Midgetville is probably the most legendary place in all of Weird NJ lore. It is a place most fans of the magazine have heard of, and everybody wants to visit. Many claim to have actually seen midgets (FYI: they prefer the term dwarf). There have been stories of midgetville long before weird NJ wrote about them, but as is to be expected when a magazine with their readership does an article on the subject and tells people where it is, the problems grew exponentially as a result. One local resident I spoke to said that they problems but they were managed until Weird NJ published the article. What kind of trouble? People driving thru the street honking their horn at 2AM and screaming “Come out of your houses you midgets!” Vandalism, theft and public disturbances are frequent occurrences. These problems would explain this sign that is prominently mounted in one alleged midgetville area…
So where is midgetville supposed to be? The mostg famous one is in Totowa, but people have suspected small enclaves of homes in Edgewater and Waldwick too. The ones in Waldwick are long gone, replaced by ugly mcmansions. I have visited both the Edgewater and Totowa locations. yes, the houses are small, built as summer vacation homes decades ago. As north jersey has become over developed these homes which once only housed people in the summer are now regular full time residences.
The origin of midgetville stems from the fact that John Ringling (original owners of Ringling Brothers circus) had a home just north of Fort Lee as well in Jefferson Twp. There were actual dwarves that performed in his circus and there were homes specially built for them right nearby. Do these tiny sized homes still exist? probably not. If they do exist, do midgets live in them? Probably not. Are the small villages in Edgewater and Totowa home to midgets?
NO.
I normally don’t try to burst anyone’s bubble when it comes to urban legends, but this is one exception. There are no midgets in Edgewater. There are no midgets in Totowa. If you go there and act like an asshole at 3AM you will be arrested. Don’t go there. Leave these poor folks alone.
The Lostinjersey Blog 
Posted by Tori on July 14, 2016 at 8:35 PM
I geew up in Waldwick- where would have these small houses have been? You say they were replaced by “mcmansions”- what are you talking about?? Waldwick is a blue collar town!
Posted by Pinky on February 21, 2012 at 12:28 AM
I was taken to Alpine NJaround 1980, to see The Midget House on a regular street,It was a little stone house I could see from the road, I would have loved to ask the guy that took me there how to get there again but he parked on the street a little further down the road & tried his best to jump my bones, I got him off me & got him to drive me home & never talked to him again, He is the only person I knew that knew about “The Midget House”I should have kicked in his ‘vette when I got home, but was happy to get away.
Posted by Ro on January 29, 2018 at 1:17 PM
Went there several times with my friends back in the 60’s. It was in a weird spot sort of on an island in the middle of the road. We went at night & there actually was a light on inside. There was no walkway, in fact it was so covered with trees & brush you could barely see it. We never had enough nerve to go close to it. It was a real dwarf house.
Posted by Steve on March 19, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Better than midgets, and far stranger, in Totowa: in the early 1970’s there was this nut who lived on Union Boulevard, and who was totally convinced that people were spying on him with an electronic device implanted in his head. He had giant hand-painted signs all over the front of his house. They said, and these are the actual quotes because they were so memorable to me, “Eight forms of torture, they can read my mind.” “Electronic transmitter in brain.” “Heat from body powers the device.”
Posted by notreal on January 10, 2011 at 7:14 PM
I just did a search for “eight forms of torture” and was amazed to find someone else remembered this. Kudo
Posted by notreal on January 10, 2011 at 7:31 PM
oh yeah, the signs were not all over the front of his house, they were in the second floor windows. I think that explained their brevity. The house was set back a bit so most people driving by never even noticed them. I did while riding on a school bus, but I asked several friends and family members and they hadn’t even though the signs were there for years. Of course, town officials and the local busy bodies all knew but I bet most drivers didn’t see them unless they were pointed out.
Posted by Steve on March 19, 2009 at 11:43 AM
I came across your site and spotted Midgetville in Totowa. When I was growing up in Totowa, there weren’t any midgets, but my classmate Joe’s sister was a dwarf. I won’t publish her name in this public location, but be assured this wasn’t some casual acquaintance. Joe was in every single class I was in from kindergarten at Washington Park School to freshman year at Passaic Valley High School, where his locker was next to mine.
