Wilkinson Brothers Paper Mill: Shelton's Lost Pulp Mills

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Ghost Factories along Canal Street E and the Housatonic River Canal Street in Shelton, Connecticut, feels like a graveyard for American industry. Years ago, I walked down this very road to explore the Star Pin Company . Today, Star Pin is nothing but a cracked foundation and scattered rubble. But right next door, separated by a rusty gate, sits another forgotten giant. I arrived too late to see any leftover machinery or the previous tenant's last setups. Cleanup crews had already taken over the site. Grey duct tape and thick plastic sheeting sealed off the window frames and doorways. Abatement workers were busy removing asbestos from the ancient boiler pipes. Nature had already started claiming the site, too. Back in 2018, the local news reported that a section of the back building simply fell into the Housatonic River. Since then, the property has been used mostly for storage. Still, slipping inside was surprisingly easy. I came here on a mission. I wanted to find a hidden pi...
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Beth Hamedrash Hagadol: The Abandoned Synagogue of the Lower East Side






A haven for the angry birds no more.





Outside the entrance of the historic synagogue





Beth Hamedrash as seen from within a New York Housing Authority playground.





The back parking lot of the church. The cut fence can be seen on the left.





It is with great sadness upon learning that the Saint Pigeon of Urbana is no longer a part of this world. In a three-alarm fire, the church succumbed to a fiery blaze Sunday afternoon. Smoke from the blaze was reported to have been seen all the way in Brooklyn. It seemed Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue was getting too "hot" per se as everyone soon started to learn about its location. It may come to others surprising that Manhattan of all places would have an abandoned spot within its locality. A secret well-kept by those who explored the synagogue early on before its location became well-known in the Lower East Side.


Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was a 167-year-old church that was formerly known as Norfolk Street Baptist church. Built in 1850, a Methodist church at one time and purchased by the synagogue in 1885, the Gothic revival synagogue was landmarked in 1967 before closing in 2007 due to expensive maintenance the 15 congregants could no longer afford. In 2011, the property was given a vacate order. The owner and community ever since have been in a tussle over its preservation. The owner wants to demolish the building to sell to developers for the next Manhattan highrise and the Friends of Lower East Side fighting for its preservation.




Location: 60 Norfolk St, New York, NY


Status: Destroyed by blaze May 14, 2017. Demolished!


Sources:

Update: Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was tragically destroyed by a three-alarm fire on May 14, 2017, and subsequently demolished. This post serves as one of the few remaining visual records of this irreplaceable landmark.

🔥 More Lost NYC Landmarks & Sacred Spaces

Location: 60 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002, USA

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