Mere seconds ago, rain pounded on the uneven pavement and the boom of thunder resounded in the air. Now, the streets lie exposed and unoccupied. The road offers up its shadowy voice in steamy whispers, tangibly rising from the asphalt. Sticky and hot they wind round and round the street signs, flow from the sewer grates, grip the telephone poles. The sky’s an opaque mix of blue and grey stretched over perfectly even, as if some spiteful Mother Nature clutched a paintbrush, squeezed that color straight from the tube, and spread it all over with angry, broad, cal-q-lah-ting strokes. Telephone wires hang like ostentatious and distasteful Christmas tinsel left out on display long past the appropriate winter season. Every particle present contributes to the glowing, growing gloom.

Marrying Manville and the Muted Masses

When I meet a beautiful girl, the first thing I say is ‘will you marry me?’. The second thing I say is, ‘how do you do?’” — Tommy Manville


The absurdities of Manville continue to come to light the deeper I dig. Nothing in this town is as it seems, and to use another cliché, truth is stranger than fiction. C.B. Manville, one half of the powerful coalition that joined to form Johns-Manville had a son, Tommy Manville. In C.B. Manville’s will, he specified that upon his wedding, Tommy should receive one million dollars. C.B. Manville, however, did not specify enough as Tommy took advantage of a loophole, or perhaps simply an opportunity, and was married on 13 separate occasions to 11 different women. Following each marriage would be a hefty sum of one million dollars, as decreed by law. This earned Tommy Manville the moniker of Marrying Manville and a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records. His unusual actions and wild antics made him a well known Manhattan socialite, with a taste for partying and attractive women.


Tommy Manville's sitting room. Across his bookcases are the portraits of each of his eleven wives.

The Marrying Manville legend only seeks to add another level of irony to tale of Manville. Tommy Manville was a larger than life character who lived a truly hedonistic life. But his wealth, which he never worked for, was obtained through the success of his father's company, which worked to exploit the people of Manville. Some evidence suggest that since the 1930's the Johns-Manville Company was aware of the potentially harmful affects asbestos had on humans who worked within the near vicinity of the product. The Plant kept this information hidden and continued to profit. Tommy Manville's lifestyle was fueled at the expense of poor Eastern European immigrants. Tommy Manville -- alarmingly weathly and absolutely careless -- is by definition an interesting person.
The people of Manville are also interesting people -- they live in a town haunted by a demolished factory, boast a Main Street composed of a bizarre medley of fine restaurants and sham dentists and doctors, a high rate of birth defects still linked to the asbestos pollution of a bygone era. It is the cycle of life that connects these two -- the affulent hand which holds down the many poor. Forever unto eternity Manville spills onwards...

Urban Decay

The legacy of the Johns-Manville plant still haunts the town. The giant phallus of industrialization imposes upon the landscapes. What would be picturesque scenes are interrupted by steel structures. The asbestos that brought settlement and prosperity to the town is the asbestos that polluted the water and the air. It is the asbestos that lead to severe health risks and shocking rate of asbestosis and mesothelioma among the workers of Manville. It is the asbestos that has led to the demise of the factory and the subsequent demise of the town.


A heavy cloud of decay forever rests upon the town. It peers up at the casual passerby through the sidewalk cracks. It sighs loudly. It sweats in the sun and shivers in the cold.

After undergoing a serious environmental clean-up, the land is now a used car auction lot. Wandering back behind the sprawling Reading Cinemas I stumbled upon this mythical asphalt and steel jungle. Police patrolled the grounds with vicious looking dogs at their heels. The chain link fence surrounding the complex may have been the largest I’ve ever seen. People in shorts and flip flops leaned against the fence, fanning themselves, awaiting their entry into the magical land consisting of rows and rows of sparkling cars – gleaming chunks of metal promising a future of adventure.



Dazzled, I slowly began to drift away and walk towards the main parking lot. I felt eyes on my back and turned around to observe two men, in a recently purchased car (the price in writing was still scribbled on a window) following close behind me. "Pretty lady want a ride?" I heard one of them jeer. I walked on and saw the car accelerate past me and then U-turn. They drove past me slowly. I felt their gazes beating upon my fast harder than the blazing sun. I turned to stare the driver in the eyes, narrowed my eyes, and walked on.

Pictured here are the Manville Homes, and beyond them, the J-M Plant.

December 10, 1966 marks the first asbestos lawsuit pitting attorney Ward Stephenson against eleven asbestos manufactures, one being Johns-Manville.

The verdict came back in favor of the asbestos manufactures. In October 1969 Ward filed another similar case, and this time the verdict was different. After this precedent was set, in the 1970’s many related lawsuits started springing up. During this period secretive information came to light. J-M was flooded with lawsuits from workers hoping to gain compensation for asbestos exposure. In 1986 the Johns-Manville Company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

It is in this legacy that the town of Manville now stands.

Welcome to Manville

Manville. Approximately 2.1 square miles of concrete, plaster, and asbestos pollution.

Once upon a time, H.W. Johns and C.B. Manville established an asbestos building products manufacturing plant in Hillsbourough township in 1912. Immigrant families, primarily those of Eastern European descent, came to work in the factory and settled the area around it, providing Manville with a distinct and bold medley of flavors.
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