ephemeral village

Woman fallen to cage with polar bears

2009-04-13T12:53:32Z

This occured in Berlin, Germany. 34-year-old woman fallen down to an open-air cage to polar bears. The woman managed to be pulled out, but one of bears has had time to bite it some times.

(4 photos + video inside) →

Grafton

2009-04-09T16:37:57Z

Hello again, I'm still home sick so here's another Rundown Town photodump!

This time we'll visit Grafton, WV, a formerly booming railroad town.. now a hometowny little place looking for it's niche.

Grafton's hotel was an important railroad stop.. the lobby faced the tracks. It's been abandoned for many years but is being semi-protected and is theoretically "mothballed," so isn't falling into further decay, hopefully. The neighboring train station has been converted into a very nice museum.

Anyway, Grafton has a lot going for it. It has a popular drive-in theatre, situated in beautiful mountains and rolling hills.. also it's a bit of a tourist spot as it is the site of the very first Mother's Day! The church where the first Mother's Day service happened, and the house of Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother's Day, are actually pretty popular tourist spots. The rest of downtown could really use some help, though!

(I forgot to mention the other day that Fairmont was the site of the first Father's Day.)

Okay, on with some pics.

Here's the hotel again. Like I said, this building is abandoned... but Grafton was a very important railroad town, and you could get a train to Baltimore or New York or Chicago out of here... people from all over had to stop in Grafton to switch trains or continue on their journey.

Here's the train station. It has been nicely refurbished and well taken care of. I do hope the hotel can find a way to follow suit.

The tracks don't see as many trains as they used to.. and it's no longer a passenger stop.. but it's still a major rail-line.. as you can see by the number of tracks.

A building demolition revealed what is possibly the most fantastic wall of ghost signs I have ever seen in my life!!!! I can't get enough of this.

Here's a close-up.

Here's Grafton's theatre. It's technically abandoned but is theoretically going to be reused by a student group or some such.

So far, not so run down.. but there are some storefronts and such that are in very poor condition.

These two are looking pretty good.. an occupied store and the masonic temple..

This one less so.. with apparent abandonment on the upper floors.

These two look really nice, but the blue building has some serious issues on the inside (leaks.)

Former Emerald City Shoe Store... in the left of the blue building shown above.

Poor condition storefront on the right of the blue building shown above.

This former bank is abandoned and empty, but is probably going to be restored sometime soon. All of this is a National Register district, which provides tax credits for restoration in many situations.

Here it is from the other side.

Here's the church where the First Mother's Day happened!

This block is missing a building and doesn't look too well, but maintains occupancy.

Sorry about the blur, but you can see some of the colorful parts of Grafton.

Grafton is the county seat of Taylor County, so here is the courthouse, a very strange building that has been remodeled many times.

This shop front has been entirely covered over with fakery!

A cafe, still open.

When's the last time you saw one of these?

This is the Four Corners Restaurant, a regionally-famous diner... known for it's home-cookin' and especially it's pies. The folks lined up for weekend breakfasts. Alas, it was sold and now there is a Walgreens ( :( !!!) on the site. There is a rumor it will re-open elsewhere, but it will never be the same. A terrible loss!

Oh yeah, Grafton has this great vintage Dairy Queen!

And this cool garage covered with vintage tin signs.

Here we are at the drive-in, a great place to spend a summer evening in Grafton!

:D Yay, I love the drive-in.

So, all-in-all, a little better shape than Fairmont, but it was never as large as Fairmont.. more of a country town. It's a great place to visit.. so if you like that sort of thing I highly recommend it.. even if you just go to see a drive-in movie.

Here's the rest of the Grafton set!

Here's their official website.

Thanks and enjoy!

Long time, no post.

2009-04-08T00:33:12Z

Hello everyone.

It's probably been years since I've posted here... but this week I'm home sick with a horrible cough and thought maybe I'd share some photos with communities that still seemed to be semi-active. Over the last year I've had a great time exploring a lot of small towns in my surrounding area. I thought you might like to see pictures from some of my adventures. I can break it up into chunks by town.. in fact.. I think I will. So if you like this I'll post a lot more!

