Wes Mantooth

When I was younger (around 14 or 15) I was really into doing the whole ghost hunting thing...yup long before it was cool to do on TV! Anyway after about a year of this I realized I thought the paranormal was pretty much bunk and what I really enjoyed doing was poking around old abandoned buildings. It was just plain old fascinating, like opening a time capsule or peering into a once vibrant world that no longer existed.

For awhile before I really got to busy to pursue it I spend a lot of my free time with friends hiking around looking for abandoned buildings. Old farms, potato houses, schools, power plants,Nike sites, hospitals and houses were all fair game.

So is anybody here into this kind of stuff? Have any great stories about it? Photos? Any great abandoned places you'd like to check out? I'd love to hear about it if you feel like posting it.

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My all time favorite abandoned place to visit was Loring AFB, a cold war relic sitting in the middle of nowhere in Norther Maine. The largest SAC base in the US and the first defender against a soviet attack, it for a time held (or so I'm told) the largest stockpile of Nuclear weapons on the face of Earth. It closed down in 1994 and for a short time afterwards was just a ghost town, it really was just abandoned...the run way was being used for drag racing until nearby towns realized they should start sending out police officers to patrol the area. Needless to say for somebody interested in exploring abandoned buildings, this was as close to heaven as you could get.

The base itself was pretty fun to explore (really an abandoned city, houses, power plants, rec centers churches, stores) the but the abandoned weapons storage facility was down right amazing. At the heart of the storage area was a concrete building that went down below the surface to reveal a labyrinth of hallways and massive vault doors where they did capsule maintenance. A short ways across the forest was the Mole Hole (another off limits area), a bunkhouse surrounded by a massive fence that housed fighter pilots on alert for in coming attacks. In the event of one these were the very first responders, I can only imagine what it must have been like in there during the Cuban Missle Crisis or Able Archer.

There was just something so surreal about wandering around a place that at one time you'd have been shot for stepping foot in (the concrete and steel gun towers are still there). I wish I could find my old pics from some of my visits there in the mid 90's, I'd love to post them. I'll see if I can maybe find some online if anybody is interested, I know I've seen them before.

Here's a wiki passage on the weapons storage facility (the last passage deals with a particularly creepy and frightening urban legend about the base...I'd love to know if its true):

The Nuclear Weapons Storage Area at Loring once operated as a separate, top secret facility. Originally called Caribou Air Force Station, the remote area to the northeast of Loring’s property was the first U.S. site specifically constructed for the storage, assembly, and testing of atomic weapons.[1]

A parallel ribbon of four fences, one of which was electrified, surrounded the heart of the storage area. This area was nicknamed the “Q” area, which denoted the Department of Energy’s "Q" level security clearance required to enter.

In June 1962, the Atomic Energy Commission released its custody and ownership of the weapons to the Air Force. The personnel and property of Caribou Air Force Station were absorbed into that of the adjacent Loring Air Force Base.

On the nights of October 28th and 29th in 1975, there were two sightings of unidentified helicopters breaching the base perimeter in the area of the WSA just north of Loring AFB. One of the helicopters reported landed within the weapons storage area. (463 Nuclear Weapons Specialists stationed within the fence cannot confirm this)

Now a days the base is full of businesses that have moved in to utilize the old buildings, others have been torn down and some are just sitting there beyond repair. You can still go out there and wander around, as I'm told the weapons storage area is still intact but the storage bunkers are being used to house flax and I believe the woods surrounding it are a wildlife sanctuary now. Still pretty cool but nothing beats how amazing it was to walk around out there right after it closed. If you google map Limestone, ME you can get a pretty good look at it from above (a little northwest of the town), the storage area is off to the northeast of the runway. Its hard to see but you can still make out the fence lines if you look closely.

On a side note the area around the base was peppered with old Nike sites (Nike missile launch sites) that were pretty darn fascinating in their own right.

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Fremen

I don't have many exploration stories that I remember too well, but one I do remember is the one that happened back in the Summer of '79.

My friends and I all had pellet guns and we'd ride our bikes around town looking for stuff to shoot, or just to explore.

There were some defunct railroad tracks near the neighborhood that had old warehouses next to them.

We got the bright idea one day to break in and explore them. They didn't have any doors on the loading docks, so we didn't really "break" in.

Two of the warehouses were empty, but the third had a few crates of cheap little toys in them, like you'd find in fairs and carnivals.
After rooting around for a while, we decided to set some up and use them for target practice. This lasted for a bit until we got bored, so we looked for other targets.
Naturally, we started shooting what windows were left, and then we went for the fluorescent lights.

