Downs Road, Hamden
The Damned Story: On the woodsy west side of Hamden lies a road to nowhere . . . except trouble!
Like many suburban towns across this great state, Hamden claims a lonely ol’ street that seemingly exists as a home to everything from ghosts and phantom creatures to inbred hicks and supernatural feelings of dread.
Behold Downs Road.
Originally a complete thoroughfare from Hamden to Bethany, the road has been closed at both ends, leaving an abandoned unpaved segment through woods. Along this stretch are a few old foundations and other remnants of past inhabitation. Over the years, many stories have sprung up about the area, including that of a Downs Road Monster, which may or may not have been an ornery albino horse, among other things.
Others who have visited Downs Road have claimed to seen apparitions of children and other spooky spirits, as well as to have been accosted by unknown creatures (think Melon Heads) who have clawed the outsides of parked cars or chased away wayward hikers. In short, it’s supposedly not a welcoming place for outsiders, as those who do manage to stay for a while also report inexplicable feelings of doom and fear.
It also seems to be a place that draws many teenagers for partying and others looking for trouble, which only help to enhance the reputation of a place of weird goings-on.
Our Damned Experience: We briefly visited Downs Road in January 2009 at the beginning of a snow storm and didn’t get too far along the trail before turning back. As it seems with many of the damned places around the state — both Melon Head roads (Shelton and Trumbull), Little Genessee settlement, etc. — the property is owned by the local water company. (Steve and I are building a theory on this — get your tin foil hats ready!) Hmm . . .
Although we didn’t stay long and didn’t see much other than snow, we did have one sort of odd moment. While we were walking, a small tree near us suddenly shook violently as if bird or squirrel had launched itself off it. The weird part was that with no leaves on the trees around us, if there was any sort of animal around, we would’ve seen it instantly.
Other than that, we didn’t see any odd Melon Head-like creatures, nor did we have any unusual feelings or experiences.
Maybe when we go back in good weather, it’ll be more of a Down-er. [*groan*]
If You Go: There are two parts of Downs Road in Hamden — if you’re at the part with the YMCA Camp, you’re at the wrong end. The side you’re looking for ends in a cul de sac and has a gate across the entrance. As mentioned, the property is owned by the Regional Water Authority and can be hiked with a permit.
View Downs Rd in a larger map
I live on Pheasant Lane, right near Downes Road (it is spelled two ways!), and I cannot say that I have seen anything suspicious despite my many hiking trips there; however, I am still a believer in these apparitions and monsters. I want all of the stories I hear to be true: it makes my living in the “boonies” interesting for a change. Also, when I do walk there at night and get hit with rocks that these creatures throw, I will make sure to post a video or a picture so everyone can see that the legends are NOT in fact concocted by unintelligent teens just looking for some fun.
They’re called Mongaloids not Melon-Headed creatures.
Matt- this is what we called them in North Haven growing up too, but they are more popular as melon heads south of new haven.
I went to the Melon head house in Shelton. I was only about 12 but it was still extremely scary. I remember seeing claw marks on the trees & things that glistened in the moon light that looked like heads. Very fun.
This might sound sort of far-fetched, but did anyone consider the possibility of aliens. It just came to me when i read the description of the so called ” melon heads”.
i live in bethany, have been to downs road many times, including tonight (just left there). the mongaloid stories are all fakes, there is no downs road monster, just another made up tale. its a nice place to hike, its perfectly legal to walk down it. But its not haunted. we had a nice long talk with the guy who lives on the end of the road in bethany, the downs side, not the hamden downes. his name is mike and he gave us a good history lesson on the place. urban legends is all you will find on this road, trust me.
I nearly got stranded off of Downes Road about four years ago. I went to see what the hoopla was about with the guitarist for the band The Lifted and his girlfriend. I don’t know what exactly we were looking for but I did find the new stop signs at the “intersection of Nowhere and Nonexistant” very strange. The thing that concerned me most was that one of the high falutin types living in one of the McMansions nearby would call the heat on account of us snooping around in the wee hours.
I really wanted to see the Upright Walking Dog in the Robe with a Staff or whatever mystical creature who wnated to appear that early, early morning, but unfortunately I saw nothing unusual except for the stop signs and big obstructive dirt piles, etc.
Guitar Man blew out a tire in a pothole. I said “well, let’s get out the spare”. Guitar Man replied “that was the spare” AAA came and thankfully the driver bent the rules and allowed 3 of us in the cab w/him. Otherwise, since I drew shortest straw I would have had to walk a few miles to civilization and MAYBE call for a ride from someone at 4AM on a Sunday morning. That would have been the scariest.
