Gloversville Continental Mills

Image
After the Fire: What Remains of Gloversville Continental Mills A Field of Bricks The bricks were everywhere. Not stacked, not standing. Just scattered across the ground like something vast had simply let go. What used to be Mill No. 3 of the former Gloversville-Continental Mills now spread out before me like a field of rubble, stretching from Beaver Street all the way back to the Cayadutta Creek bank. Thousands of bricks, the same ones that had held this building upright through more than a century of American manufacturing history, lay in random heaps with nowhere left to go. In one corner, pressed against a sealed-off wall, sat what remained of steel beams, HVAC machinery, and other miscellaneous load-bearing beams and the remains of 40 historical knitting machines. The fire had taken everything soft about them. What was left were twisted red-brown skeletons of rust and charred metal, piled on top of each other like they had tried to hold on and failed. Standing there in the ...
Post a Comment

A Life Sentence in Old Essex County Jail

The derelict interior of Essex County Jail is shown in disarray with collapsed wooden beams, debris scattered on the ground, and walls covered in graffiti. Sunlight filters through the holes in the roof, illuminating the dust-filled air and highlighting the gritty textures of decay within the abandoned structure.





If you can't do the time, don't do the crime! Or so they say around the block in my neighborhood.





















A while back, I did do some time, in the old Essex County Jail. You may be wondering what did I do to deserve a harsh life sentence. My crime was shooting photography in a public space. At a time like this, photography seems to be a crime in itself. However, I came here to capture this old jail before it received the electric chair. The electric chair is the demolition rig. This old New Jersey institution's last days are upon us and before you know it, it will be asking for its last meal anytime soon this year if the large education institution gets its way to remove the derelict neighborhood blight from its lofty perch.






















The jail facility was designed by penitentiary architect John Haviland and built-in 1837. The jail was closed in 1970 and has been languishing ever since. Coming close to demolition as recently as 2010. However, Rutgers Law School has petitioned to de-register the property from historical registers to make way for demolition. For over 45 years, the old jail has been sitting abandoned for some time. In that time, the jail has been gaining a reputation for drug users using the old jail cells for recreational purposes. In addition to that, attracting huge numbers of explorers within its walls all along the east coast.
























Entering the facility is much easier than today's penitentiary facilities located throughout the United States. Inside the jail, lurks the endless jail cells where many Newark prisoners were once held. Littered around the jail are heaps of garbage from drug users and explorers alike. Among the refuge, you will find soda cans, used needles, glass vials, clothes, shoes, household goods, chip bags, roof boards, and other general debris. The open canopy roof has already caved in certain areas of the facility. Only time will tell if it will continue holding for the rest of the year.

























Until the last meal is provided and consumed, this old jail-turned-drug den will see the end in the not-too-distant future. Only time will tell until a proposal is submitted on what to do with the vacant lot that will inevitably be there once the last pile of rubble is shuttled away to a far-corner landfill.




















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inside the Abandoned Horsman Doll Factory in Trenton

Image
  You’ve got to move when the chance is right. That’s something I keep telling myself—but just as often, I forget it. Or ignore it. And then I end up learning the same lesson all over again. It happened on a quiet afternoon when I pulled up to the old Horsman Doll factory. The place has long been abandoned, but it still holds stories—ones I try to capture through my lens. The main gate was slightly ajar. Not wide open, but just enough for me to slip through with my gear. It was one of those rare opportunities. But across the street, half-hidden behind a rundown house, a group of men sat drinking and shouting over each other. The kind of scene you don't want to get caught up in—especially alone, carrying expensive camera equipment. I hesitated. I debated. I bailed. My gut told me to walk away, so I did. I figured I could find another way in. I circled the block, hoping for a back entrance or even a broken window low enough to climb through. I found one window that looked possible—bu...
Read more

Former Sonoco Paper Mill

Image
  Long before Amsterdam, New York, earned its title as the “Carpet City,” its story was written in water. The restless energy of the Chuctanunda Creek, a modest stream tumbling through the Mohawk Valley, was the city’s first engine. By the early 1800s, its currents were powering the fledgling mills, setting the stage for a transformation that would define not just a city, but an entire era of American industry. The real revolution, however, arrived on a man-made river. The opening of the Erie Canal in the mid-19th century, followed by the iron arteries of the railroad, was like a jolt of lightning. Suddenly, this small upstate city was plugged directly into the world. The goods crafted in its workshops, from linseed oil and simple brooms to intricate buttons and ironworks, could be shipped anywhere with astonishing speed and economy. Amsterdam was no longer just a town; it was becoming a hub. Yet, among its many trades, one industry rose to define its identity. The city’s name beca...
Read more

Former East New York 75th Precinct Station (153rd Precinct)

Image
Station House facing Liberty Avenue & Miller Avenue Historical Completed in 1891, the former Romanesque Revival style with Venetian and Noram Revival ornament structure was created by 'architect' George Ingram, who is cited as the designer of the building. Architect Emile M. Grewe is also credited with having a hand in the collaboration. George Ingram was an assistant engineer in the Department of City Works in 1886, who was not a trained architect by trade. The building accommodated about 80 patrolmen, cells, and a stable via a passageway from the main building. Back then, it was known as the 17th precinct (Originally the 153rd precinct).  Entrance to the horse stable. Opening in 1892, the first detainee was John Pocahontas Smith, who was arrested for public drunkenness. In the 1930s, it was renamed the 75th precinct. In 1973, the precinct moved to the newer 75th precinct holdings on Sutter Ave. It then became the home to People's Baptis...
Read more

The Human Stories of Rockville Mill: Inside an Abandoned Connecticut Textile Factory (Photos)

Image
    The climb to the old Dart Stone Mill wasn't for the faint of heart. My friend J and I huffed our way up that punishing incline, shirts clinging to our backs, calves screaming in protest. But we'd made this trek before, drawn back time and again to this crumbling monument perched high above Vernon, Connecticut. There's something about abandoned mills that gets under your skin, and this one had its hooks in us deep. When Albert Dart built this place back in 1868, he picked the most dramatic real estate in all of Rockville. The mill sits on a rock ledge at the second millseat below Snipsic Lake, clinging to the cliff face like it grew there naturally. And in a way, it may have. The lake fed water to nearly 39 mills as it descended through the valley, dropping ten inches in elevation along the way. That's a lot of industrial muscle powered by gravity alone. Dart built his mill for spinning silk and producing shoddy, a recycled wool material that was big business back th...
Read more

Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corporation (Part 2)

Image
Before the Bayside Company was fully known as the Bayside Fuel Oil Corporation. It was transferred by Standard Oil, its previous owner, in the 1940s. Its primary use before that time was mainly for storage and refinery purposes. Later on, it became a wholesale distributor of heating oil. Founded by Charles Pratt, it was one of about fifty refineries operating in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During the 19th century, Williamsburg was the center of oil refining along the East River & Newton Creek. Fun facts, "some of the largest industrial firms in the nation were started in this area (inland & along Newtown Creek), including Pfizer Pharmaceutical Corporation (1849); Brooklyn Flint Glass (later Corning Glassware ); and the Havemeyers and Elder Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg (later Amstar and then Domino ), once the largest establishment in the world." In the early 2000s, Bayside Oil was proposed to be demolished by a company called Clean Point En...
Read more