Album
Gold Room at Hotel Jefferson
The Gold Room at the Hotel Jefferson. This room has remained frozen in time since the 1950s. Though hidden and dilapidated, the spacious Roaring Twenties dance floor appears roughly the same as it did some 90 years ago when it was declared "brilliantly decorated with gold the predominating color" in an advertisement in the Belleville News-Democrat in 1928. The room could accommodate as many as 1200 people, according to hotel brochures.
Scott Haefner and I spent countless hours in this room perfecting our lighting setup. This involved three different lighting sources, hand-painted from various angles throughout the ballroom. Eventually by about 3 in the morning, we finished when the last of my camera batteries was dead.
The Jefferson Hotel greeted its first guests one day before the 1904 World's Fair, on April 29, 1904. Two decades later, the Art Deco ballroom was added, helping to attract luminaries including President Harry S Truman and Judy Garland. But time was hard on the thirteen-story hotel, and by 1977, it had become a home for the elderly called the Jefferson Arms. It closed in 2006.
#abandoned #stlouis #stl #missouri #hotel #roaringtwenties #abandonedmo #historicpreservation
Central State Prison, Sugar Land, Texas
Workshops (slash forced labor area) of the Imperial State Prison Farm and Central State Prison Farm. It was a men's prison in Sugar Land, Texas. The unit first opened in April 1909, but its history goes much further back - as early as 1878 - when the land was the site of a large sugar plantation that contracted with the state to lease convict laborers to harvest and process sugar cane.
The prison's largest and most impressive unit was completed in late 1932. In August 2011, Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced that the prison was closing. In March of 2018, demolition was underway on the site. By June, demolition was halted when 95 unmarked African American prisoner graves were discovered. Today, all that remains is the 1930s central incarceration unit and four guard towers for "possible re-use in the future." This building (covered in vines here) is no longer extant.
Sakai Bros. Rose Co. of Richmond CA
An artifact in situ. The Sakai nursery started in 1906 with an initial 2.5 acres in Richmond and a single greenhouse salvaged from Berkeley. Sakai shut down in 1942 during the World War II relocation of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. It was arguably the last of the intact pre-WW II Japanese nurseries in California. The Sakai nursery - at one time - included over 40 structures, including greenhouses, warehouses, residences, sheds, and more. In a deal that included preservation of just a few structures (less than half a dozen), some 80 affordable housing units were constructed. The historic buildings became an afterthought, and the home of the Sakai family, indluding the few existing remnants of their ingenuity and perseverance remain rotting and victim to vandalism and the ravages of time. There is no question: Housing matters, but so do stories... Apparently housing trumped the difficult and important story of Japanese Americans being unjustly imprisoned (incarcerated?). History and housing are complementary. Sickening that someone wasn't creative enough to think of the bright idea that affordable housing can tell the stories of shame and contrition. Otherwise, it seems whoever let the Sakai buildings decay is apparently erasing genocide in place of their own benefit, which is something our decision-makers should answer to (provided that their well-funded special interests don't ask them first) #abandonedca #demolished #thisplacemattered #richmondca #affordablehousing
SS President Lincoln
In these photos of ghost ships, from the not-too-distant past (well over a decade ago), I am reminded of my friends, Stephen Freskos, Amy Heiden, and Scott Haefner. Long before COVID, some of us had become disconnected and gone our separate ways. Some stayed in touch (like Scott and I) but others drifted away. I miss them. We were all after the same thing - ephemeral moments in history that nobody else cared about. I care about these people - now and forever. I would like to reconnect.
RE: This ship. The importance of the Lincoln, which is now disappeared from the Earth, is that it was a pioneer in the development of containerized cargo shipping. In the early 1960s, when the Lincoln was built, the problem of rapid globalization was barely being addressed. Shipping companies responded with containerized cargo, a revolutionary move from the traditional method of palletized cargo. American President Lines, a quasi-government, San Francisco-based shipping company built the President Lincoln to accommodate containers, but it also wanted to supplement its income by including a small, exclusive complement of 12 passengers per cruise. These ships were elegantly beautiful, with fixtures and murals inside that provided scenic surroundings for the wealthy passengers that once walked their decks. #abandoned #mothballflett #suisunbay #historic #nightphotography
Winchester of New Haven Connecticut
Winchester Repeating Arms originated in New Haven, Connecticut. The company grew rapidly and employed over 600 workers in 1887 and about 1,000 workers (primarily Irish) by 1900. Guns - at one time - were not primarily meant to kill or maim humans. They were a source of sustenance and protection.