@ Kyle & Ray
My Mom used to live in Bethany and New Haven and all that where this area is before I was born. She was about 15 or 16 at the time, so this was about thirty five years ago.
But my Mother and some of her friends had decided to go down there for whatever reason, and it was late at night, and they pulled over to have a sit down with some food and drinks in the middle of the woods. – I guess teens did that before they invented Internet and video games, or whatever.
Anyways, the longer the short, My Mother walks off to fill the needs of the body, and while she’s having a break from the others she hears something loud starting to walk toward her from behind. She calls out “Okay guys, it’s not funny.” Cause obviously any fifteen year old girl doesn’t want to be pranked when she’s in the middle of having a piddle.
Regardless, the sound continues to come closer and closer, and all the while she’s pleading with it, thinking it her friends until finally she gets up and starts walking back up the hill toward where her friends are. – And as she does, the crunching gets closer and louder, and faster. My Mom turns around to finally yell, and she see’s a massive creature standing in front her about fifteen feet away. She can’t recall the story to this day without coming to tears, or getting eerie goosebumps and shaking.
She claims that it was a Big Foot, but it was something. I came across this website completely by happenstance watching videos on Youtube about the “Hyote” spotted around Maryland. And something triggered in my brain to look for Big Foot reports coming out of Connecticut, and here to find that there’s a Downs Road Creature with its own legends and sightings.
At your request, I’ll make a video of my Mother retelling her tale and post it for you on my Youtube channel.
Hello Mako,
A video would be wonderful if she is game. We would post if on the website
Steve-
I live on North Woods Road, which is right off of Downes Road in Hamden. I go running on this section of the road all the time. It is not at all creepy and all of these stories are urban legends – although they are fun to talk about. I have also heard that they are called mongoloids and not melon heads. Mongoloid is a very derogatory term for people with Down’s Syndrome, so the stories probably come from making fun of the name of the road. I would be a little creeped out to go there at night though!
Spent many a night up there as a teenager….Hamden cops never came that far out to patrol and only Frank Stopkowski lived there. We knew him well during the day but at night things would change. He was a hard working mason by day who liked to hit the sauce at night. He would sometimes come out the back door firing his shotgun at the noises he heard, which was just us hanging out in the area of that new development. Frank was the one who made Downes road spooky. He is now gone, but his house is still there. RIP Frank, you were a good man……
I know from my friend that he has come in counter with these “melon heads”. He was in East Haven, however, and he was about 10 then (11 years ago) They had their headlights off, his sister and father alongside in the car, and was driving on a road that was in the woods. They didn’t expect what would come next. A “melon head” (this is a very rude word to use for these people, I feel wrong using it) had come out from the front of them only to hit their car and smash their windows. Eventually, others had come around to do this work, and it scared my friend and his sister. He doesn’t remember the street, but I asked my mother about these mongaloids, and they’re right here in North Haven. They used to live on Mansion Road, but they were kicked out of the state. They lived in one big house and barely came out. My mother also shared that she once was in Shelton and with her sister, she went to a mongaloid house. She was freaked out and ran back to the car. They definitely still can be around, just like there are still squatters in North Haven. They’re most common here and Ohio and other states. Personally, I’m really afraid of people with this condition… but that’s because I’m scared of so many things! As another note, my friend’s friend and 3 other friends went down Mansion Road to see them. They were there around 2006-2008 era. Don’t know if they’re still there now…
Me and my friends have venture through this part of downes rd and further in the mountain side of this road there is a old beat up car. From.what ive been told this car belonged to a couple who was over here one night and were attackd by these “creatures” the boy was found Hung above his car and the girl was missing. Also me and my friends made a little fort back here and we came back months later only to find logs saying “hi we are watching” I have pictures of the log!
What pictures, Griffin?
And I haven’t been to Downes Road, but I go to Blue Hills Road, a street right off of Mansion Road, and it’s strange there too. All of the back grounds on Mansion Road look like legitimate Michael Myers location sets. They’re very narrow roads and it’s scary to see them as I drive by at night going to a friend’s every week. There’s been 3 occassions where I’ve seen weird and strange things on that road. I’ve seen movement, not by deer or forest animals, but something else crouching down to the ground, then another time where there were 2 dead deer beside each other as I passed. The last time was when I saw a fort made with sticks- though that could just be some kids. A new house is being built on that road.
Pictures of the logs with the writing on it