We had just started having a good time shooting the lights when some guy came in and started yelling at us.
We ran like scalded cats.

We never did figure out if he was a watchman or not.

After we regrouped at one of our houses, we agreed it was a grand time.

In retrospect, it was pretty tame, but at the time, .... good times.

Fin.

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girldetective

Like when I was a kid, I like to look when I happen upon one. My most recent foray into unexplored territory was private property. Out with a friend and his dog we looked in the front windows of an apparently abandoned house and then went around to the back porch for a peek. Standing carefully to peer in, I fell through the floor and hung there by my arm pits. Embarrassing, and funny, to say the least.

Most interesting was the house. A very small Victorianish house, it was full, top to bottom, left to right, with wood of all sorts. Planks, logs, etc, all stacked in the most appropriate manner as to fill every inch of space. In order to walk through the doorway, one would need to remove wood and make a path. It was as if someone began at the front and systematically stacked as they walked toward the back door. It must have taken years.

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As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons...be cheerful; strive for happiness - Desiderata

Wes Mantooth

Good stuff.

Freeman -
Yeah its a big problem finding places that are completely abandoned and aren't owned by somebody. You have to tread lightly sometimes for that very reason! Good story though. There's something cathartic about shooting out lights and breaking windows in an old building....not that I'd do that or anything


girldetective-
Hahaha, I had something similar happen in an cabin I was wandering around in only it was the staircase that fell out from under me and left me hanging from the top step like I was doing chin ups!

The old Victorian house sounds bizarre! I'd love to stumble on something like that.


When I was growing up my family shared a small camp on a lake with other family members. It was on an old logging road that had been sold off to the public so the surrounding woods were full of decaying logging equipment, and the lake full of old logs and sunken boats (from log drives). However the most interesting thing I stumbled on was an old cabin about a mile out into the woods. It had one window and a door, the outside was covered in tar paper but the strangest part was when you looked into the window the structure itself had been built around an old bus! The bus hadn't been gutted, the seats were still intact and it showed now signs of ever being lived in. To this day I still can't figure out why somebody would park a bus in the middle of the woods (or how they got it that deep in the woods for that matter) and build a wooden cabin around it. One of the strangest things I've ever encountered.

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Vigilante

My buddy and I used to travel the water drainage tunnels and cement ditches in beaumont, TX. If you can imagine a couple of high schoolers riding their bikes through water in a cement drainage ditch and disappearing into a tunnel, that was us. We also climbed to the top of an abandoned rice elevator. It looked alot like this:
http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGul...levator904.jpg

I hit a tunnel one time to catch some local catfish for my aquarium, then discovered that the fish were gone. After about a quarter mile, I found the alligator that ran the fish off. He wasn't too pleased and neither was I. Haha.

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We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

Pacifier

I've started to do some urban exploring and taking photos last year. I live in the ruhr area in Germany and we have a lot of old coal mines and steel industry here. A large part of them are now used as museeums, music clubs etc. or are demolished but there still some that are left alone.

My favorite was "Zeche Blumenthal" and old coal mine, still mostly intact. Sadly it will be demolished later this year.

more of my photos:
Flickr: Forodrim's Photostream

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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein

Wes Mantooth

That's amazing Pacifier! I love the old coal mine photos, what a great playground for an afternoon of adventure and photography. I need to back out and do some more exploring myself, I just never seem to find the time to do it.

Do you still get out and explore often? Any places you'd really like to get to but haven't?

One place I would LOVE to spend a week exploring is Prypiat (the abandoned city next to the Chernobyl nuclear plant for those who don't know). I just can't begin to imagine what it must be like to walk around a city that size and be all alone...it staggering to think about.

Anyway thanks for sharing those photos I really enjoyed them.

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little_tippler

I'm not really into the paranormal like you but I am interested in abandoned buildings. I haven't really entered many because funnily enough we have tons of them in our capital, so it's kind of hard to walk in unnoticed. I have recently started a photography project on this kind of building, specifically photographing blocked out windows in these buildings. It's really quite interesting and there are so many it's crazy.

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

Pacifier

Currenty im just doing research to find some interesting locations. I usually use my bike to reach the locations and due to the current weather that is no fun.

I would love to explore Pripyat, some other german Urban Explorers are planning a tour this year, but I think i can't make it
Other that that I would love to see some Belgian Locations, Le Hasard Cheratte would be nice.
And of course the Catacombs of Paris are also very interesting

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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein

passthru

West coast target 3 (preceded by someplace, AK and Seattle, WA) during The Cold War led to a local government nuclear bunker. It's got everything from a big control room to classrooms to a VARIAC book I found in the data room. Haven't been in at least a few years, but the repeated illegal entries by many people led to all upper entrances being filled with cement. The upper entries, of course, are just below ground level.

