Warren Dunes

Today was spent with my wife and daughter. We decided to go someplace different to see some fall foliage. We went to Warren Dunes located in Sawyer Michigan. This place was beautiful with a mixture of different tress and very large dunes going towards the lake. Warren dunes is a 1,952 acre state park designated in 1930. A large storm was approaching and we had to head out after a very fun and adventurous day......did I mention that Alexandria lost the car keys?

Barely Holding On

Here is another factory that I found and it is unknown what it was used for. Some said that they remembered it being some sort of a gravel manufacturing and concrete grinding factory. It was very cool to walk through but this was probably the most dangerous place that I have been in.

19th Century Giant Wheel Re-incarnated

Today my father took us to a very small town telling us that there is a bridge there made from some remains of a 19th Century "Ferris" wheel. When we arrived, just the look of the bridge as different, kind of Gothic. Well they say it should be a goal of every intelligent person to learn something everyday. Today I learned where the name "Ferris Wheel" came from. Here is a little history I would like to share with you:

A little piece of history is rusting away quietly where it has spanned the waters of the Kankakee River for a century. Legend has it that Dunn's Bridge, just north of Tefft, Indiana, is constructed from steel salvaged from one of the late 19th century's most audacious engineering project--the gigantic mechanical wheel designed and constructed by George W. G. Ferris for the 1893 World's Fair. The Galesburg Illinois native (who grew up in Nevada) and civil engineer was 33 years old when he scribbled the design for the world's first large amusement ride on a napkin at a Chicago restaurant. Ferris designed his great wheel in answer to a challenge by Daniel Burnham to create a monument that would rival the Eiffel Tower, a chief exhibit at the Paris exhibition of 1889.
George Ferris' great wheel drew big crowds at the 1893 Chicago fair, and again at the 1904 Louisiana Exposition in St. Louis. But even the hefty fifty cent fare was not enough pay the cost of running this behemoth. It was dynamited on May 11, 1906 and sold for scrap. Shortly thereafter, Ferris' wife left him, saying he was obsessed by his wheel. He died alone and penniless in a hotel room a few days later.

Old-timers in the area of Tefft remember that a local farmer, J.D. Dunn, traveled to Chicago at the close of the fair in 1894 and bought part of the wheel as scrap. Transported to Dunn's property by railroad and horse drawn vehicles, the steel pieces were fashioned into a bridge over the Kankakee, with John Cooper as the blacksmith and Alonzo Hilliand as the carpenter.
The area near the bridge and the present village of Dunn's was a favorite picnic area, with a dance hall, amusement park and several rustic taverns. Some of the picnic crowds reportedly remembered riding in the "monster wheel" in Chicago back in 1893.

Factory

Asgard is back.......I know that it has been awhile but I am back in action and trying to bring you some cool images to view. This is a abandoned factory. I cannot find out any history about this place only that some said that it was functioning during WWII but no one really know what the hell they made. All I know is that it was multi-leveled and huge. There was a large drum that my dad put his arm on and the acid that was on top ate his jacket...sorry dad!!!! Well as always, thanks for viewing and being patient.

In Honor of Thy Father-part 2

History of 769 Washington Street.
I have personally witnessed the aftermath of very violent acts and deaths at this location. You could tell that these were once very nice apartments but my experience then has been that these apartments now are rent by the week or month and will allow any person to rent there. The drug of choice back then was Heroine and I have seen individuals in the hallway passed out with needles in their veins and there was never enough light in there. The place smelled of cigarettes, alcohol and death. There was always someone moaning that usually turned into screams. No one seemed to care…… about anything.

In Honor of Thy Father

There in one person who really likes to go into old abandoned buildings as much as me and that is my father Alex. He is very close to me and when I was a very young child, we were always together either taking things apart or exploring places. On May 12, 2008 my father shared his 72nd birthday with me. We went into 2 abandoned buildings, and he explored everywhere within them and I took pictures. Just like old times. Both of us doing what we love to do. The first location is the Jackson Arms apartments and the second was 769 Washington Street. Now, there are a lot of people that see images in my photos and this day must been a perfect day for it. I have not changed or enhanced any of the photos, what you see is what it is. All I can tell you is that we did not see anything out of the ordinary but both of us felt as though we were not alone. The “spots” can be explained as a reflection through the lens but the “spots” move in different frames with the camera staying in the exact same location (use of tripod) and I have never seen this with the lenses that I used that day. There are a lot of photos so I will break it up as #1) Jackson Arms apartments and #2) 769 Washington Street. So dad, here is to you!!!!!


Jackson Arms Apartments: