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Meet Reggie

Reggie

Meet Reggie. By his own accord, Reggie has lived in East St. Louis 48 of his 50 years. My friend and I talked with Reggie for a good twenty minutes about East St. Louis. Talking to people that live in and around urbex locations is a great way to get the raw story. Reggie was no different. It seemed like everyone in the neighborhood knew him as they stopped to say hello while passing by. Through our conversation we were able to get a better sense of what life was like in East St. Louis. Reggie was able to “connect the dots” on the research I had done before going there. In the course of our conversation though, Reggie hit us with something we didn’t expect.

He was extremely supportive of what we were doing.

In a city that is more than 97% African American two tall, bald white guys with expensive cameras stick out. At first we weren’t sure what Reggie’s reaction would be when he approached us. When we explained that we were documenting the level of poverty in his neighborhood, his support became evident. Oddly enough, this theme was consistent throughout the day as more East St. Louis citizens approached us. There is a grave injustice about what is going on in East St. Louis and America needs to see it.

Reggie

If you look closely at the house Reggie is pointing to there is some smoke damage to the upper portion and the front door is boarded up. The beige house next door was also damaged by the fire. Right next to where this photo was taken is this house.

Gutted by Fire

Reggie told us that these houses burned within a week of each other and that he knew the people who lived there. When asked about the cause he gave two answers. He figured that an electrical fire or accident was a probable cause, but he was quite adamant that arson may have been at play. (I could still feel the heat emanating from this house.) In a middle-class neighborhood a house like this would be rebuilt. Not so in East St. Louis. These lots will most likely stay in this condition until weather elements destroy them completely.

Gutted by Fire

Gutted by Fire

Gutted by Fire

These houses damaged by fire will remain like a scar in their neighborhoods. They are unsightly health hazards and dangerous. They are everywhere in East St. Louis.

This is the United States of America you never learn about in school. This is the place Reggie calls home.

American Urbex Funding

Tune-In

American Urbex is raising funds to offset the cost associated with documenting urbex locations. Pitching in a few dollars will help offset the cost of transportation, lodging and food. There are perks for giving a contribution in any amount. To contribute to American Urbex please visit the project page at IndieGoGo. The goal is to raise $500 by mid August and hit the road to find those abandoned places not listed in any travel guide. They are, after all, far more interesting than any tourist trap.

07/12 Update: Nick F. has contributed $60 cash to the American Urbex project. Kelly H., Phil F. and Lindsey A. have also contributed to American Urbex already. I can’t stress how wonderful it is to know that there are good people out there who support this.

07/14 Update: Matt E., along with two other donors who wish to remain anonymous, have contributed to American Urbex. Muchos gracias!

07/30 Update: Paul B. and Matt C. have donated to American Urbex. Thanks so much! I’m getting closer to the goal!

08/04 Update: An anonymous contributor generously donated to American Urbex. Thanks random anonymous.

I will be taking a road trip in the next few weeks once grad school finishes up this summer. I have my heart set on doing some urbex in the Gary, Indiana area. This is where you, the American Urbex reader, come in. Please take a look at the project page and contribute a few bucks today! Any amount, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time,
Ken Fager

Peter Hauptmann Billboard

184X

Count the number of advertisements you see the next time you walk down the street in any metropolitan area. Try your best to count every single little bit of advertising space you can. This mental exercise can become overwhelming in a matter of minutes. Americans are bombarded with advertising at every turn in urban spaces. This isn’t the case in East St. Louis. Pictured above is one of the few standing billboards in East St. Louis.

184X

Peter Hauptmann (1839 – 1904) was a major player in the tobacco industry and St. Louis bigwig during his time. The Peter Hauptmann label was one of wealth and prosperity. This bulletin board advertised a brand of whiskey the company produced called David Nicholson 1843 Bonded Whiskey (source). By the looks of this sign however, Peter Hauptmann’s time has long since passed us by. Poverty has driven advertisers completely out of East St. Louis. With median household income of only $26,000 (2008 – source) most residents of East St. Louis have no discretionary income. East St. Louis is not in some third world country located in South America, Eastern Europe, or Africa. East St. Louis is in the heart of the United States of America.

