Quick question, I grew up in Maine (Bingham) and my buddies in high school used to get a big kick out of this spot off 201 between Skowhegan and Fairfield. I want to say is was on the Hinckley road in Clinton (rte 23) but can’t really remember.
Anyway, it was this weird field with crazy mounds and hills shaped like humans dug into the earth. And rock circles and all kinds of stuff. My buddy said there was a orphanage across the street in a big abandoned farm house, but it wasn’t really an orphanage because it was run by a cult and they used to human sacrifice the babies. I’m sure he was full of sh*t but the field was really crazy. I still remember it, I wish I had pictures.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Weird field in Bingham?
Dear fellow Strange Mainers, please find following an inquiry from another of your number regarding a remembered weird Maine spot:
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19 comments:
Well I did a little research... This is the only orphanage in the area...
http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=7459 After finding it on google maps, It's right in the area the poster describes. I couldn't find any funny looking fields on the map though.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Route+201,+Hinckley,+ME+04944&sll=44.647178,-69.573197&sspn=0.010824,0.01929&ie=UTF8&ll=44.663525,-69.625854&spn=0.043282,0.077162&t=h&z=14&iwloc=A
I went to high school in Skowhegan, circa 1984. I never went to this field but recall hearing about it from friends. Rumor had it there were satanic rituals/sacrafices performed there...think it was in Benton? All BS I'm sure.
That's actually the L.C. Bates Museum, part of the Goodwill-Hinckley school campus. Google maps has a street level view if you want a good view of it today. As far a the mounds, they were most likely aleuvial deposits. Human shaped mounds are a common feature alongside river and stream beds. The Androscoggin has quite a few spots along the Livermore section and up above towards Rumford where they can be seen.The re is a reference to the Baptists having ran a temporary orphanage in Skowhegan, in the early 20th century, but no address is given.
I visited this field several times back in the day, ususlly around Halloween, but never at night. I was too scared because the locals said a witch's coven would meet there. Never saw any other folks at the place though. It is/was in Benton, a smaller road that runs parellel to route 201 but on the other side of the river. I believe it's called River Road, between Fairfield/Benton and Hinkley. There were earth mounds in the shape of human forms, mazes, stick-like figures and spirals as well as a large fire pit and rock formations. There was a large white Victorian house on the opposite side of the road. I would love to see if it's still there.
Yes it is still there as of 1990. And yes the rumors are true. Been there many times in 1983. Especially at night, thats when all the excitement was.
I also remember this field, they called it Devils something, sorry i don't remember anyway, me and a few friends went there and u r right where it is. i went there and there is a place in the back of the field that u enter the woods and no matter how many times u try to walk striaght through it u will stumble and fall. Love It!!!
My mom has said she has been there when sh was a kid,athough she can't remember where it was. It is weird that hardly anyone remembers where it is...
Ive been there, its along the river road as people say
There is a pit, a raised pyramid, a raised spiral, a raised triangle
a stich figure raised in the ground, and some other stuff.
Its best to see it in the winter, the shapes become very apparent.
Keep an eye out on the river sied of the road and the pyramid mound and the spiral mound are only like 10 feet from the road.
they look like standard dirt piles at first, but they are shapes.
It was called Devil's Triangle on the River Rd. Heading towards Skowhegan on the left, just prior to Calvery Farm. I played and picnicked there many times as a child. I lived right down the road. It was a very beautiful and fun field as a child, about 30 years ago. Does anyone know if it still exists?
Yes it's stll there in Cliton.Went there also back in the 70's and it felt very creepy.It's just as they said above mounds ,spirils,what looked to be a sacrifice spot.
The picture that you can get to in above link for orphanage is not the house across from the strange mounds. It is indeed Goodwill Hinkley school, across and a little south across the river from said mounds.
Thank you for the clarification Anonymous! :)
I visited this site in early 90's (with '666' spraypainted onto the roadway, i remember). sometime around 2003, while taking an art class at UMaine Augusta, I was doing some research and found out that the field was used by an artist to create art installations. I have no idea how the art morphed into the urban legend, but i have fond memories of going there and exploring the 'satanic' area.
I left the previous anonymous comment as well and here is a follow-up thanks to the help of the librarians at the UMA library:
This site is known as Pratt Farm and the owner of the property, James Pierce, built the land art installations (about 20 in all) between 1970 and 1982.
Here is my source for this info:
http://clui.org/ludb/site/pratt-farm
And a nice article from 2012 about the site: http://www.jamestrainor.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TrainorJ_OldGrowth_Cabinet_2013-copy-2.pdf
Wow!!! That is fantastic, thank you for that, deepdeep! :) I haven't had a chance to do any more digging, but with this info it gives me something to start with. Maine has so many wonderfully strange pieces of art worked into its landscape, most of which leave behind few explanations of their existence. This is great info!
Yes, it is on the river road in Clinton and it is now just a normal field. My mother said that Colby College students would make mounds and hide out there on Halloween to scare people.
I believe your speaking of the "demon mounds" on the River Road in Clinton. That's just a name given to the mounds by the crazy high school locals. They were dozed a few years ago. I travel that road on a regular basis still. I asked my dad what they were back in the early 90's and he told the owner was a WWII vet and those were different mounds used for defense during WWII. One was shaped like a pyramid with 4 holes. That one would have had a gunner in each side. Another one, my favorite, was a circle mound with the outskirts being spiralled and the gunner would have his gun mounted on top and would allow him to move in any direction. I think there was another smaller pyramid that was "empty" inside and the soldiers would have been inside and fire from the top.
I have to laugh at all the different"rumors"here. It was called Devil's Field. I went there several times in the 80's, but not knowing the whole story we missed much of the artwork. The article by James Trainor is a great reference. I am only sorry that I never explored far enough to see it all and now it is gone, but one mound.
I definitely remember the place and the white house across the road, River road in Benton/Clinton, devils Triangle, the house was scary enough!
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