City Gardens: Trenton's Lost Punk Rock Mecca

Image
The building seemed to sag against the Trenton sky, its walls leaning in a way that looked both tired and dangerous. I was driving, searching for a lunch spot after a morning spent exploring the city's industrial skeletons, when I saw it. A questionable choice, maybe, but curiosity is a powerful guide. I pulled over. Getting inside was one of the sketchiest entrances I’ve ever attempted. But once my feet were on the dusty floor, the danger faded. An enormous space stretched before me. It was sparse, cleaned out. My footsteps echoed where a stage once stood, a fact I’d later confirm in a NNKH YouTube video about the building’s past life as an underground punk club. The video showed a vibrant scene, an electric place. But the ghosts of that life were mostly gone. The long, rounded bar, where thousands of hands must have slapped down crumpled bills, had vanished. The dust-coated wine and shot glasses that once lined its shelves were gone, too. The club’s glittering crown jewel, a l...
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 R&S Strauss Auto Service Center (Photos)

Image
  I was driving towards what used to be the Consumers Park Brewery when something caught my eye—the wooden gate doors of the old auto parts store were wide open. Someone had broken in. The building had been vacant for years, even as new construction surged all around it. Right next door, a fresh, modern structure had risen, but this place remained untouched—a relic of the past hollowed out and forgotten. I pulled over without hesitation. These moments don’t come often. A while back, another shuttered dealership had been left open for months, its entrance exposed. Graffiti artists had made their mark on the metal gates, turning the abandoned space into an urban canvas. I had thought about exploring it, but before I could, the gates were suddenly chained shut overnight. The opportunity was gone. Not this time. This time, I wasn’t letting the moment slip away. I stepped inside, finally getting a look at what had been hidden behind those rolled-down gates and green plywood barriers. An...
Read more

Temco Uniforms Company Facility

Image
šŸ”„ Update: May 3, 2026 The former Temco Uniforms facility was destroyed by fire on May 3, 2026. What remained of this contaminated industrial site is now gone. Below is the historical record as it stood before the blaze. šŸ“ø View additional interior photos from my 2019 exploration here . In Rockland County, the site of the former Temco Uniforms facility tells a story of industrial ambition and environmental oversight. This 2.6-acre area, framed by Samsondale Avenue and shadowed by an active rail line, has transitioned from a bustling manufacturing hub to a focal point of environmental concern. Originally developed in 1958, this single-story, 32,000-square-foot building was the birthplace of Modern Filters, Inc., a company dedicated to producing vacuum bags, tape, and labels. The industrial prowess of the era was palpable, as these products were essential to a booming post-war economy. By 1985, the building took on a new life with Temco Uniform Company Inc., which transfor...
Read more

Inside the Abandoned St. Michael and St. Edward Church in Brooklyn

Image
For weeks, I had been orbiting the perimeter of the impending demolition of the Church of St. Michael and St. Edward, a once revered church in the heart of Fort Greene, like a moth drawn to a flame. The neighborhood, a patchwork of tight project housing, seemed indifferent to the fate of this historic edifice. The intel I had received suggested that entry was as simple as scaling a wooden fence, yet the timing had never felt right. Until one day, it did. With a mission in New Jersey looming, I knew it was now or never. The demolition was advancing at a startling pace, the church's twin steeples already reduced to rubble. The skeletal remains of timber beams and rusted steel frames peeked out from the ruins, a testament to the relentless march of progress. Summoning a surge of courage, I seized a moment of quiet in the bustling housing project and vaulted over the fence. My heart pounded in my chest as I slipped unnoticed into the church grounds. The once grand entrance now stood as...
Read more

Rocky Hill Connecticut Foundry Company

Image
If you find yourself driving down Meadow Road in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, there’s not much left to catch your eye. The area, once a bustling hub of industry, has quieted down to little more than a stretch of road with a few remnants of its past. But one sight still stands out: three towering concrete silos, the last visible relics of what was once the Connecticut Foundry. It is rumored the silos were used to store cement during the construction of the I-91 when it was built in the early 1960s. These silos, weathered but steadfast, are all that remain of a 10-acre property that was once home to a sprawling industrial site. The Connecticut Foundry, which officially closed its doors in 1983, was demolished nearly 30 years later, its decline documented in pieces. Based on old photographs and archived Google Street View images, the foundry was gradually taken apart over the course of 2012. By the summer of that year, only a few structures lingered before the land was cleared entirely, leavi...
Read more

Historic Killingly Ballouville Mill

Image
  As I recall that April day in 2018, the memory unfolds with the vividness of a carefully preserved photograph. The sky, a vast expanse of unyielding blue, served as the perfect backdrop for our excursion. J and I, driven by curiosity and a keen sense of adventure, stood at the threshold of the historic Ballouville Mill in Killingly, Connecticut. This relic of a bygone industrial era was nestled imposingly between two homes as if guarding the secrets of its storied past. Our entry into the mill was less an act of intrusion and more a gentle push through time's veil. An opening – not quite a door, nor a window – beckoned us into the heart of a forgotten world. Inside, the mill presented itself as a cathedral of industry, now silent and solemn. Wooden beams and columns, like the ribs of a great leviathan, stretched upwards, supporting the weight of history and time. The machinery, once the pulsing heart of this place, had long since ceased their hum of productivity. In their absence...
Read more