Posted by Justin on March 19, 2009 at 11:40 AM
I’ve been looking into midgetville for a few days now and i just came over your page. Its very interesting. would it be possible for directions to the one in Edgewater? And can they really shoot at you if your not doing anything wrong?
Posted by Breezy on October 20, 2016 at 7:20 PM
We googled it. It’s a little community. Remodeled. Very interesting architect on the homes. One entrance says closed after sun down. Just go up the hill turn around come back to other entrance. No dwarves just little houses and doors.
Posted by Melissa on March 19, 2009 at 11:40 AM
where i live we found houses like these its not a whole community of small midget houses but theres like a few and there DEF. midget houses! can i have directions to these please i havve to go! thanks! 🙂
Posted by Dan on March 19, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I live in jefferson twp nj, me and my friends heard about “midgetville” being in our town so we went to check it out, it turns out there is a cluster of “midget” houses on a dirt road. the houses are just barely taller than i am. they have little 4ft doors ans tiny windows with little flower boxes. i can’t say for sure if there is actually anyone living there but the houses are no joke.
Posted by Breezy on October 20, 2016 at 7:30 PM
Where
Posted by Ryan on August 23, 2023 at 10:47 PM
Hey, I live right near Jefferson Township and I was wondering if the houses are still up, and where the exact location is? I heard it was near Weldon road in Jefferson, but I’m not exactly sure. I know it’s been about 14 years but I am just wondering.
Posted by Alex on March 19, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Midgetville is cool can u send me more pictures?
Posted by Bill on March 19, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Hello, I’m sure you have read the story about the ” Albino Village” supposedly located north of the George Washington Bridge. It was published in the Weird NJ book. A few friends and I read that story, and had for years heard stories from locals. People said there was an “Artist Colony” up in the alpine woods. My friends father recalls canceling boy scout camping trips because of disturbances in the woods connected to Camp Alpine. Once we were old enough to drive and venture out on our own we went searching for these “Albinos” or whatever had been the cause of the disturbances and stories we had heard.
After a long while of searching up and down route 9w and the Parkway for anything that looked suspicious, we finally found a strange road with an old looking gate. We pulled in slowly and looked around. At the end of the road was a cull-de-sac where we saw a person sitting in a lawn chair. There was another person hobbling around him holding a stick. As soon as they noticed us, they bolted up a dirt path that led into the woods. We have been back many times since then, and every time it seems to get weirder and weirder.
We’ve seen the lawn chair in the middle of the road, had branches and sticks thrown at our cars, heard people barking in the woods, one even jumped on the front of my friends car. Other times we have gone back and seen nothing, but the eerie presence can be still felt. We have come to the conclusion they can’t be albinos. Someone else who had visited the road told me they are a group of devil worshippers who believe they are possessed and conduct rituals up in the woods. They act like creatures too keep people out. We have seen up to 7 at a time. We believe there could be a connection with the supposed devil worshipping that goes on at tweed blvd. The two are very close, and both off 9W. Other kids from all over have reported similar stories. we have checked out a lot of things posted on your site and Weird NJ and have found nothing, but THIS IS REAL.
Posted by Ron on March 19, 2009 at 11:35 AM
About Edgewater, it’s an old community built in about the 1930’s. I used to take people there when I drove for Babe’s Taxi. They were summer houses and have been converted to year round use, as you said. The community is private and the only reason the houses are priced so high is because the land is very valuable. Over time, the intent is for all of them to be sold so a developer can put up even more expensive apartment condos or townhouses. The people own the houses, but not the land. So they want a developer to buy the houses, one by one. I think an association owns the land, sort of like the early version of a condo. Many homes are in disrepair and not worth fixing up.
You should also check out some of the houses in a section of Lake Hiawatha, part of Parsippany but I can’t remember the exact location. I originally looked at some houses there in 1989 when I was contemplating the move to this area. One had a bedroom so tiny that with one double bed and a dresser and a night stand, even I would have had trouble moving around. With two people in the room, both had to get out on the same side of the bed since the other side was against the wall. I guess they went into the living room to get dressed. The dining area was so tiny that only two chairs could fit with the table and there was barely room to move around them. Yet the owners were average size people. Don’t ask me where they stored things, although there was a shed in the postage size back yard.