As with a pile of our previous explores, we were certainly late to the party. This was my birthday pick, and an outa state prison seemed like a fun trip. Being our first major road trip of the season, we were ready for anything. We headed out of town with a packed vehicle and a list of places to explore. By no means would that list be our only goals this weekend. There would be plenty of old farmhouses and industry to find on the way to and from our hotel!
Since this place is an abandoned prison we decided to park a bit further away and hike in under the cover of darkness. Hiking through the dark woods with minimal lights was a treat. Even more so, as I tripped over a low hung barbed wire fence. With my pants freshly ripped and my heart pounding loudly, we cleared the final line of trees to see our destination. Now that civil twilight(civil dawn) was in full swing, we could clearly make out the pile of different housing units and buildings that lay before us. Let the adventures continue!
This place was unbelievably trashed. Almost every pane of glass was cracked or smashed, and there was no area of any measurable size that wasn’t tagged or doodled on. I am a fan of murals and larger, more thought out graffiti art, but again, most of this wasn’t it. This is just childish scribbles and obscene words almost everywhere. This is the stuff I cannot stand. Just destruction for destruction’s sake!
Early into our explore we came across a building that had burnt down. For the most part this place seemed like a “normal” cell block or housing unit. It wasn’t until we reached the hallway outside of what appeared to be a gathering room, that something seemed different. There were familiar faces from my childhood painted into the brick. A few sesame street characters lined the hallway and visiting room of this building. We can’t know for sure, but this must’ve been a family visiting room. Women with children do go to prison and they need to be able to have their families visit, even with small children.
There was one bit of prison life that I loved to keep finding, “Shadow Boards”! Shadow boards are the “painting” of an outline or black shadow on a surface to denote where an item is to be returned to. You normally see them in workshops or toolrooms, but they can be any place where a specific number or type of tool needs to be accounted for with just a visual check. Yet, at this prison they were everywhere. Every place had a shadow board! The cafeteria, the shop, the maintenance area, the control room, and so many more places held evidence of tools and utensils long gone.
On site was an old guard or warden’s home that we entered through the cellar. This basement had some really cool old rock foundations and door frames. This old home was rapidly crumbling away. Most of the floors in this place were soft or broken through. Walking up the stairs to the second floor was crazy. The stairs and the second floor were an interesting mix of settling to one side and decay. Almost no part was stable.
We didn’t spend too much time here. Just enough time to get some shots and document the decay. I think I now have a love for abandoned prisons/jails. Like most places, time will eventually catch up to them, but it may take a bit longer because of how sturdy these places are constructed. That gives us more time to visit!
This was a really fun way to start our road trip season. It would be a nice outline for the months ahead! Plenty of pre-dawn alarms, beef playing “beef-rista” and serving the coffee, miles traveled, pub food of varying quality, and very little sleep. These themes are a constant when we travel, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. When you find something you love, you can sleep when you’re dead! We hope you decide to play along!
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Please enjoy! If you are bored, give our walk-thru a listen and send us an email!
I’m gonna switch it up and put my UE partner’s pics up first! As always, our pics are very similar, yet hers tend to be more artsy and well thought out. I just “need” to document and preserve what we can! I am trying to get a better eye though.
Now for this prison and the grounds though my lens. As always, Jean and I have very similar pictures.. The same things tend to draw our eyes.
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