October 26, 2006
Looks like some old Bigfoot stomping grounds in MA is about to be turned into a shopping center.
Shopping around ‘Monsterland’
By J.J. Huggins
Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg, MA
LEOMINSTER — Locals have affectionately referred to the area around Jungle Road and Route 117 as "Monsterland" for years.
The nickname stems from people claiming they’ve seen creatures stirring in the woods in that southern corner of the city.
"I’m telling you, there were people that saw monsters," Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella said with a smirk on his face.
At large Leominster City Councilor James Lanciani Jr. talks about Monsterland’ along Old Mill Road in Leominster, Friday morning. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / SARAH BRITAIN)
At large City Councilor James J. Lanciani Jr. used to patrol the dead-end Jungle Road back in the 1970s and 1980s when he was an auxiliary police officer.
He said he thinks the "Monsterland" nickname came from someone claiming they saw a bigfoot-type creature down there around the 1960s.
"I never heard of anybody being able to substantiate it, but it made good talking and piqued a lot of interest," Lanciani said.
Change on the way
The Newton-based company New England Development Inc. plans to begin building a massive shopping plaza later this fall, where a sandpit sits now, according to NED Vice President William R. Cronin Jr.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Sasquatch