The Day Called X

MSD

This spring, I will be taking a look at this former NIKE missile site.
Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible

I was excited to see that a few local teens who are genuinely interested in exploring rather than finding a hangout spot or place to spraypaint their names uncovered one of the bunkers I took interest in this site about 7 years ago when I started UrbEx and was overjoyed to discover today that someone managed to find an entrance to the bunkers.

One of our old spots was the Exide battery factory in my home town, it was abandoned for years and we decided to take a few trips inside before it was torn down. If you go to "Industrial" and scroll through you can see a few pictures of it. newenglandruins.com - 2009
You can get guided tours of the site and even get within 100 yards of reactor 4. Chernobyl Tour - Ecological Tour to Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Push-Pull

Opacity - Abandoned Photography and Urban Exploration

For those of us who must live vicariously through other's eyes.....

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"No laws, no matter how rigidly enforced, can protect a person from their own stupidity." -Me-

"Some people are like Slinkies..... They are not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs." -Unknown-

DAMMIT! -Jack Bauer-

Wes Mantooth

Pacifier - I hear ya, I doing research myself right now. I just moved about a year ago and don't know my new area all that well yet. I'm really interested in old military installations, schools/hospitals/institutions and factories. Hopefully I'll get some free time soon and get a chance to find some new stuff to explore. The catacombs would be amazing, do you know if they're open to the general public?

I had to look up Le Hasard Cheratte, wow, I can see why you would want to go there. I can't believe something like that is still standing!


MSD - Thanks for the info. I loved poking around Nike sites when I still lived in Maine, sadly I don't think any were ever built were I live now in Tennessee. There were about 4-5 Nike sites around the base I described in my first post, one in my home town and then appearing at about 10-15 mile intervals in geographical loop around the base. The last time I went into one was about 1998-1999 and at the time, while in terrible shape, you could still get into them pretty easily.

Heres a look at one of them...all though not much is left at this site it appears.
Cold War Relics - Connor Nike

More interesting however is a look at the Weapons storage area at Loring (about half way down the page on the link below starting at photo 29, you can see the vaults, concrete buildings and storage igloos. The rest of the abandoned base is on Loring AFB 1 and 2. Check out the other links along to the top if your interested in other cold war ruins)
Cold War Relics - Loring AFB 2


Oh and the Exide Battery Factory...stunning! I wish I had gone and explored there when I lived closer.

Good stuff folks keep em coming!

Edit: Snuck in on me there Push-Pull, thanks for the link, another great site to poke around. Aside from those sites having great photos they also really assist in finding new places to explore.

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MSD

I played soccer on Old Dam Road in Fairfield. I remember my mom telling me "don't climb the fence, that's a missile launcher site." By the time I was old enough to understand it, the site had been demolished. I remember looking over the fence and seeing the Nike Ajax batteries. Considering the radiation levels compared to background levels in the nearby woods, I suspect they secretly installed NIKE Hercules missiles there, but there's no way I can prove it. Disappointingly, there's no sign of there ever having been a missile site in Fairfield.

Wes Mantooth

There's no left over ruins at all? That is disappointing, the best part of exploring is poking around those old left over foundations and remaining buildings. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they had Hercules missiles stationed there, I think they accounted for about a third of the missiles kept at these sites.

It amazes me how much of this stuff was done right in our back yards. You would think it would be hidden away on a base or built out in the middle of nowhere well away from the general population. It makes you realize just how vulnerable we really are.

You might enjoy this link if you haven't already seen it. It lists all the Nike sites in your state....or anywhere you might be looking for one. Also comes complete with maps if you're looking to find it.

Missile Sites

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raging moderate

There was this pretty cool abandoned grain elevator near where I used to live (Filterton may be familiar with this area) in Minneapolis, but I think it's torn down now. I finally got around to taking pics of it after they began the demolition.

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These are the good old days...



formerly Murp0434

Wes Mantooth

Great pics RM, the left over walls look like melted candle wax. I used to love exploring old barns and potato houses when I was younger so this is right up my alley. Did you ever get a chance to really explore it before it was torn down?

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Toaster126

Please keep in mind that you are putting your life on the line to play around in these things... a friend of a friend died doing some urban exploring and I just think that's a stupid way to go.

