City Gardens: Trenton's Lost Punk Rock Mecca

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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...

Abandoned Cotton Mill (Baltic Mills Complex)






A rotten-out four-story mill. 





In before the wrecking balls.

This mill surely did not need an interior demolition of its own because inside the wooden floors had already sagged and caved in from years of decay and neglect. The solid stone walls stay true to the craftsmanship and mortar the bricklayers hundreds of years ago laid down with expertise and solid workmanship.












Now the structure awaits the fateful day when the demolition crew rides in and delivers its final blow into forgotten history. The ground floor was mostly dark and decayed.  A plethora of rotting wood littered the ground. The stairs leading to the first floor revealed there won't be any venturing upstairs. The flooring was completely rotten and caved in. From the steps of the staircase, you could look straight up and see the clouds in the sky. There was no way up without falling right back down to the ground floor.






Ground Floor





Interior





Boiler House Smokestacks






Venturing to an open driveway we located the mill's two smokestacks. The boiler house has seen better days. Inside the open space, we found three different car manufacturer brands forlornly sitting side by side. A Pontiac, a Chevrolet pickup, and an unknown truck. It is not unusual to find cars stowed in former mills like these throughout the eastern seaboard. I have found my share of cars in mills and former power plants. It's only recently I found three cars at one site. At most, I find one car and usually, it's either wrecked or as these cars here still contain most of their parts intact.






Chevrolet pickup











Pontiac Firebird? 




Custom Graffiti License Plate




Interior of Chevy






Next, A and I ventured inside one of the smokestacks and I attempted to climb to the top. It was only until the 13th rung of the pigeon shit-encrusted ladder rungs that one bent backward under the weight of my foot and I immediately headed back down defeated. It would have been a great climb to sit atop a smokestack and take in the oncoming sunset in all its glory minus the mother pigeon watching me faithfully from the 2nd rung. A lone solitary egg sat against the cold inner ledge. I don't think I've seen someone climb a smokestack before in the never-ending exploration chase going on numerous social media platforms. It would have been a great notch on my risk-taking climbs since last year when I climbed a major bridge linking Manhattan and Brooklyn.






Boiler House





Collapsed room of boiler house









Driveway









P.S.

A close detailed look at cars inside the boiler house.





Comments

  1. The top of a smokestack would have been a hell of a place to get stuck had the ladder collapsed beneath you. But like you said, the opportunity was absolutely worth giving a try. I'm assuming the other smokestack was in even worse condition or you would have tried to climb it too? I'm new to urban exploration so the most interesting thing I've climbed so far was a large water tank at a power plant. Goals!
    http://brandtwilliamsphotography.weebly.com/blog

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    1. We only climbed the second one on the right. I would have loved to get to the top without incident. But getting stuck on top of a smokestack wouldn't have been a good idea. I didn't even check the status of the first smokestack. Perhaps in the future another smokestack would be climbable. I also have climbed oil tanks too. So far not a water tank. I may in the next few weeks. Found two on one site! Hopeful!

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