The Masonic Temple in Fairmont, WV stands tall but abandoned.

Fairmont is a bit of a rundown town. The county seat of Marion County, it has had quite a bit of population loss since it's heyday in the 1950s. It has a lot of (still very lovely) abandoned buildings, but a lot of local color and fun stuff to discover. Unfortunately, more buildings are demolished seemingly weekly... cultural resources are many, but not particularly well managed. It is by no means dead, though. I like to go there. I don't want this post to give a negative portrayal of Fairmont. It's got its troubles... but if you like the semi-quirky or under-appreciated.. well, it's your kind of town. Fairmont is home to some important state employers, but alas none of them really help the downtown area, which is what I will be featuring here.

Butcher School, an abandoned school in Fairmont.. it's been empty at least 25 years, unfortunately. Last time I was here, a little over a year ago, it was boarded up tight, but this time it was wide open. A kid on a bike yelled at me while I was taking this picture and told me he was callin' the cops. Thanks, kid.

Last time I was here, kids were still playing on what's left of the playground. I found some historical pictures of this place but they are copyrighted so I can't post them or link to them, but if you check the online photo archives belonging to certain West Virginia libraries, they're easy to find. You can't tell in the photo, but it is a pretty big building. I didn't go in, but just by peeking in the many open doors, I can tell you that it's fairly trashed and stinky.

Fairmont's beautiful art-deco movie house (check out the peach vitrolite!) has been out of business for a few years. I never saw a movie here, so I hope it reopens so I can. :P I love theatres... it's the first thing I look for when I visit a town.

Now there's something you don't see every day... this was on the side of a comic book store near Butcher School.

Fairmont's old art-deco post office is empty... but for rent!

The BOE building, a former hospital.

I am told that despite the appearance of this Moose Lodge it is NOT abandoned.. and is still available for parties and banquets.. though I'm not sure why you'd want to have a party in a building with boarded up windows. Mafia parties? :)

I think a moose ran over the sign.

I love this sign. I saw an identical one in PA.

Abandoned near Moose Lodge.

Abandoned near Moose Lodge.

I think this curvy building used to be a tire store.

Empty storefronts.

I love this building. There's a shop on the bottom floor but I'm not sure if the upper floors are occupied or not.

Lupo's is closed, but not out of business. He just moved somewhere else.

NO.

This one didn't make it. :(

I love this old-school motel.. still in business!

After a busy day of running around old buildings, I recommend The Poky Dot Diner for a milkshake or sundae.

I hope to take some more shots of Fairmont soon. There's a lot of it I haven't yet explored. A lot of nice old houses there, too.. though many great Victorian-era mansions have been lost to McDonald'sization.

The rest of my Fairmont set is HERE.

Thanks, if you liked it, I have lots more sets of lots more towns!

rundown_town @ 2009-02-02T00:15:00

2009-02-02T05:15:20Z

outside my friends house

</lj>

rundown_town @ 2008-05-21T09:04:00

2008-05-21T14:13:02Z

old school in a small town in kansas
(a few more on flickr, upon clicking image)

it is clear this was once a comfortable self-contained village, now a few houses (occupied) scattered on a few shady streets, with weedy sidewalks along with sandy roads. it reminded me of my childhood in the south. the main street, with garage, old store, hardware (now down) and community building. the bank cattycornered. all abandoned and decrepit (the garage has received a new life, however, and the community building is still used for town meetings). we were told these things by two local men, who drove up on tractors to check us out. the oldest stated there were once THREE groceries, and pointed to their places. across a tidy park, the school, abandoned, is wide open for respectful observation. a white dog with a red tumor in its eye might join your tour. there is not a spot of graffiti in this town, on the buildings. i do not want to say its name here, for protection of the place.

