The town of Johnsonville, a 62-acre village located near East Haddam, Connecticut, has been abandoned for years.
Now, a bunch of people on Twitter, led by a man named Dan Sinker, are trying to pool their money and buy Johnsonville.
In October of 2014, The Haddams-Killingworth Patch reported that Sinker and a community of Twitter users gave it a fair go, but the auction for the town, which started at $800,000, ended with a $2.4 million bid from a buyer who recently backed out.
Now the former mill town chock-full of Victorian homes is back on the market, and Sinker and friends are revving up to buy.
—dan sinker (@dansinker) April 3, 2015So far, 108 people signed up, throwing anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 into the pot.
Johnsonville, Connecticut, is regarded to as a haunted town.
DamnedCT reports on its history,
In the early 1960s, Raymond Schmitt, the somewhat eccentric owner of AGC Corporation, an aerospace equipment manufacturer, bought the property with unclear intentions. He seemed to want to make it a tourist attraction, but despite making an effort to, never really officially did so.
After Schmitt took possession of the property, he purchased other vintage buildings and had them moved to Johnsonville, including a Victorian stable and chapel, which hosted weddings. Schmitt didn’t formally run tours on the property, but he did open the property for visitors on a regular basis. He also allowed special events including charity benefits and weddings.
Sinker did not reply to Business Insider's request for comment, but it seems everyone who's on board with him to buy the town is excited.
—Adam Schweigert (@aschweig) April 3, 2015—Megan Stielstra (@meganstielstra) April 3, 2015
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