Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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Rockland State Hospital - Children's Ward/Quarters

Playroom

The children's ward is the most popular section of Rockland and everyone heads straight to this building without fail. It does have its appeal with other explorers. The brightly colored toys, destroyed murals, and daycare equipment were all scattered around the building. Here you can find the modest auditorium where I assume shows for the kids or movies were played. I won't dig deeper into the history since it is well written about by so many historians and urban explorers it would be ad nauseam to write about it again. A great write-up can be found by Will Ellis in his series on Rockland Hospital: Abandoned NYC.


You can check out my Part 1 and Part 2 visit series.







The Auditorium

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