"Abandoned Places"

This photograph was taken in the late 1970's of the Back Shop in Spencer which is an old Southern Railroad repair facility, it shows many of the hidden treasures that laid forgotten from decades earlier (more info on its history can be found on an earlier posting near the bottom of the page called "The Back Shop"), this particular shot shows what appears to be an old 1960 Chrysler Desoto along with some miscellaneous trucks and a few milling machines that were used on the locomotives that were bought to the facility for repairs.

My days of urban exploring are pretty much over but I am happy to be part of its history.

When it's in your blood you'll know it !

Old abandoned military compounds make for great explorations, this one from the Civil War era was photographed near Fort Morgan on the Gulf Coast of Alabama.

Photographed with 35mm film (circa 1999)

Photographed in 1995 at Garnet Montana, an old abandoned gold town.

A favorite past time of mine while at the beach is venturing off with my camera looking for old abandoned places and objects such as this old boat that was left to weather away with the elements. The Intercoastal along the east coast is a great place to explore, both small and large treasures can be found, no.. not buried gold but one of a kind images that become priceless to ones memories.

This was photographed at Holden Beach North Carolina in 1982 using 35mm B/W film.


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Photographed at Egmont Key in Tampa Bay Florida remains a few ruins of the seacoast gun housings or Barbette mortar pits that once encircled the island fortress, this particular one faced the open gulf.
Many other structures can still be found on this island though many have already been lost to weather, falling shoreline and time.

Photographed with 35mm film in 1986.

Photographed in Forsyth County North Carolina in 1981 this very early 1800's structure was part of a bigger farm in the area it was built with log slabs and filler most likely cut and formed on the land from the early settlers of the area.
The image was originally produced with 35mm color film but I decided to convert it to B/W with Photoshop to preserve its historic character and beauty.

The Glen Island Castle was part of John Starins original Glen Island Casino and amusement park, a 19th century island resort built on Long Island Sound in Westchester County most famous during the days of the big band era. The castle originally built in Germany was shipped to the states then reconstructed at the park and was originally used as a restaurant and beer garden, It still stands today mostly abandoned, though at one time I remember it being used by the local Iona College's Row Team for their boats and supplies.

Photographed in 1981 using 35mm film.

A brief history of this unique place can be found on my Structural Descent Blog: http://structuraldescent.blogspot.com/2009/01/fort-slocum.html

Though it has been totally demolished as of last year its memories and past through photography by The Fort Slocum web list and Alumni Association is worth the look. Their link can also be found in the Structural Descent blog post above.

An active nightspot for decades in Litchfield County Connecticut, the old Lake Waramaug Casino seen its scores of locals and out of state visitors for many years. My best guess is that it was built in the 1930's or early 1940's.
In 1980 it was used as backdrop of both its interior and exterior in the Hollywood production of "Friday the 13th part 2", other parts of the lake and its bordering town of New Preston was also used as a backdrop too. The movie was released in 1981 and a year or so later the structure caught fire and burned to the ground.
This photograph was taken in 1981 while visiting the area.

Photographed at Egmont Key Florida, a abandoned island fortress of the Spanish-American war era in Tampa Bay that has an interesting history with many turnovers.
Photographed with 35mm film in 1986.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egmont_Key_State_Park

This image was taken not far from my house, I added sepia tone to it with PSP for a more historic or vintage feel.

Photographed with my digital Nikon.

This was photographed near Andersonville Georgia while on my way home to Florida from North Carolina in 1998, I used 35mm Infrared High Speed Film that captured this shots unique contrast and dreamy appearance. The film is a bit pricey and very sensitive to light so loading and unloading the film from your camera has to be in total blackout conditions, unfortunately Kodak discontinued this product back in November 2007 though there may be some rolls still available at a higher price or a similar product by different manufacturers.

The film is sensitive to wavelengths in the 700-900 nm near inferred spectrum so different filters produce different results, generally orange (#15 or #21) and red filters (#23, #25 and #29) are used used to slow blue wavelengths before they reach the film thus controlling contrast while #70, #89b, #87c and #72 being very opaque filters block out all blue and also visible red wavelengths giving a more contrasty look.

With the age of digital here and film on its way out software programs such as Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo V2 or Adobe Photoshop can produce an inferred type look to digital images with a lot less work.

This old barn was photographed in Davidson County, North Carolina using 35mm film and was taken in 1981. I estimate it was built in the late 1800's - early 1900's along with other structures on the land.

This image was taken at Gold Hill Nevada, a stone throw from Virginia City and was part of the old Virginia & Truckee Railroad, the abandoned cars of course got my attention and made their way into my archive.

Photographed inside an abandoned roundhouse at Spencer North Carolina in 1980 the structure is over one hundred years old and was owned by Southern Railroad it is now part of the North Carolina Transportation Museum. It's within an hours drive from Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro North Carolina on I-85.

more info can be found on their website.. http://www.nctrans.org/

This old Pick-Up Truck is a 1929 Ford and was on display at a roadside attraction of a very unique museum type of business somewhere in Montana, the added character of this shot other then the truck itself was the old gas pumps and the signage on the trucks doors apparently of some sort of Mustang ranch in the area.

Photographed at Garnet Montana in 1999, a ghost town that was abandoned when the mines started going dry. These cabins were on the outskirts of town where the miners families lived.

Beaches are great places to explore for most people whether they are shell collecting, fishing, walking the shore line or just sunbathing it's a great way to enjoy serenity, for me I usually head to the inter coastal waterway which sits between the mainland and outer islands and found along most of the east coast. I personally look for old or abandoned boats and structures that have seen their share of time and abuse over the years.

This image was captured at Holden Beach's inter coastal in North Carolina, the old rickety half fallen pier with tires strapped on the poles and weather beaten house leaves the imagination open for what was once used as a fisherman's hut and livelihood but now sits awaiting its fate.

This was photographed in 1984 using a Pentax camera with black and while film.

It's amazing what treasures you can find in rural areas along back roads and old farms, take this beauty for instance it was buried in vines and brush somewhere in Randolph County North Carolina and would be easily missed by most hasty passerby's I was fortunate with my timing to take notice.
From an early age I was always fascinated by such antiques within their abandoned settings it always allowed my imagination to flourish with questions of who, what, when and why- just call me eccentric.

Located in Spencer, North Carolina an old railroad town were the Spencer Shops a repair facility for Southern Railway that was named after the first president of the company Samuel Spencer, the old back shop shown here was photographed in the late 1980's, it was built in 1905 to serve as a major overhaul facility for steam locomotives and at one time the largest commercial building in North Carolina, standing 60 feet high 150 feet wide and two football fields long it is the largest structure on the grounds, it housed lathes and milling machines to re-machine parts before the reassembly of the locomotives, at its peak of activity two or three locomotives emerged from its doors every day.

In whole the facility was founded by Southern Railway in 1896 and served its rail lines between Washington DC and Atlanta Georgia, overhauls were first done on steam locomotives then on freight equipment. In the 1950's with the dieselization of Southern Railways the facility slowly became obsolete throughout the 1960's and 70's and because diesels could be repaired in half the time and with fewer people by the late 1970 the doors were closed at Spencer and its repairs and service moved to the Linnwood Yard located 12 miles north in Davidson County.

In 1977 Southern gave the State of North Carolina 3 acres of the Spencer Facility and another 54 acres in 1979 and made way for The North Carolina Transportation Museum which opened its doors in 1980 with one or two building followed by more throughout the 1980's and 90's, ongoing preservation projects still continue to this day.
The site also has besides the old repair buildings a 37 stall roundhouse and turntable that includes 25 locomotives and other exhibits.

If ever visiting the Charlotte or Winston-Salem areas of North Carolina, both within 30 miles away, this is a must see museum and town !

An invitation by a friend in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont back in 1997 was an opportunity for me to photograph some interesting places in the area one being the old abandoned Lyndonville Air Force Station with its unique history.

Construction of the facility on East Mountain in Essex County Vermont began in 1952 and became operational in 1955 during the Cold War Era, it was originally named the North Concord Air Force Station (NCAFS) and one of many ground based radar facilities in the US at the time. In 1961 NCAFS reported a UFO sighting a few hours before the alleged Abduction of Barney and Betty Hill later becoming a TV movie of the incident that was produced in 1975 starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons, the sighting that lasted less then twenty minutes soon became famous. The NCAFS in 1962 changed its name to the Lyndonville Air Force Station then in 1963 while in the process of upgrading their systems it became deactivated by the military and stripped of its equipment.
Neglect of the abandoned buildings became noticeable over the years due to weather and vandalism.

The last I heard, this facility and its land was being sold for the development of a wind farm to harness power for the surrounding towns.