Absecon, New Jersey - Ship House

Contrary to the last person to send in an update, the ship house still sits alongside Rt. 30 and is is bad shape. It is a shame, as it is a one of a kind and should be preserved like Lucy the Elephant. [Sara Normandin, 10/07/2009]

Sadly, the Ship House is now an empty lot. I noticed an empty lot with orange fence surrounding it on 5/4/09 and returned to confirm on 5/11/09. Oddly, the nearby cabins that are more dilapidated are still standing. [Robert, 05/31/2009]

I have heard many stories about the ship house but I do not know if any of them are true. I attended Richard Stockton College of NJ from 1973-75 and my college roommate's boyfriend rented an apartment on the second floor of the Ship House. It was small and the ceiling was tilted on an angle, but at the time I thought it was the coolest place. My daughter is now a student at Stockton and I could not wait to show it to her. I felt so sad to see it in such poor shape. I wonder who owns it. It could be such a cool building for so many uses. I would love to see it restored. [Lisa, 03/12/2009]

The poor Ship House is now sitting all alone on its plot of land right next to the busy westbound side of Route 30 in Absecon, NJ. I was afraid to pull into the empty lot, not knowing if there were things that might poke a hole in the tire, so I pulled off the side of the road. There wasn't a soul around, and I quickly had to pull back out and leave, as traffic from Atlantic City came flying up towards my parked car sitting in the exit lane of Route 30 West.

Ah, poor old abandoned Ship House -- what will become of ye after the next Nor'Easter or hurricane? [jerzyrock, 07/05/2008]

The old woman who owned the place died in September 2006. The Ship House is now empty. And the correction to the story line is that originally, the ship was supposed to have been an outhouse (Men/Women) toilet for a small community that never came about. The old woman used to give out little pamplets (a single sheet of paper) describing its origin. No, I don't have it anymore. Why? Because I probably put it someplace so it wouldn't get lost. [Van Gonska, 11/04/2006]