rundown_town @ 2008-04-24T20:57:00

2008-04-24T16:59:34Z

hi! here the street pictograms collected from all world are placed pictogramms

rundown_town @ 2008-04-03T12:14:00

2008-04-03T17:15:41Z

decrepit house in nortonville kansas
jamcam + photoshop

(a couple more on flickr, upon clicking the image, if you like)

rundown_town @ 2008-04-01T12:31:00

2008-04-01T17:32:43Z

nortonville KS : march 2008
(click image for more on flickr, if you like)

rundown_town @ 2008-01-18T05:14:00

2008-01-18T13:12:39Z

Superior Dairy ice cream shop, Hanford, California

not exactly run down, but certainly quaint

rundown_town @ 2007-10-28T09:38:00

2007-10-28T14:36:49Z

the old school : matfield green, kansas
image made with film and a Valiant camera (diana clone)
commentary provided by two little grammies in lawn chairs next door
and a loudly barking dog

rundown_town @ 2007-07-07T13:56:00

2007-07-07T18:57:05Z

baker hotel : mineral wells texas : july 2007

an amazing place in a strange little town.
definitely worth further exploration...someday.

the full set of images is here, if you like

rundown_town @ 2007-06-21T16:47:00

2007-06-21T20:47:49Z

Washington, Indiana

2007-06-18T02:04:35Z

Washington, Indiana, is an old railroad town.

The railroad came to town in the 1850s. In the 1880s the shops opened. B&O Railroad chose Washington because the town is halfway between Cincinnati and St. Louis. Also, the town donated $75,000 and sixty acres of land to build the shops where B&O renovated worn out railroad cars.

In its heyday, it was quite an enterprise.

There's not much left of it now, though. This is where the roundhouse was, seen above in top center.

Views of the repair shops.

The downtown area reflects the faded glory of the old railroad days.

Of course the local ~~jail~~security center is well funded and well maintained.

Matfield Green, Kansas

2007-06-10T18:29:18Z

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewtedlock/538858870/

new to the community

2007-05-23T00:08:07Z

I have some pictures plus some questions at the end.

All in Western PA near Sutersville.

This place is called Rocky's or Richie's Rib House or probably many other things. My Dad and his cousins used to eat there when they were young. The old man has since passed away and it is technically still in "business" ran by ...his son? Anyways, I had to take the pictures quickly because the guy seemed suspicious of anyone with a camera so I don't have too many. Hope to get more soon. People go here and eat ribs, chicken, anything you can put BBQ sauce on. Supposadly there are no tables and you have to bring your own booze and utensils. I heard it's kind of shady, but my dad's cousin is taking me down sometime because the food is supposed to be awsome.

And this is just an old house:

OKAY, so the aformentioned questions: the only places that I have thoroughly explores are places inmy own little town. I want to expand my adventures as I am expanding a series I am working on. How many of you have gotten in trouble for tresspassing? Do you find that ALOT of people are suspicious of someone with a camera? And if so, how do you deal with them questioning you? There's tons of places I want to "visit" but I am a smallvoiced shy girl and I was just wondering what is the best route to take when confronted with suspicious people. Of course, my pictures are for artistic purposes...but how do you convince them of this or tell them this? Cause some people around me don't "get" the whole "taking pictures for arts sake" thing. They just don't "get" it. lol.

rundown_town @ 2007-05-10T14:15:00

2007-05-10T19:16:58Z

some smallTown wandering

rundown_town @ 2007-04-01T08:01:00

2007-04-01T13:00:42Z

fire department : cedar springs kansas

a few toycam images from a recent trip to "ghost towns" on the kansas prairie. more on flickr upon clicking the image.

rundown_town @ 2007-03-23T12:09:00

2007-03-23T17:10:05Z

one day this week i decided to take a day trip to the prairie, to find the "ghost towns" of chase county, kansas. i would not really call them ghost towns, as a few people seem to live in each one. but most of the structures have been abandoned and left for nature, after the last great flood of 1998. one longs to go in and give the places new life. the towns were so sweet and quiet and somewhat mysterious. recently, many places have lost that quality of mystery for me and it was exciting to find it again.

the full set of images are here.

more information about chase county

Arcola and Carpenter Wyoming

2007-02-24T09:04:58Z

Greetings!

I haven’t posted here in quite a while, mostly due to other side projects. However I thought I’d share some photos with you from an article I’m collaborating on for the debut issue of “Curiosity. Magazine” (http://www.curiosity-magazine.com).