When I photographed this complex associated with violent weapons, the 'woke' tech employees occupying the 'incubator' spaces formed in the bones of the former firearms manufacturer were suspicious of me. Little did they know that I was a "progressive" skeptic. They thought I was there to squat or maybe steal their intellectual property. Or maybe I would reveal the irony in the fact that they were profiting in a space that at one time profited from weapons that killed? Not quite sure. In any case, I was not welcome - even though I was simply photographing the decline of an American firearm manufacturer (not the decline of the tech "oracles'" hallowed position in American intellectual history).
Let's take a moment of silence for the tech oracles. We should not forget to worship the oracles, for they know best... Our technology sector is not so different from Winchester. Killing and maiming can come in many forms in an era where information is power and data is the lead bullet of death. #winchester #manufacturer #abandoned #abandonedct #newhaven
Covina Bowl, California
An image captured with lightpainting assistance from Scott Haefner in 2019 of the Covina Bowl under the full moon. The quintessentially Googie facade of Covina Bowl was built in 1956 and was one of the first to have a cocktail lounge, part of a collection of nearly 50 bowling alleys designed by mid-century architectural firm, Powers Daly and DeRosa.
As the Los Angeles Conservancy notes, it is "more Polynesian than Egyptian, with its rock cladding and soaring roofline. Inside the building, a cocktail lounge once featured Egyptian statuary, and wonderful mid-century light fixtures and terrazzo floors."
In 2017, Covina Bowl closed forever, and it fell into dereliction not long afterwards. A coalition of local advocates helped ensure portions were preserved as part of a housing development by Trumark Homes - a win-win solution that included both housing and historic preservation.
Raquet Ball Racquets at the Abandoned YMCA of Hartford CT
An abandoned set of racquetball racquets at the Hartford, Connecticut YMCA tower. In 2005, the building and its historic gym and swimming pool, were slated to be be torn down and replaced by what the Hartford Courant describes as "the largest downtown residential development in years," containing 200 upscale condominiums and 100 apartments. The same developer was cited in December of 2017 under Hartford's Blight Ordinance.
Early in its history, when Hartford was a factory city, the "Y" provided temporary housing to young men who came to town in search of manufacturing jobs. The Y's original headquarters--an imposing Victorian-style building built in 1893 --was razed in 1974 for the current (now abandoned) 12-storey residential tower (the last YMCA residential tower built in the U.S.). The 1974 razing of the original headquarters is often referred to as the genesis of the preservation movement in Hartford.
NASA Radiotelescope at Night
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute Radiotelescope. One of two massive radiotelescopes at PARI. PARI began its life as NASA's Rosman Satellite Tracking Station in 1962. It was integral to Project Gemini and Project Apollo. In 1981 the National Security Agency (NSA) took over to use the site as a signals intelligence gathering facility and was closed by 1995. The government planned on disposing and demolishing the site when a nonprofit group raised money to acquire and manage the site as a scientific education and research facility.
Stairway to the Bunker - Saratoga Springs Air Force Station
This is a walkway that extends down to the protective bunker at Saratoga Springs Air Force Station (1952-1977) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1952 near Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York. Initially known as Schuylerville Radar Site, named Saratoga Springs Air Force Station on 1 Dec 1955 after a nearby location. This site assumed coverage from Lashup Radar Site L-7 in Schenectady, New York. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-50, later a Sage ID of Z-50. Abandoned in 1977.
Established on 1 Feb 1952 and became operational in 1952 as Saratoga Springs Air Force Station manned by the 656th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio.
Initial equipment included the FPS-3 and FPS-5 radars.
Sterick Building, Memphis, Tennessee
The 350,883-square-foot Sterick Building is a 29-story office high-rise in Memphis completed in 1930. Its name is a contraction of the original owners' names, R.E. Sterling and Wyatt Hedrick.
In the end, I don't really care about the random factoids. I care about the man who showed me this building with open arms: Eric Paul Janssen (@webraw). He was a consummate explorer. He loved to share the history of Memphis with outsiders and was a true friend to many. He died in 2017, but his memory will live on, in the buildings like this that he showed us, but also the person he was - warm-hearted, friendly, and open.
