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So, forget all the other abandoned buildings I’ve ever posted about here. This has to be my new favorite. Before you even see the photos let me explain why it automatically get some points toward the rank of ‘favorite.’

Friday night Jake, Jeff and I got ice cream at our favorite spot (Mason’s Creamery, of course!) We sat and discussed options on what to do the next morning. We could stay in Cleveland and try to find something to get into here or choose a city within a couple hour’s drive and poke around somewhere new. The three of us all agreed that going somewhere new-ish would be a blast. We could wander around on foot, get a good lunch, and just enjoy being somewhere we weren’t familiar with.

It was late when we got home from ice cream and we were planning to leave super early in the morning so there wasn’t really time to do much research on abandoned buildings in the area. Jeff quickly hopped on Google Earth, spotted a run down looking building, and marked it on his map. No further research, just an idea of something we could cruise by.

We arrived fairly early in the morning. The neighborhood was quiet still so we decided to get out of the car and wander around the perimeter. From the front, this magnificent old school looked sealed up. Windows appeared to be freshly boarded up. The back of the building? Not so sealed. Quite the opposite actually. Jeff scurried his way up the rubble to peek inside. His face LIT UP! Right inside the back was a huge auditorium.

We took turns climbing the rickety ladder placed by previous visitors to enter the school. The second you got inside this grand auditorium greeted you. Destroyed yet absolutely beautiful. It was breathtaking.

Obviously, I was impressed but nothing will beat the excitement of peeking into a small room to my right and spotting a row of chairs and mirrors where folks got ready for the school plays. It was so clearly and obviously a dressing room. I was whisper screaming to Jake and Jeff. “OH MY GOSH. LOOOOK! MIRRORS!! COME ON”

I mean, the auditorium was beautiful. Perhaps the largest and most grand I’ve ever explored but I’ve been in auditoriums before. I have never seen anything like this room. Something about it just really got to me. I honestly can’t explain it any further than that. I still get a little rush of adrenaline thinking about spotting it for the first time.

(I posted a little video clip of me walking into this room on my Instagram.)

The building just kept going. There were classrooms upon classrooms. Each painted a different bright color which was now chipping so beautifully. I feel like I was on such a high from even getting into the building, let alone finding that cool dressing room, that I couldn’t truly appreciate the other rooms. They’re all a blur to me and on top of that, I know we didn’t see them all.

Getting spots I’ve already seen photos of is fun. I’m not one of those people that doesn’t explore spots that are already popular but nothing beats someone in your group discovering a new building. Obviously, we weren’t the first folks inside but none of this building was familiar to me. I’d never seen a single shot from this place. It was brand new to the three of us. More than that, I had no idea we’d be getting inside anything that day. Of course, it’s what we all wanted to do but exploring in cities you aren’t familiar with can be really hard. We lucked out!

I still can’t believe what an awesome find this was and that it was right under our noses the whole time. Here’s to finding more gems! xoxo

For a better idea of how incredible this spot was, check out Jeff’s video!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. Also, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.