The article is about the now non-existent Burlington - Cheyenne Rail Line from Sterling, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Numerous towns were founded and fully reliant on the rail until service was discontinued and the tracks removed in the early 1970’s. Since then, most of the towns - some over a century old - have dwindled in population and slowly fallen into ruin. These photos are from a scouting trip to two of the end towns in the line, Arcola and Carpenter Wyoming. The former of the towns has nearly blinked out of existence, and the latter has a current population of less than 100.

The following is rather image intensive, as there are around 3.5 megs of photos.

First, I explored what is left of Arcola. In life, it was little more than a service stop for the train, so very little remains of the town other than a few dusty homes surrounded by rusting farm equipment. The water tower and windmill that were once there have long ago been taken and used elsewhere.

A stationhouse and several old boxcars where used to house the railway’s labourers and their equipment as seen in these pictures from 1941.

Currently, the remains of the 3 boxcars can be seen in varying states of collapse. The one nearest the tracks is still mostly standing under its own strength, however the other two are nearly destroyed.

Littering the area are numerous artifacts from various eras. The field has been used to dump everything from aging farm equipment to a washer and dryer. Mingling with these things are relics of the railroad’s past.

The boxcar wheels have broken off and lie in the dirt beneath them. Gears and other miscellaneous train parts can be found too.

This can (which we believe to be a lamp or switch heater) has been smashed, but the inscription can still be read: “Goldenrod Mfg. Hastings, Ne”. I have thus far been unable to locate any history on the company.

Remnants of the daily lives on the workers that once stayed here can also be seen, including whiskey bottles and this ancient meat grinder.

Off to the side of Cheyenne Line’s grade, there are the remnants of (possibly) the station house. Other reports I have read indicate that the station house was torn down at one point, but this place seems to fit the bill. It was undoubtedly associated with the station in some manner.

The roof is missing many of its planks, and years of wind and storm have slowly pulled out every single nail.

Inside, I’m startled by the bright green paint. I really don’t believe it’s period, and was probably done by someone living in it at a later time. There’s evidence it’s been used for storage more recently.

A set of REALLY questionable stairs leads up to the second story/attic area.

The attic shows signs of having been lived in once, but it’s been quite a while since there was any real shelter to be had.

Moving on to Carpenter, Wyoming, I’m struck by just how tiny the town is. There are several churches (1 converted into a home, and 1 active church located in a trailer). Most of the more permanent buildings have clearly been there for a long period of time.

The town is also littered by an inordinate number of Quonset huts being used as garages, closed up shops and even homes. The sign on this one reads: "Evans Implement Co. Carpenter. WYO. PH. NO XXX - XXXX - If You Farm With It We Fix It"

There are also several houses in the area that have given up trying to weather the winter storms and summer downpours.

I find this pot-bellied stove in one house; the rest of the home collapsed chaotically around it.

As you reach the edge of town, you notice that without the rail, there is virtually no chance that this town would exist on its own.

However, at one point in its history, Carpenter WAS moderately successful. As this old photo taken in the 30s shows, residents from miles around gathered to watch a parade as the Cheyenne Line runs by in the background.

In the center of town lies a junkyard with vehicle models stretching from the early 1980's, all the way back to the 1930's. I have to wonder if some of the vehicles here were present at the parade seen in the photo above. I think there is probably a good chance of it, as many of the residents have lived here their entire lives.

Here is Carpenter's stationhouse as seen before it was moved by Mr. Evans to his private farm. (It was subsequently dismantled).

All that remains of where it once stood is the foundation, a concrete marker post and some wind polished remnants of the platform's supports still sticking up from the ground.

In the next photo - on the right of the station along the tracks - we can see the grain silo load the train cars.

Though modified, the same silo still stands today, surrounded by more recent constructs. Now days the silo is still in use, though it loads 18 wheelers with grain instead of train cars.

There are still a number of towns down the line from here in Colorado that were once served by the same rail, but now are reachable only via gravel roads. I hope to scout those in the coming weeks and perhaps I'll have more to share here before the main article is done. In any event, I hope you enjoyed sharing in my trip.

-Devon Pike

x posted to Rural Ruin

'Allo!