This map shows the long shadow cast by the billboard. When navigating cities it is important to get your bearings by picking landmarks. When in East St. Louis I used the Peter Hauptmann billboard as one such bearing.

Research:

Find a Grave – Peter Hauptmann

Google Books – Emil Harms: Peter Hauptmann Company Vice President

Google Books – The Southwestern Reporter: State vs. Kosky

Peter Hauptmann Company – 1892 Advertisement

Ecology of Absence – 1843

The New York Times – June 19, 1897 Tobacco Trade Secrets

History of the National Cigar Company – Acquired Peter Hauptmann Company in the 1960’s.

Jonathan Kozol – Savage Inequalities

East St. Louis demographic statistics

Murphy Building in East St. Louis

Murphy Building Stairwell

The Murphy Building stands within a stonesthrow of the Spivey Building. If you look closely in top photo above, you can see vegetation growing in the brickwork. Getting up to the higher floors now requires an explorer to exit a second story window and walk up a rickety steel fire escape, as the main stairwell has crumbled into the ground floor. I did not have the stomach climbing out onto the fire escape.

MURPHY BLDG.

As you can see from this photo the Murphy Building has a beautifully adorned entrance. Vandals have already taken some of the mason work from the higher floor. There isn’t much that remains inside from the time the building was in operation. It is easily accessible, though you will need a flashlight to navigate your way through the basement as no sunlight shines in. The beauty shop, which must have been open for business after the main Murphy Building closed, is accessible through this way.

Murphy Building Facade

Research Links:

Built St. Louis – Murphy Building Photos

Ecology of Absence – Murphy Building

Panoramino – The Majestic Theater and Murphy Building

Flickr Group – East St. Louis

Flickr Search – Murphy Building

Spivey Building in East St. Louis

Spivey Building

Whenever you mention that your driving into St. Louis, Missouri people reflexively joke, “Don’t get off the highway too early. You don’t want to end up in East St. Louis.” My natural response is “Why?” The answer people give to that question is that the city is riddled with crime, it looks dirty and there is a good chance you’ll get shot. I then ask if they have ever actually set foot in East St. Louis and predictably the answer is “no.”

If you take 55 into St. Louis, Missouri you have to pass through East St. Louis, Illinois. Because the highway has to span the mighty Mississippi River it goes up quite high. On the road the most notable structure in East St. Louis is a lone 13-story building towering over all the rest. This is the Spivey Building, which in many ways embodies the history of East St. Louis.

Spivey Building

Allen Spivey constructed the building in 1929 that bears his name. The Spivey Building was meant to be a symbol of prosperity in the growing wealthy city of East St. Louis. At the time the location was prime real estate. It was located in the very heart of downtown, stood next to a theater, and was a short distance away from all the major shopping venues. Jobs in East St. Louis were plentiful, cars were beginning to fill the streets, and East St. Louis was home to about 75,000 people with money to spend. The city would peak at just over 82,000 residents according to 1940 census data.

Der fliegende Schädel

Despite Spivey’s high expectations for East St. Louis, the tides of fortune took a turn for the worse. A combination of of racial tensions in the mid-1900’s, white flight, corrupt politicians, manipulative corporations and dwindling tax base turned East St. Louis into what it is today. The Spivey Building was caught in the middle of it all.

The perimeter around the building is fairly secure. Sources who have been inside say that there isn’t much that remains. Vandals have long made off with anything of value. Talks of renovating the building have gone all but nowhere.

When I think of the Spivey Building, I cannot help but be reminded of Langston Hughes’ poem entitled “Dream Deferred.”

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Research Links:

Ecology of Absence – The Spivey Building: The Death of a Dream?

Ecology of Absence – Spivey Building Secured, Damaged

STL Streets – Video inside the Spivey Building

Built St. Louis – Photos of the Spivey Building

Sketching St. Louis – Artistic rendition of the Spivey Building

Time – 1989 article on East St. Louis

Urban St. Louis – 2005 article about the building’s demolition

Emporis – Spivey Building

4th of July on top of Spivey

Wikipedia – East St. Louis

Algonquin Toy Factory

Entry Point

The eponymous Algonquin Toy Factory is located in Algonquin, Illinois. I have had trouble locating detailed information about this location. I am interested in dates of operation, what was produced here and the company’s history. If you have any detailed information please leave it it the comments section.

