North Jersey Training School

The North Jersey Training School once occupied a sprawling 188 acre tract of land in the boro of Totowa. The plan was to provide a community type setting for those born with developmental disabilities, while also offering vocational training.

The state school opened in 1928, operating out of a cluster of attractive brick buildings off of Minnisink road. The campus had a dozen gender segregated dormitory buildings, as well as an auditorium, a chapel, a school building and much more. Like many other similar facilities across the nation, the state school was basically its own town.

By the 1940's, the training school grew to 34 buildings. In 1953, a new hospital building was constructed at the corner of Minnisink Rd. and Vreeland Ave. to replace the existing hospital.

In 1983 the name of the school changed to "North Jersey Developmental Center". The site was then one of seven developmental centers operated by the state of New Jersey.

Just a year after the name of the facility changed, the largest patient population was recorded at the center. 661 patients were calling the large campus home.

Eventually the facility became a burden for the state. In 2012 it was announced that 2 of the states developmental centers were to be shuttered for good. The North Jersey Developmental Center officially closed in 2014. The buildings were immediately boarded up with plywood, and a private security company was hired.

The site sat idle for a few years, but in December of 2017 the state allowed the sale of the property to go through. It was sold for $1 to the boro of Totowa, who then sold it for five million dollars to a developer.

On the night of April 16th, military training exercises started abruptly at the center. The town was told to keep quiet about the plan, leading to a sense of panic among the residents of the neighborhood. The exercises continued for the next two nights.

Demolition of the campus started swiftly, and most of the dormitory buildings were completely leveled by mid 2018. Not only were the buildings gone, but the surrounding land had been blasted and reshaped to better suit redevelopment. At this point the historic original buildings were largely stripped out and left to the elements as work on the property continued.

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By the end of 2018 the entire campus was demolished. Another historic New Jersey campus shuttered, abandoned, and demolished without a thought towards preservation.