To tie up some loose ends, here is a compilation style thread of the places I explored that don't necessarily warrant their own thread. The jumble sale if you will of things that weren't worthy enough for a proper showing, as it's not all wall-to-wall epics as I'm sure you're aware.
Detroit Car Graveyard
I love car graveyards and I've shot a ridiculous number over the last couple of years. This is one I spotted during one of my tireless Google Maps searching sessions and thought it was worth a look. It's comprised of a couple of yards right on the street full of cars, in a sketchy area of Detroit. There was only a small part I could actually get into so I shot most of these through the fence - how I'd have loved to run into the owner and be allowed unrestricted access but unless I get very lucky I don't think that will ever happen!
R. Thornton Brodhead Naval Armory, Detroit
The Detroit Naval Armory was constructed in 1930 and was used as a training centre and barracks until it closed in 2004. Architecturally it's one of Detroits hidden gems, and it housed one of the largest collections of Depression-era artwork anywhere however over the years much of this has sadly been stolen along with pretty much everything else.
We didn't stay long here as we had other places to be on our final half-day in the city, so I definitely missed the nice accomodation parts.
Kosher Cheese Factory, Upstate NY
A purely accidental find. Me and my friend had spent the morning shooting an old car junkyard in Canada and had crossed back over the border into the States to head home. We decided to stop in a town on the border for a spot of lunch and did what normally happens when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar town - start scanning Google Maps for any obvious abandonments. Within about three minutes I had spotted a likely looking factory building no more than a few blocks from the restaurant (which did a delicious Cheesesteak may I add), so of course we wandered over after lunch. Finding that it was indeed abandoned, we set about finding a way in which didn't prove too difficult after a bit of searching. We still had no idea what the place was so we were pleasantly surprised after entering to see all sorts of stainless steel vats and tanks left inside, and after finding some paperwork discovered it was a former cheese factory! Although our noses could have told us that, as the former storage vat room was the worst smelling room I have ever stepped foot in on an explore. There was another processing room past the vat room however the smell, and the burst water main that had flooded an adjacent room with what looked like sewage floating in it put me off venturing any further! I can only imagine how it must smell in the height of summer...
As far as totally random finds go though, it was pretty cool.
Lighthouse, Western NY
Certainly one of the more unique places I have shot. This lighthouse has been abandoned for some time, although it is under the care of some sort of conservation society who have made steps to try and seal it up, and keep it from falling into the water. To get to it we had to walk through an area of land covered with thousands and thousands of nesting seagulls, taking great care not to step on any of their nests, and somehow we avoided being crapped on.
The lighthouse also housed a steam-powered fog horn in order to give an additional warning to ships, something I've never seen before.
Broadway Theater, Buffalo NY
This one is a permission visit - the owner is a lovely guy and the donations he receives are ostensibly for the restoration of the theater but he spends most of it on patching up where idiots break in - recently a kid decided to break in and not realising there was a large drop on the other side of the hole he'd made, fell over five metres into the area next to the stage breaking a few bones in the process.
The theater was originally built for department store magnate John G. Sattler, and was opened in 1914 at a cost of $35,000. Originally built for showing movies, it initially didn't have a stage however in 1920 it changed hands and a stage was added for vaudeville shows. It became Basil's Broadway Theater at some point later, and closed in the 1960s. Post-closure as a theater, it became Mohammed's Mosque 23, which was visited by both Malcolm X and Mohammed Ali in it's time. It later became God's Holy Temple and spent it's last years as the Joy Temple Church until it closed it's doors for the last time in 1996.
There are plans in motion to save the theater and restore it's beautiful tiled facade, and with the regeneration of the city inching closer to it along the nearby blocks it won't be long until something happens to it.
During my last stint of exploring on the trip I found a trio of abandoned houses - one a shell, one looked promising but the floor had collapsed cutting off half of it, and the third one was an absolute belter and one of the best houses I have found.
