GOOD OL’ HASKELL
If a town could be labeled the “red-headed stepchild,” it would be Haskell, New Jersey. Flanked by towns that actually appear on maps, Haskell is easy to miss. It’s small, unincorporated, and the kind of place you can pass through without giving it much thought. But when it’s the place you grew up, it’s your entire world.
Good Ol’ Haskell is a tribute to the place I called home for 20 years. We had woods we swore were haunted, abandoned backyards we biked through as shortcuts, and urban legends surrounding the town’s origins as a company town. These were the things that made Haskell ours. Overlooked by most. Still ours.
Poster Design · Typography · Visual Storytelling
THE PLACES THAT MADE US.
“Good Ol’ Haskell.” You hear it a lot when you grow up there. Part affection, part inside joke, it’s a phrase that carries the kind of meaning only familiarity can create. The places pictured here may not look like landmarks to everyone, but to those who walked our wooded trails or ventured off the beaten path, they’re part of the Haskell we knew.
The 287 underpass felt forbidden as a kid. Thousands of cars passed overhead at 80+ miles per hour, their noise echoing down to the muddy trail below. Being under there felt otherworldly in an odd way. We never stayed long, though, thanks to rumors about kidnappers and teenagers doing “bad” things.
The wobbly stone bridge connecting Back Beach Park to the woods across the Wanaque River seemed different every time we crossed it. On several occasions, my friends and I put fallen stones back into place before making our way across. The last thing we wanted was to slip into the murky water on our way home after an adventure.
This old house on Ringwood Avenue always had a gothic, mysterious look to it. Even after passing it countless times growing up, it never quite lost that feeling. Unfortunately, I never trick-or-treated there on Halloween. Maybe then I could’ve finally met the town vampire.