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

Abandoned Farmhouse in Janesville, WI

Abandoned Janesville

Have A Seat

INRI

In the interest of preservation the exact location of this farmhouse will not be shared. It is a fairly easy to find if you’re willing to drive around Janesville, Wisconsin. Hop on your motorcycle and you’ll be triumphant. (That’s a hint.)

This weekend I stumbled upon an abandoned farmhouse. Rural exploration (rurex) sites often yield a wealth of photographic opportunities. Because of their relatively isolated locations they receive less traffic from vandals, drug users, the homeless and other explorers. They often have personal artifacts left behind in undisturbed states. I was able to locate a phonebook from 1988 on the floor of this farmhouse. There was also a few envelopes full of checks from 1974. All evidence shows that this house is not standing up to the elements. Plants have begun to grow in the woodwork, all of the windows are broken, and the floors are sunken in.

It was also nice to get a text from another urbexer who was a few minutes away at the time. We met up and checked out another abandoned farm close by.

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

The Fox Inn

Fox Inn

Welcome to the Fox Inn. Rooms are available for as low as $22 a night. Well… they were at some point. The Winnebago County Health Department has something else to say about that.

Fox Inn

Being right next to H41 this place attracts a lot of attention. The first floor and stairwells are now boarded up completely. Patrols drive past this location quite frequently. The last time I was here shooting footage for a documentary the local Sheriff asked what I was up to. I explained that I was merely shooting footage and would be immediately on my way out. This is a good tip for any urbexer. Don’t run from the police. Just be cool, explain yourself, be friendly and listen to what they tell you to do. Being confrontational and acting suspicious is a great way to end up with a ticket.

Fox Inn

So what is the story behind the Fox Inn?

One uncredited source says it closed in January, 2008. At the time I lived in Oshkosh and this seems to comport with what I saw when driving to Appleton. The Fox Inn used to be called the Northern Inn. The last major news item was a triple shooting committed by Chuckie Vang in 2005. Vang has since been captured thanks to a 2008 America’s Most Wanted broadcast detailing his crime. The Menasha Police Department highlighted the arrest in a public report (PDF). Before closing the Fox Inn was home to low-income families and people down on their luck. The Post Crescent ran an article on one such family living in the motel.

Haven Motel

Haven Main Office

Welcome to the Haven Motel.

Well, that’s what it was renamed to in 1958 and remained so until the 1980’s. When Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, boxer Joe Louis, and the von Trapp family of The Sound of Music fame stayed here it was known as Lein’s Cabins.

Haven Hovel

The adobe structures now sit in a state of disrepair. Whenever I drive past them on H12 I’ve noticed that they are decaying quite rapidly now that the weather has loosened the internal brickwork.

Tune-In

Research Links:

Hoard Museum

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Article

El Tidy’s Visit Account

My Flickr “Abandoned Haven” Collection