House The First (Holey House)
Obviously abandoned for a hell of a long time, it's little more than a battered wooden shell of a place. There was a water course running underneath it as well which made walking over the rotten floors quite a hairy experience.
Continued below....
Detroit Car Graveyard
I love car graveyards and I've shot a ridiculous number over the last couple of years. This is one I spotted during one of my tireless Google Maps searching sessions and thought it was worth a look. It's comprised of a couple of yards right on the street full of cars, in a sketchy area of Detroit. There was only a small part I could actually get into so I shot most of these through the fence - how I'd have loved to run into the owner and be allowed unrestricted access but unless I get very lucky I don't think that will ever happen!
R. Thornton Brodhead Naval Armory, Detroit
The Detroit Naval Armory was constructed in 1930 and was used as a training centre and barracks until it closed in 2004. Architecturally it's one of Detroits hidden gems, and it housed one of the largest collections of Depression-era artwork anywhere however over the years much of this has sadly been stolen along with pretty much everything else.
We didn't stay long here as we had other places to be on our final half-day in the city, so I definitely missed the nice accomodation parts.
Kosher Cheese Factory, Upstate NY
A purely accidental find. Me and my friend had spent the morning shooting an old car junkyard in Canada and had crossed back over the border into the States to head home. We decided to stop in a town on the border for a spot of lunch and did what normally happens when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar town - start scanning Google Maps for any obvious abandonments. Within about three minutes I had spotted a likely looking factory building no more than a few blocks from the restaurant (which did a delicious Cheesesteak may I add), so of course we wandered over after lunch. Finding that it was indeed abandoned, we set about finding a way in which didn't prove too difficult after a bit of searching. We still had no idea what the place was so we were pleasantly surprised after entering to see all sorts of stainless steel vats and tanks left inside, and after finding some paperwork discovered it was a former cheese factory! Although our noses could have told us that, as the former storage vat room was the worst smelling room I have ever stepped foot in on an explore. There was another processing room past the vat room however the smell, and the burst water main that had flooded an adjacent room with what looked like sewage floating in it put me off venturing any further! I can only imagine how it must smell in the height of summer...
As far as totally random finds go though, it was pretty cool.
Lighthouse, Western NY
Certainly one of the more unique places I have shot. This lighthouse has been abandoned for some time, although it is under the care of some sort of conservation society who have made steps to try and seal it up, and keep it from falling into the water. To get to it we had to walk through an area of land covered with thousands and thousands of nesting seagulls, taking great care not to step on any of their nests, and somehow we avoided being crapped on.
The lighthouse also housed a steam-powered fog horn in order to give an additional warning to ships, something I've never seen before.
Broadway Theater, Buffalo NY
This one is a permission visit - the owner is a lovely guy and the donations he receives are ostensibly for the restoration of the theater but he spends most of it on patching up where idiots break in - recently a kid decided to break in and not realising there was a large drop on the other side of the hole he'd made, fell over five metres into the area next to the stage breaking a few bones in the process.
The theater was originally built for department store magnate John G. Sattler, and was opened in 1914 at a cost of $35,000. Originally built for showing movies, it initially didn't have a stage however in 1920 it changed hands and a stage was added for vaudeville shows. It became Basil's Broadway Theater at some point later, and closed in the 1960s. Post-closure as a theater, it became Mohammed's Mosque 23, which was visited by both Malcolm X and Mohammed Ali in it's time. It later became God's Holy Temple and spent it's last years as the Joy Temple Church until it closed it's doors for the last time in 1996.
There are plans in motion to save the theater and restore it's beautiful tiled facade, and with the regeneration of the city inching closer to it along the nearby blocks it won't be long until something happens to it.
During my last stint of exploring on the trip I found a trio of abandoned houses - one a shell, one looked promising but the floor had collapsed cutting off half of it, and the third one was an absolute belter and one of the best houses I have found.
House The First (Holey House)
Obviously abandoned for a hell of a long time, it's little more than a battered wooden shell of a place. There was a water course running underneath it as well which made walking over the rotten floors quite a hairy experience.
Continued below....