2007-02-24T04:53:38Z

Hi everyone. I'm definitely new to this site, but I'm so happy I've found it. My town seems to be a posterchild of this place. Not only does it have a multitude of abandoned homes (and previous businesses), but it also used to have a hosery mill (which is now in utter disrepair, and has vines growing on both sides of the glass-paned worker entrance doors).

Chase County, Kansas

2007-02-20T00:47:10Z

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewtedlock/394316853/

This weekend I ventured out to Chase County, Kansas for some rural exploration! I found some wonderful locations and you can see more of my pictures by clicking on the link above. :-)

Thanks,
Drew

N of Matfield Green, KS on 177

2007-01-28T01:38:38Z

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewtedlock/371266133/

Coal Creek

2007-01-20T13:36:53Z

Hi all, it's been a while since anyone posted on here, but I've come bearing gifts!

I recently moved into a caretaker's cottage on the outskirts of an open-air museum, which replicates a mining town in the 1860s in rural Australia. The park has been open for 30 years, but in the last ten has struggled against dwindling funds and blatant mis-managment. I feel an obligation to the park since my father and grandfather were such a huge part of it's incarnation, and it was opened on the same year I was born.

Anyway, the whole place is looking very shabby around the edges lately. I like things the way they are, though I don't know how others feel about it! I've started to document the place for future generations like us who always seem to prefer the 'before' shots. I work here too, and I live inside the boundary fence, so I have 24 hour access, which is nice when you don't want a whole bunch of tourists invading your Victorian fantasies.

I'm starting with a few pics of the train, and the cobbler's window.

I'm afraid I don't know alot about our train- it's not original to the area, but it is what would have been in use at the time. I plan to have Wizard Tea Parties in here soon.

I never resist the urge to call out: 'Hogwarts station next stop!' ^_^

Bird poo and cobwebs, and a seat missing it's bottom.

Afternoon sun on the old wooden boards. Note our authentic door stopper.

One of the Ladie's booths. The picture is of the Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. It was supposed to be a Railway Station for India, but the architect sent the wrong plans!

Amusing sign. I always think 'okay, the women have to finish, and the men have to die.' Lovely pressed tin though.

View through the bathroom window.

A not so damaged seat outside the loo, possibly for the ladies' chaperones to wait and make sure no men perved in while their girls were spending a penny!

The cobblers window:

This is an amazing display to see in real life, there's also a wonderful huge cabinet filled with little interesting things, but the light is too low in there to take a photo. One day I'll remember to take my tripod with me.

Most of the equipment comes from a local business, Wrench and Son, who this building is named after. The cobbler's stool (the low, ratty looking thing in the first shot) is the oldest example of it's kind in Australia.

That's all for now, I'll post more pics as I take them. And sorry they're not medal winners, I was just snapping them as I went around. I have classier ones somewhere!

Save The Clock Tower!

2006-12-18T08:24:08Z

Hi everyone, before I get to the pictures, I have some exposition and a request to the community to get out of the way. A while ago I posted about the Heart Of The World Theater in Vancouver, BC. Built in 1913, the theater formerly known as The York, then The New York, and most recently a Bollywood outlet called The Raja, went up for sale. We're now trying to buy it, completely refurbish it, and turn it into a venue for anything you could use a theater for.

We plan on showing films, hosting music concerts, live plays, and are even in talks with Vancouver schools so their film students can show their work in a theater setting. We also hope to screen films from festivals like Sundance and Cannes, so these budding directors can get their films seen by as many people as possible.

Just over two weeks ago, we were all set with the $48,000 deposit when the father of our primary financier had a near fatal heart attack. He had to pull his money from the pool and the theater was left in the lurch.

On December 4th we put the word out that we needed money, and fast. In less than three days we had raised the full $48,000 from donations in the form of company shares. This was a huge accomplishment, and we now have first dibs on the theater.

This is where you come in: we need as much exposure as humanly possible. The next deadline is January 15th, when we need at least $500,000 or a housing contractor gets the theater and tears it down for condos. Please, tell literally all of your friends, post the website to message boards, volunteer your time if you're in Vancouver, buy shares if you can, but above all get the word out. We need to be Slashdotted, Farked, and BoingBoinged. The more people know, the better chance we have of making this a reality.

