Abandoned and Falling Buildings and Places

[thoffman]

Matt,
Those military bases all look the same. The Flight tower at Glenview Naval Traning Center had one that looked just like the one in the picture.

 

[fcurrier]

Matt: I think I can up your ante of 8000' by 4000'. Check out the (not so) old LAFB (Limestone, Maine).

Under Edit: Joke (on me). I just re-read your post and saw "I was at" (instead of "it was") a base in WWII.

 

[dfrisk]

JEFF - The FARMALL sign above the main office entrance is at the 4:30 mark.

Interesting comment about Spike O'Dell. He was second shift Plant Guard and worked at a local radio station, KSTT from Davenport, 1170 on your radio dial in the mornings. As most radio stations still do they gave away tickets for concerts and other events. Well one morning in '78 when I was working for UPS, the driver, "UPS BOB" called to get the tickets the 15th caller was to get, and Spike answered the phone and talked to Spike when the song was playing. The conversation went something like this, "Spike, this is UPS BOB, If I dont win those tickets there's going to be a BAD accident at FARMALL this afternoon. A big brown truck is going to hit your dinky little guard shack at about 50 MPH. You get my drift?"

A minute or two later when the song was over Spike comes back on the air and says something like this, "Well FAN's, UPS BOB is our lucky winner for today's tickets... and BOB, if your listening you can pick up your tickets at work this afternoon"

Yep, as a good plant guard, Spike would do almost anything to make sure people obeyed the five MPH plant speed limit, including giving away concert tickets to get the trucks to stop for their gate pass. Every truck that entered the plant had to get a time stamped gate pass they signed and wrote the name of the trking co, that was time stamped when they left. The "River Bank" behind the plant was a quarter mile long, flat smooth concrete 50-60 feet wide with stacks of pallet boxes and wire baskets full of castings for machining, further down they dropped semi-trailers for the trking companies to pickup empty, or loaded trailers for unloading. There was room for 40-50 trailers. It was really hard to keep to the 5 MPH speed limit.... sometimes my trucks would just idle too fast down there.... maybe 10-12 MPH.

 

[jbaker]

Dennis, thanks I do not know how I missed that, I think I will check the Freeport area for it.

 

[mgonitzke]

Frank-

What I meant was, there are not many gliderports with such a large runway. If you look at all airports it is obviously dwarfed by many others

 

[dfrisk]

JEFF - I hope you can find that sign, or at least find out where it went. If you need help hauling it I'll volunteer my truck & trailer!

 

[fcurrier]

The Lyman Williard home - OxBow, Maine:

Lyme, as we knew him, was one of OxBow's earlier residents. The typical New England barn was attached at the right of the pic. Now, his 94 year old daughter is having her son take it down, partially due to property taxes. Lyme was the first resident of OxBow to own a car, a type with no steering wheel - more like a bent rod for steering. I helped shingle this roof about 50 years ago.

 

[stanner]

here is link to the Sampson Naval Training base, located in Romulus, NY, on the east shore of Seneca lake, (one of the finger lakes). This was built in 8 months after the outbreak of WWII. After the war, it was used as an airforce base. Today, it is a State park, but a lot of ruins are still there. check out the website, it's quite interesting.
http://sampsonvets.com/

http://sampsonvets.hypermart.net/safbphotopage0.html

http://www.rpadden.com/sampson.htm

http://www.rpadden.com/sampafterwar/afterwar.htm

http://www.rpadden.com/samphosp_area/hospitaltoday.htm
I camp with the RV there and the exploring is neat... My Uncle took basic training there while in the air force in 1948-ish timeframe

 

[thoffman]

Yup, that sux when they close one of those stations. I guess it's more important to make shoppong centers filled with yuppies rather than training our military.

 

[jbaker]

hate to stray from the topic so I may move over to the Base of Operations page.

Dennis I have a lead on that Farmall sign, it was indeed at Rusch Equipment at one time as is probaly hanging in a barn in So. Wisconsin.

I have a few names and will try to locate it, I do not have funds for it if I do find it but plan on taking pictures..

 

[dfrisk]

JEFF - That's GREAT! If you succeed in finding it let me know. My e-mail is in my profile. I'd like to see it too! We might have to have a IHCC Forum meeting in that barn!

 

[thoffman]

Jeff, I don't have "funds" either, but if it were to be found and for sale I'd find the funds for it!!

 

[jbaker]

Still working on locating the sign but it looks grim

I wonder how many butts got the paddle here

 

[thoffman]

Jeff,
Where is that building at?

 

[jbaker]

2.5 miles south of route 20 on Rock City road in German Valley, Il

Just took the pics today

 

[bjames]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65839294@N03/sets/72157632442948575/

 

[jchamberlin]

We have a lot of "Abandoned and Falling Buildings" in this part of North Carolina, particularly older farm buildings and tobacco barns.

The picture doesn't do the structure justice, as it hoves into view as one rounds a bend in the road --you're looking straight at it as the road veers to the left.

An older style tobacco barn, possibly built before tin was available. The outside walls would have been daubed with mud to seal the cracks between the boards which ran horizontally. The mud had to be re-applied every year, as I understand it. The original construction can be viewed where the tin has been ripped aside by the wind to the right of the door. At the time the building was put up, by members of the previous generation (or the generation before that), tobacco was gathered by hand and tied to sticks. The sticks were loaded in the field, and unloaded at the tobacco barn. Each stick of "bright leaf" was passed up and hung with care before the entrance was sealed and the curing fires started. (At least such is my dim understanding of the process as it has been described to me by many people who have done the work themselves.) Each leaf was processed by hand into the string bundles, and woe to anyone (often a child) who dropped or damaged one. Note that the structure of the building is still quite solid despite it's height.

With the general automation of agriculture came machines which would pick and bind the leaves in bundles. The bundles were gathered in the field and loaded directly into "bulk barns" as shown below. I think these barns were probably built in the 1980's although they could have been manufactured earlier. They don't seem to hold up as well as the older models.

I would have liked to get closer up on all these buildings, but I respected the property owner's wishes (and the main house was across the street).

All the buildings pictured were on the same property.

 

[dschwandt]

Snapped these yesterday south of here on a county road. No idea what it may have been when in use. Kinda small for a school house, I'm thinking maybe a grange or township hall of some sort. Looks to be native limestone construction.

Note the small opening in the wall just beneath the window in the 1st photo.

 

[fcurrier]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdaX2PVUx2Q

 

[dlouw]

Just to say a BIG thank you for sharing these wonderful pictures.