by something unseen noises were reported, so Manuel locked up the tower and folks started calling it Devil’s Tower. It is said that the tower was set to be demolished but the plan was scrapped after several workmen fell to their death from it. Near the twer, witnesses say you can still hear noises and smell perfume, and sometimes you can hear a scream as the ghostly wife jumps from the tower or a workman falls from it. The wife’s apparition also is said to appear in the windows as a shadowy figure. Another legend says those who drive or walk backward around the tower a certain number of times (depending on who tells it), Manuel’s wife or the devil appears.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- Stone Tower Dr
Alpine, NJ
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 40.9338063, -73.93320319999998
- County:
- Bergen County, New Jersey
- Nearest Towns:
- Cresskill, NJ (1.5 mi.)
Alpine, NJ (1.5 mi.)
Tenafly, NJ (1.7 mi.)
Yonkers, NY (1.8 mi.)
Demarest, NJ (2.3 mi.)
Closter, NJ (3.1 mi.)
Dumont, NJ (3.4 mi.)
Bergenfield, NJ (3.4 mi.)
Englewood Cliffs, NJ (3.5 mi.)
Englewood, NJ (3.5 mi.)
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I have driven by there numerous times and even drove backwards on Hallowween 6 times and never heard screams or ever saw anything…
I went there last night… Took pictures then I heard a weird loud scratching noise
All just a myth.Used to hang out there in the early 80s at night and party.There were 3 small capes on the left & right of the tower.At one time nuns lived there.A narrow dirt road leading to it.It was scary at that time.Lots of tree’s and really dark.I took a door knob off one of the capes.Some LOSER spray painted a blue upside down cross on the tower We put in black AC/DC and Bon Scott lives.My friend made it to the top of the tower and found old cashed checks?Late one night on the back of my friends Xl250 going thru the woods to the left of tower did come across an old big house with a weird shaped built in pool.That is the mystery.A dog chased us and there was a really scary presence in the air with weird noisesMy friends mom used to go there when she was a kid visited the nuns.She is almost 90 yrs.old now.Tried to find that house with the pool day and night and could never find it.
I used to hang out there in the early 80s. The main purpose of it was as a watertower. It provided good waterpressure for the entire estate..fountains etc. If your looking from the 9W side..to the right of the tower was a stone caretaker’s house. It had been modernized inside, with sheetrock walls etc. There was lots of graffiti on the walls and it was obvious that lots of kids went there to party as the caretaker was no longer there. To the left side was a mausoleum he had made for his wife. He later had her buried elsewhere (in Englewood i believe).There was an opening in the ceiling to a small 2nd floor. It was more like an L-shaped hallway from what i could see from the opening. Just east of the mausoleum was a pond. Next to the pond (on the east side) was a stone carriage house. It had one of those turntables that when you pull in your car, it rotates it around so that the car is facing out. A very futuristic luxury item for it’s day. I was talking with someone who used to hang out there as a kid..long before i went there..and he said the caretaker would chase trespassers off the property with a shotgun loaded with rock salt. He actually caught a little salt-shot in the backside while running away one time.
Ok so im from south Carolina but a true believer in spirits i went there later in the night last night but kept my eyes closed and said tjis was a dirt road from beyond the curve and then i felt a sad feeling for tjose who where dead but they are keeping her safe as if lions on a prayer or something but i know its ehat should be respected and such shannagins should be not respect her pleade
C’mon people just by looking at it .i can tell its haunted.
your right on that one
I have went there twice. The first time I was with just one friend. We started to walk around the tower backwards and not even half way through our first lap we heard a noise at the top of the tower. I wish I could say I was joking. We sprinted back to the car and drove away. Last weekend i went with two friends and when we got there people were already there. My one friend and i did one lap and nothing happened. When we stood on the grass the air felt warm but then my lips started going numb. When we got back in the car my friend’s lips felt numb too. All of the sudden the car felt warm even though the hear wasn’t on then I got the chills for about 6 seconds. Apparently that means a spirit is passing through you. I couldn’t sleep that night but I will go back.
This photo was taken back in 2011.
A spooky video showing my experience here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XlMQoeUKN4
I was driving by one day at night, where I looked back and in the top left window I could see a shadow that looked a lot like a woman and when I told my family they stopped the car and all looked back and we could see this shadow for about half a second before it was gone, and then the car suddenly turned on again.