Thanks for bearing with me, and now on to the pictures!

Last Thursday, the realtor let us poke around the theater and see what we'll need to do to get it running again.

So that's what Salmon Puke #6 looks like...

You can only see a couple here, but there were probably a dozen fans set up around the theater. We think it gets really hot in the summer, but we're not sure. They add several points to the current tackiness factor.

Better view of the fans.

I get one of the Raja signs after we rip them off the walls. I love how ridiculous they are.

The silhouettes were much cooler seconds before I took this photo. Here it's just one uninteresting guy, a moment earlier it was two doing what I think was jumping jacks.

We won't have to worry about buying popcorn for a while.

We found these antique-ish pop bottles under the counter in the cafe. We ignored the consequences and steeled our guts and tried one of the bottles. The popular theory is that the hideous aftertaste was, in fact, curry.

We thought the bottles were as old as they looked because of the general style and pasted on nutritional information, but the shipping box had an email address on it. Oh well, we can still dream.

A is for Adam, it's good enough for him.

Spend a million bucks on a theater and get a complimentary projector, call now!

"Why would anyone want this shit job?"
"Because it affords him other interesting opportunities."
"Like splicing single frames of pornography into family films."

Or Bollywood ones.

1/2 scale model of the world's first hard drive.

Or maybe just a film reel spooler.

Rictus grin for the camera!

I wish I had framed these two a bit better, they're great pictures.

I'm not sure whether I like the flash or non-flash version more.

More projector porn.

This is only a small sample of the huge stacks of Bollywood filmography archived in this dump.

One of several junk storage areas.

Junk storage crawlspace.

The first of several fire hazards to deal with.

The stage area behind the screen was pitch dark, and we only had a tiny plug-in flashlight and the flashes of my camera to navigate by.

"You want me to go in there!?"

We need information. Many older theaters had asbestos curtains above the stage. Can anyone tell if this is one of them, and the best way of getting rid of it?

This is where fans go to die.

Fire hazard number two.

I was taking lots of pictures so that when the gigantic mountains of junk finally collapsed on us the response team would have some idea of why we died.

We searched in vain for light switches for the stage area. Remember that this area is completely dark without the camera flash.

Some kind of convex mirror projector.

Up in the attic.

No, we weren't haunted by ghostly fireflies, I just managed to get dust on the lens.

Though it was raining heavily outside, the roof didn't seem to be leaking at the time.

Chimney for the furnace?

One of the light fixtures.

View of the lobby's ceiling above the drop tiles.

The grotesque concession area.

The movie posters were creepy.

Bollywood jokes filled the air the entire time we were here.

Indian Rodney Dangerfield is still alive, well, and young. And still unfunny.

Meet Indian Brad Pitt and... Indian Edward Norton?

I don't remember this many main characters in Fight Club.

Did I mention creepy already? I think I did. It bears repeating.

See also: The Bollywood Matrix.

"One day, all of this will be yours!"
"What, the curtains?"
"No, not the curtains!"

Sutton, WV

2006-11-20T06:09:14Z

Sutton is a lovely little town, but it's seen better days.

The pet store that was here has moved on. Cool old building though.

Here's a close-up of that sign. Not as old as it looks.

Some older buildings.. Sutton's main street is on the National Register, it has a lot of cute little buildings with interesting architectural style.

Alas, a few months ago some of those cute little historic buildings with interesting architectural style were heavily (well, REALLY) damaged in a terrible & valliantly fought fire that was later ruled as arson. :( This makes me really sad. Poor Sutton. :(

Sign outside of the old drugstore. It has lots of it's original interior, a nice soda fountain in a Victorian/turn-of-the-century style. Lots of nice woodwork. Alas, it was closed, dusty, and locked. I tried the door. =) (Hey, the sign said "please come in!")

Drugstore window.

Tile work outside of the drugstore.

Courthouse & jail

Jail.

There was more to photograph, but it was raining, dark, cold, and I was starving to death. Maybe next time.

Hope you enjoyed.