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"The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me." (Ayn Rand)
"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." (M. Scott Peck)

Pacifier

Part of then is open to the public (2 km), but the majorty is not open "officially"
The whole tunnel system is around 300 km long. I read some reports from explorers and at some points you are serveral kilometers away from the next exit.
Catacombs of Paris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

__________________
"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein

Wes Mantooth

Very interesting, I had no idea they were that massive. How great would it be to pack up a tent, head in and not come out until you've explored all 300 km! On a side note, why are all the really awesome places to explore so flipping far away from me!

all joking aside, someday I'd love to get overseas and see some of this stuff.

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MSD

I've known about that site for a while and check it for updates every few months. As for our missile site, now that I think about it, the huge amount of concrete and brick that were there could explain the slightly elevated radiation levels, but our site covered the arms and munitions factorie sin Bridgeport so I certainly won't rule out the possibility of Hercules missiles having been deployed there. The control center has been refitted as the fire training grounds and transfer station/town dump (they still test the Federal Siratone 612 alert mode weekly, which is quite an experience,) and the radar site was knocked down and a sewage plant built. I remember the launch site from when I played soccer in elementary school, the football field is where the soccer field used to be and the soccer field is where the missile batteries were as late as 15 years ago Google Maps
I was 8 or 9, and as I was climbing the fence to check out the concrete and metal doors, and for some reason my mom thought it would discourage me if she grabbed me and shouted "Don't go over there, those are missile silos!"

I checked a list of federal cleanup sites a few years ago, and the Old Dam Road site was listed as having "as many as 4" pieces of unexploded, unaccounted for ordnance at the site and surrounding land. I can just imagine them dropping a few missiles into the swamp, shrugging, and going on with the decommissioning.

Wes Mantooth

MSD -

I wouldn't be too surprised if they did just dump the missiles and move on, I really wouldn't. I can't recall anything left behind at the various sites I visited (although there easily could have been), the sheer amount of toxic waste, garbage and equipment left behind (especially at Loring) was astounding. It seems like when they decommission a site they simply grab what they need and vanish, leaving behind a huge mess for local, state and federal govt to deal with. Leaving behind missiles would be a huge oops but it wouldn't shock me if they did.

Anyway I find these old cold war sites absolutely fascinating, if I still lived in New England I'd come on down and check some of them out myself. Still researching places down here in Tennessee, I'm not having too much luck, but Oak Ridge seems like it might have some interesting places left behind...not too clear on whats still being used there though.

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Sirensong12

I'm fascinated with old buildings as well. Some years ago I worked at a bar in town that was attached to an old turn of the century hotel that had fallen into a state of disarray. It was beautiful in its heyday, I'm sure. Anyway, we would grab a flashlight and take people on tours (usually drunk people)...all the way up to the tiny servants quarters, looking over the ballroom, into the basement that supposedly connected every building on the block.

Finally, my town did something right and renovated it for public use. It's beautiful.

I find old abandoned things (whether they be amusement parks, hotels, factories) amazing (have visited the opacity site linked here): there's a "feeling" about them, a history.

I didn't see this site posted, but I'm looking hurriedly from work, so I apologize if it's been posted, but I like this site: (edit: it won't let me link since I'm such a newbie...google The Willard Suitcase Exhibit. Sorry)

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After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on - have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? Nature remains.
Walt Whitman, US poet (1819 - 1892)

Wes Mantooth

Thanks for the info Sirensong, I was just browsing over the Willard Suitcase exhibit and I'd never heard of it before. But I have to say as fascinating as that building must be to walk through I would have given anything to be the guy that stumbled on the suitcases in the attic! Poking through all that, alone at night with a flashlight? Incredible!

I know very well what you mean about that "feeling", its very difficult to put words too, rather intangible. Its something in the scent, the dust and the thought of what it was like in its heyday, who lived or worked there. Its almost addictive when you start doing it.

I've been writing a lot about old military installations here but I love a good pre 20th century building. When I lived in Maine I used to visit the lighthouses that dotted the coast, and while not very big, it was fascinating wandering through them. Out on some of the island stations the houses remain virtually untouched since they were automated by the coast guard. There is just something surreal about looking at a tin of pipe tobacco sitting on a table that had been untouched for nearly 100 years.

Here in Tennessee I've enjoyed touring some of the old Civil War plantations, although not abandoned (most are museums now) it really gives you the same feeling. Carton Mansion for example served as a make shift hospital during the battle of Franklin (I wont go into details as they are pretty ghastly but look it up if you want to), in one of the bedrooms you can still see blood stains that had pooled under the surgeons feet while he was amputating limbs...I just can't put to words how it feels being so close to something like that.