Pink Floyd - The Wall

Shipping & Receiving

Research:

Wikipedia – Algonquin, Illinois

Flickr Set by MichelleCox<36

My “Abandoned Algonquin” Flickr Set

Requiem For Detroit

Requiem For Detroit is a British documentary on the history of  a city that once embodied the American Dream. This fascinating documentary features many urbex locations throughout. Keep an eye out for them while watching and listen closely to their histories. Urbex locations are more than just abandoned buildings. They each have a story to tell that spans the past, present and future.

Part one is embedded above and the rest can be viewed on YouTube.

Octagon House in Whitewater, WI

Octagon House in Whitewater, WI

Urbex doesn’t have to be about infiltrating abandoned buildings all the time. Sometimes you just have to walk around the neighborhoods that surround you and talk to people. I spoke with the sister of the home’s owner, who was packing her car. Erin did not know much of the history of the home, but she did tell me about the inside. The basement is a dirt foundation and not currently used for much. The ground level floor has a living room, kitchen, and small dining area. There is indeed a second floor to this home. A very tiny staircase leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. The home is currently occupied by a man, woman, and their young daughter.

One source claims that the house was built in 1855. I will have to return to the library and confirm this.

Solvay Coke & Gas

Solvay Coke & Gas

The Solvay Coke & Gas plant sits in a prime real-estate area of Milwaukee. The plant originally opened in 1906 and closed its doors in April, 1983. Plans to demolish the expansive site have been in the works for years, but the intensive cleanup efforts mandated by the EPA have put this plant in limbo. It is, after all, a Superfund site. Arsenic, lead, asbestos, and a whole host of other chemicals have been mixed into the ground.

Don’s Rail Photos website describes what went on at this once state of the art facility.

Coal was brought in by boat and by rail and lifted to the top of the tipple. It was then dropped into an extremely wide gauge electric rail car which ran on the top level and took power by trolley from the wire at the front edge. The coal was then dropped into ovens where it was heated to a high temperature in a low oxygen atmosphere. The carbon reacted with the oxygen to produce carbon monoxide, or coal gas. There were also other smaller amounts of gasses trapped in the coal. The gases were collected and sent to storage tanks. The resulting hot carbon was then pushed out the front door of the oven into a hopper car and sent to a quenching tower. This produced coke.

The first time I visited the Solvay Coke & Gas site I was shocked by its location. We were not more than one city block from a major Milwaukee shopping center, but yet it felt like we had entered another world entirely. The site is absolutely massive in scale. What remains though is only a fraction of what used to be. Concrete foundations  of buildings long gone still remain. (Take a closer look at the map above.)

Solvay Coke & Gas

In its present state the Solvay site has four main buildings and a trailer. The first time I entered the front offices my urbex partner and I heard water flowing in the basement. Upon investigating we saw four inches of standing water and could hear a steady flow.  When I visited a second time there was a clear watermark that was up to the ceiling of the basement. The second floor has a room with an ornate fireplace and a well stocked bookshelf. Unfortunately vandals have since destroyed these treasures and smashed all but a few of the glass windows.

Caustic

The next building behind the offices houses a labratory on the second floor. Some of the scientists’ instruments remain behind. Bottles full of unknown substances, extensive logs, and even samples can still be found here. It is unfortunate, though, that the last time I visited this building water had filled the basement completely. It has made the wood floor very unstable.

Solvay Coke & Gas

The largest building on the site is all that remains of the main factory floor. On the last trip I stumbled across a giant passed out drunken robot. I do not condone the desecration of urbex locations, though this robot made me reconsider my stance. It is a beautiful work of art that only those brave enough to venture out to such a location can enjoy. Bravo, whoever created this.

Robot @ Solvay Coke & Gas

Research Links:

EPA location description

EPA contaminants description

Very descriptive health consultation about the Solvay site

Solvay Community Involvement Plan (PDF)

JS Online article discussing redevelopment of the site

Old operational photos of Solvay Coke & Gas

Alexander Fortney’s thesis revolving around the Solvay site

Asbestos abatement project from 2004

Milwaukee BizJournal article on new owners from 2006

Mark Bertieri’s collection of Solvay photos

Undercity’s collection of Solvay photos