The Fragrant Factory

Date of Visit: March 31, 2012 The company was founded at the turn of the 20th century. They manufactured a wide variety of products – from spices to baby powder, from health tonics to gravy mixes, from ink to salves. Like many companies of its era, they had mail order catalogs and door-to-door salesman. Their …

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The Empty Box

Abandonments come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of interest. My favorite locations are filled with personal effects that allow you to glimpse into the lives of the people who lived or worked in that location. My least favorite locations tend to be empty shells. However, there are exceptions to that rule. There are times …

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The Sound of Silos

Date of Visit: January 25, 2013 I’ve lived in Chicago since 2004.  I probably drove past the Damen Silos on Interstate 55 a hundred times, and each time I would think, “You know, I should go check that place out sometime. ”  Well, I finally got around to it on January 25, 2013. The Damen …

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The Ice Castle

Date of Visit: January 25, 2013 When you fall in love with abandoned buildings, your love story very rarely has a happy ending. Sometimes your beloved is abused callously over many years, with taggers and vandals and thieves slowly breaking her down, one element at a time. Sometimes your beloved collapses under the strain of yet another …

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Box Factory

Date of Visit: January 6, 2013 This factory was built in 1921 as a paper mill and packaging producer for a major American snack maker, who used the facilities until 1984.  The factory is interesting because it’s built along a canal and utilized hydroelectric power. There are still remnants of the original canal works along …

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Melted Away

Date of Visit: December 22, 2012 There’s a reason why I don’t reveal much information about the places I photograph.  It’s because, Bastards. I have genuine love for these old structures, and a fascination for the stories they can tell me.  When I go to a new location, I research as much as I can …

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Biting the Dust

Date of Visit: December 2, 2012 I didn’t think much of the idea of exploring an old cement factory.  It doesn’t sound like the most photogenic place, does it?  But I was pleasantly surprised by this location, an old factory in Indiana that closed around 1995. The climb to the top of the facility was …

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Wabash Alloys

Date of Visit: May 20, 2012 When I first saw the Wabash Alloys building in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, I wasn’t expecting much.  It wasn’t particularly old – it was built in 1969 – and it was the very definition of ugly.  Just a big old corrugated metal box.  No charm, nothing to entice.  However, as …

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