The building he showed us, the Sterick, was once the tallest building in the South. Known as the "Queen of Memphis", it once held its own bank, pharmacy, barber shop, beauty parlor, and stockbrokers' offices. The building began to decline in the 1960s. Despite a number of alterations, it has been left vacant since the 1980s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Online commentators have quipped that the Sterick building's inevitable fate could include "a giant karaoke bar, trivia night theaters with a beer garden and hot tubs, and maybe a science research center with pretty telescopes."
The building is threatened because the landowners leasing the building to the building owners don't own the building and they must negotiate any development with the landowners, a prominent Memphis family that historically accepted payment for the lease in gold bullion thanks to its archaic 1929 lease.
With hope, the Sterick Building - once the tallest abandoned building in the U.S. - will be saved. #abandoned #memphis #tennessee #sterick #highrise #nightphotography
Abandoned President Lincoln
Dozens of busts of almost every president are sitting abandoned. In 2010, Howard Hankins adopted these sculptures when Presidents Park in Williamsburg, Virginia closed down.The busts were sculpted by artist, David Adickes, who was inspired by Mount Rushmore. Instead of allowing the busts to be demolished, Hankins took the sculptures under his tutelage. Each bust weighed over 20,000 pounds. Today they remain inaccessible to the general public.
Old Martinez Jail - Contra Costa County
The Old Martinez Jail was built in 1903 and is designated on the National Register of Historic Places. Along with the Courthouse, the Jail was Contra Costa County’s first major government headquarters. Built of Vermont granite block “to last far into the future to express Contra Costa’s pride and confidence.”
The jail was vacant since 1982 when the county begin operating the new jail in Martinez.
In February of 2021, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervistors voted to demolish the structure but were met with resistance by a grassroots group of preservationists identified on Facebook as "Save Martinez's Historic Old Jail."
By September of 2021 the Supervisors awarded a $58 million contract to Webcor Construction to demolish both the jail and the old county administration building across the street.
The new office building likely will retain a wall from the old jail in commemoration of its historical significance. County officials also plan to document some of the jail’s other historic features and display them somewhere at the site of the new office building.
In June of 2022, the jail was completely demolished. It is unknown what remains.
Brodhead Naval Armory Murals, Detroit, MI
This historic armory was built 1930 in Detroit, Michigan. It was a training center for MI's military reserves until 2004. The armory houses "the largest collection of federally-funded Depression-era artwork in any building in [Michigan]," according to the state. From 1936-1941, several Depression-era artists created the murals. Wood carvings are from Gustave Hildebrand, a Michigan-based artist hired through the Treasury Department’s Fine Arts Program. The Detroit Area Art Deco Society, as well as several individuals have tried to keep the building secure from vandalism. However, the structure - and its Depression-era artwork - face the ravages of time.
Hospital Supervisor's Door
At the Supervisor's Office of the Sea View Hospital. The Sea View turberculosis complex was planned and built between 1905 and 1938. Sea View was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States. By 1961 Sea View's patients no longer needed residency, as miraculous new drugs, notably the antibiotic Streptomycin, allowed for a swift and inexpensive cure.
Raymond F. Almirall designed the patterns that adorn the parapet of these buildings. The glazed terracotta imported from Holland depicts nurses, doctors, and children being treated for tuberculosis.
Sea View closed in 1961. In 1985 the site was designated as a city landmark and historic district, though very little has been done to preserve the site since then. #abandonedny #historic #seaview #tuberculosis #statenisland
Amanda Steel Blast Furnace, Ashland, KY
The Amanda Blast Furnace of Ashland, Kentucky existed for six decades between the Kentucky hills and the Ohio River. Since its days as Armco Steel Works, Amanda, a 234-foot tall blast furnace was a proud company that never anticipated its permanent closure in 2015.
"We hate to see the structure come down, but that needs to happen for that property to move forward," said Josh Blanton, an Ashland City Commissioner. "We hate to see it go, but we’re ready to try to do something else there."
"Amanda" was demolished in February of 2022. #abandonedky #historic #blastfurnace #industrialarcheology #nightphotography #lightpainting #longexposure
