The Jersey Devil, a terrifying monster, is said to lurk deep inside the woodlands of South Jersey’s Pine Barrens. The Jersey Devil, sometimes portrayed as a dragon-like beast with a goat head, bat wings, and cloven feet, is one of the most famous cryptids in American mythology, and it has terrorized residents for decades.
According to folklore, the Jersey Devil has oddly human beginnings. Born in 1735 to a lady called Jane Leeds, often known as Mother Leeds, it is reported that when she found out she was pregnant with her 13th child, she cursed it in anger, vowing that it would be “the Devil.”
The infant was born relatively normal, but it ultimately turned into a terrifying monster with hooves, a goat’s head, bat wings, and a forked tail. The monster assaulted the remainder of its family before leaving the house and into the Pine Barrens, where some believe it still lives to this day.
As with every piece of folklore, there are several variants on the narrative. Some think Mother Leeds was a witch, and the Jersey Devil was created by Satan himself. In any case, the tale spread across the area, and by 1909, newspapers were often reporting on supposed encounters with the Jersey Devil.
In reality, for roughly a week in January of that year, newspapers reported on hundreds of supposed encounters with the Jersey Devil between South Jersey and Philadelphia, with additional sightings recorded in Delaware and Maryland.
Vigilante hunters gathered in the Pine Barrens to look for the Jersey Devil, and it was even believed that the Philadelphia Zoo would give $10,000 to anybody who caught the beast.
Naturally, no one has ever been successful in catching the Jersey Devil, but that hasn’t prevented individuals from claiming to have seen it. In 1925, a farmer claimed to have shot and killed a beast that matched the Jersey Devil’s description, which he subsequently photographed and claimed that none of the 100 persons he showed it to recognized it.
Thirty years later, in 1957, several residents claimed to have seen an animal body that seemed to fit the beast’s description. Then, during the 1960s, odd footprints and sounds observed near the town of Mays Landing fueled new stories about the Jersey Devil, prompting another $10,000 prize on the beast’s head.
The possible benefits have also resulted in a number of hoaxes over the years, including some quite humiliating ones, such as a false Jersey Devil on exhibit at a museum.
Still, it’s difficult to ignore how relevant and scary the Jersey Devil story is more than a century after it originally circulated, fake or not.