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Sirensong12

I'm in Ohio.

I moved into an apartment, about seven years ago and left it about 4 years ago, that was 42 steps up to the third floor of an old home. The ceilings on the first and second floors were high enough that I was basically looking at four flights of stairs. It was crazy, running up and down those stairs in this old home. But there were nooks and crannies and rooms and a thousand neat features, like a balcony with big pillars off the kitchen ... and 150 some years of history. I went to the local library and found the file on the house. There was a great deal of interesting information.

Didn't much care for the bats, who found their way from the attic that was connected to my giant apartment in the sky. My cats, however, found them fascinating.

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After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on - have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? Nature remains.
Walt Whitman, US poet (1819 - 1892)

Lindy

Check out this abandoned places website:
Abandoned Places In The World

Lindy

Sion

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He's the best, of course, of all the worst.
Some wrong been done, he done it first. -fz

I jus' want ta thank you...falettinme...be mice elf...agin...

Stoked

I have been a member for two years, a lurker for probably about eight? have only 25 posts (which I guess still makes me a lurker) and feel bad because I get far more than I give to TFP.
Thanks for the thread, it's an awesome read.

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If kittens didn't want to be eaten why do they look so delicious?

Poppinjay

I loved exploring old farm houses in rural NC. A couple situations stand out. One, a friend picked up an old coffee can and shoved it in my face. There was a copperhead snake coiled up in it.

The other, finding volumes and volumes of LOOK magazine on the second floor of an abandoned colonial.

Later on in life I asked a farmer friend why there were so many still standing empty houses on farms. She told me it was because the expense of knocking them down wass prohibitive.

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I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

Wes Mantooth

Glad you enjoyed it Stoked!

Poppinjay - Your post reminds me of a place I've read about in New Jersey...I read about it years ago in the Weird New Jersey magazine and for the life of me I can't recall where it is or what is called. Essentially its a small abandoned town, all of the old homes were still standing and oddly enough somebody pained white blinds on all the windows. Anyway the urban legend tells us that back in the 1980's a group of Satan worshipers moved into town and eventually went on a killing rampage, which is why the village was abandoned. If I recall the real story was the land was bought out by a power company (water company?) and everyone just moved away.

There were some pictures online I found a few years ago and aside from being VERY creepy, it looks like it might be a great place to explore. If I can remember the name of find them I'll post em up here.

Oh and how bizarre is it that it costs more to keep home standing then it does to tear them down?


EDIT: Found it! Demons Alley in West Milford, NJ or officially known as New City Village. AAAANd as of 2005 it appears no buildings remain on the site...I would have loved to have poked around this place when it was standing.

Heres a few passages from wikipedia:

"The most prevalent reason given for the name 'Demon Alley' and the abandonments is this:

When New City Village was an active community, someone moved into a house (by tradition the largest one). Soon strange and disconcerting things started to happen (pets disappeared, dolls would have their heads cut off, telephone and power lines would be tampered with). The new resident suggested that they all have a community meeting in his house, and all assented to it. On the designated night, everyone gathered in his house where he, or in some stories a cult he leads, kills them all and vanishes.

There are several stories of ghosts, possessions, and bizarre phenomana".

Although the stores I've read about it are much more creepy.

and the real story:

"The New City Complex (NCC), (New City Village, NCV) was built in an unknown time frame, appearing to be Victorian in architecture. These houses, around eight with garages and maintenance buildings were used to house Newark Watershed employees. The last occupant of these houses moved out in 1992 according to the NWC, and many have pondered the departure of the occupants without removing their personal belongings, this was thought to be because of Radon Contamination in the neighborhood. This however, has not been confirmed by the NWC. The NWC still owns the 644 acres (2.61 km2) of land, which almost was sold to an NYC man to use as a golf course. The NCV/NCC was demolished in October 2005. The neighborhood suffered two full arson fires and a third attempt."

Some great photos on the below link if anyone's interested...actually if you like this kind of thing poke around this site a bit it has some great photos of abandoned buildings and such


+Lost Destinations::Demon's Alley+ <--- no idea why there is a smily face in that link, it works for me...but if it doesn't just google "Demons Alley, NJ" and it should be the very first site.

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MSD

You have to go into the advanced editor and click "Disable smilies in this post" or the :D will be parsed as BBCode. I fixed it for you.

Wes Mantooth

Why thank ya kindly, I'll remember that next time I post up a link. I sat there staring at it for about 5 minutes like.... "well the link looks right...its clickable...but there's a smiley face stuck in the middle...wtf?"

Thanks again.

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