abandoned

Early last month we woke up before the sun and headed out on a little adventure. The plan was to explore an abandoned church that we found out was accessible. We circled the neighborhood looking for the perfect place to park that wouldn’t look suspicious. After what felt like forever, we finally chose a spot and started the short walk to the church.

And that’s when the police officer passed us, slowed down, and pulled into the parking lot directly across the street. It was no coincidence. He knew what we were doing and we knew that. Instead of doing the obvious choice of immediately turning around and heading back to the car we decided to take a long stroll around the block.

On our walk, we found this house wide open and waiting for us to dip inside.

It was a quick explore. In and out in around fifteen minutes. I’ve talked about it before and I’m sure it’ll come up again but exploring houses is such a strange feeling. Why did these people just up and leave one day? I can see leaving behind big furniture but they didn’t need their clothes anymore? And the old family photos!?

Video version below! I really love this one. It’s short, straight to the point, and gosh darn, feels like you’re exploring the house too!

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.

Two years ago I explored this massive abandoned complex for the first time. Not too much has changed since then which is rather shocking considering how quickly some places become unrecognizable. I guess when the property is mostly ruins to begin with, decay is less noticable.

This rubber factory complex closed nearly thirty years ago. Multiple buildings still stand but a vast majority have been demolished, at least their upper levels have been. The property is littered with holes, both large and small, giving you a peek as to what’s down below. Definitely a place you have to watch your step, lest you end up breaking an ankle or worse!

The buildings are mostly empty. A pile of tires here, a burnt couch there. Few traces of its original purpose are to be found. Of course, in true massive abandoned factory form, there are piles and piles of invoices, checks, and other files containing personal information that definitely should have been properly disposed of laying around.

If you’d like to see more, Jeff has a video!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. (Here’s 2017’s visit to this same factory!)
Lastly, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.

Two years ago I explored this factory for the first time. Unlike the majority of the other factories (and abandoned buildings in general) I’ve been in, this one is still full of items that show nearly every step of how its products were made. Despite the fact there was an auction to clear out remaining inventory after the factory closed, there is still tons to see. Between all of the remaining buildings on the property there are molds, decals, silkscreens, blank dishes, finished products, kilns, and more. All that stuff combined puts this place in my all time top ten favorite abandoned spots.

(Other favorites include – the abandoned trailer park, the ghost town I got engaged in, the masonic hall, the Knox County Poorhouse & of course, Two Guns!

Not too much has changed since my previous visit. Surprisingly, the majority of plates and mugs were still intact. Stacks upon stacks of plates covered in a thick layer of dust. Untouched!

See ya in another couple years, china factory! xoxo

PS. If you’d like to see more, Jeff has a video!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. (Here’s 2017’s visit to this same factory!)
Lastly, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.

Another leave-the-house-before-the-sun-even-rises weekend adventure. This time, an abandoned church.

We had actually scoped this place out a couple of years back but couldn’t find a way inside. I didn’t realize that’s where we were heading on this trip or else I might have protested. I woke up moments before we drove past and immediately spotted exactly how we’d get inside. It was comically easy, especially considering how tightly it was sealed on our previous visit. It’s incredible how quickly a building can go from useable to completely wrecked once it’s abandoned.

The most interesting thing to me about this church was, without a doubt, the stained glass windows! I’ve been in my handful of abandoned churches but never one with this many gorgeous, colorful windows. This spot has been abandoned for a while and suffered quite a bit because of it. There was a massive hole in the middle of the floor, the drywall from the ceiling and walls is missing and the balcony was threatening to collapse but surprisingly the majority of the windows were intact. I’m not sure how much longer they’ll last before vandals destroy them though. I hope someone saves them!

Aside from the gorgeous windows, there wasn’t too much to see. Just a giant empty room and a dark empty basement. Seems like we were a little late, photos from just a couple years back show the church with white walls and pews. I’m curious what it’ll look like in another year.

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

Four years ago Jeff and I discovered what would quickly become one of my most favorite abandoned places. This former vacation hot spot is a place we visit nearly every year, and some times more than once. Colorful trailers and cozy cottages line a small overgrown road. Each one filled with personal items. It’s like one day everyone just left and never came back.

Despite having visited so many times it always feels so new and exciting!

One of the most shocking differences this visit was how overgrown it was. Our very first visit was in March of 2015. It was still technically winter so it was quite barren. I remember being completely enthralled by the line of brightly colored trailers. When we returned in June of the same year I was shocked at how grown up it was. The green of the leaves was overwhelming. I even noted in a post from that visit that toward the end of the road there were some trailers so completely overgrown with trees, and other plants if you weren’t specifically looking for them you could easily miss them.

This visit was similar, I was overwhelmed by the growth except there were no leaves. Small trees have started growing into something a bit more substantial. Most of the small cabins near the front of the property were actually hard to get into. My winter jacket and double layer of pants protected me not only from the cold but from the briars. Squeezing my way into some of those spots in a tshirt and shorts seems unthinkable. I also imagine that once the leaves make a return most of the cabins will be nearly invisible.

The trailer park is the only spot I can think of that I’ve ever been where after visiting so many times I still feel like there is tons more to shoot. I never leave feeling completely satisfied. There’s always something more I could have looked at, another door I could have went through. This basically guarantees that each visit I find some new detail I absolutely love and wonder how I could have possibly missed it before. (The made bed a couple of shots above caught my attention this time.)

This chair though! I’ve been taking a photo of it every time we go just to document its decay. It’s barely recognizable these days. When summer comes around again it’ll probably go missing in the tall grass.

Until next time, trailer park.
xoxo

Check out past posts from this location – March 2015, June 2015, May 2016, March 2017 & May 2017.