Tag Archives: Wisconsin

The Day Kennedy Was Shot

This photo was taken in an abandoned farmhouse in the Koshkonong, WI area. The property still has occupants and I did ask for permission to shoot on their land. The property owners do not wish to share their address and I must honor their wishes.

The house itself was in really bad shape. Water damage has caused the first floor to collapse into the basement. I was able to inch my way along the edges into one room that was filled with magazines, newspapers, and books. Most of the texts were illegible in the layer of filth that had accumulated. Tucked away on a shelf to the right was the spine of “The Day Kennedy Was Shot” by Jim Bishop. I’m not a big fan of the Fuji F70 EXR that I took it with, but this is one of my personal favorite photos. Sometimes there isn’t much to shoot at an urbex location. Sometimes just one shot is enough to make the entire effort worthwhile.

Abandoned Ford Truck in La Grange, WI

Wisconsin is blessed with a dearth of old barns throughout the countryside. Driving from my home to Madison, Milwaukee, or Green Bay means I’ll pass one eventually. Taking a few minutes to explore the backroads often leads to fantastic findings. Above is a beautiful old Ford truck that appears as though it hasn’t moved an inch since the 1930’s. This is an easy find for any beginner and it is relatively safe. Let me know if you come across it!

Abandoned Trailer Farm

The first time I came across this trailer in Baraboo, Wisconsin I learned a valuable lesson. Always, always, always check your camera batteries before leaving the house. The battery in my main camera was completely dead on arrival. To make matters worse, my trusty backup camera was also toast. I had to settle with shooting with the iPhone 3G’s s*** camera the first time. I invested in a car charger for my camera batteries after that horrible experience.

Two months later I returned to the trailer and it had deteriorated rapidly. The cold Wisconsin snow had widened the gaping ceiling hole in the kitchen. The nails that held the front door to the frame had lost their grip, exposing the dining and kitchen room to the deep nightly cold. The woodwork had absorbed much of the moisture from the brief thaw from the days prior. Black mold had begun to overtake the white kitchen lining. Everything of interest that I wanted to photograph from my first trip was where I had left it.

The family that lived in this two bedroom trailer must have been able to speak multiple languages. An edition of the Chicago Tribune on the dining room table from the late 1970’s mentions the new Star Wars movie. In one of the cupboards sat German literature. Pieces of paper with an eastern European language were also among the debris.

Translation:

Hearts of Children
Four Stories from M. Lenk
Second Edition
Zwickau i.S.
Print(ed) and Publish(ed) by Johannes Herrmann

Als ich dieses Buch in meiner gefrören Hand gehalten habe, habe ich an Wisconsins Geschichte gedacht. Die deutschen Siedler dieses Staates waren sehr wichtig. Die Bauer und die Brauer haben Wisconsin als den sogennanten “Dairy State” gegründet. Einmal in Wisconsin war es normal Deutsch zu sprechen, lesen, und schreiben. Aber das ist nicht mehr den Fall.

(Feel free help me improve my German in the comments.)

As I held this book in my frozen Hand, I thought about Wisconsin’s history. The German settlers of this state were very important. The farmers and brewers laid the foundation for Wisconsin to be called the “Dairy State.” It was normal once in Wisconsin to speak, read, and write in German. Due to the course of history, American speakers of German began avoiding using the language in everyday use in the mid-1900’s. It is a shame really, because Wisconsin still retains much of its rich German cultural heritage.

Urbex in Your Backyard

Getting a start in urbex can be as easy as looking around your own hometown. As a kid I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It wasn’t until I moved out in college that I began to appreciate all the unique history the city had to offer. (No, I don’t care about the historical Green Bay Packers.) Green Bay is host to one of only two vintage McDonald’s neon signs of its kind nationwide. In high school I used to come here for lunch with my friends. Although I’ve developed quite a distaste for their food, I do find this neon sign to be quite beautiful. I’m glad that the franchise owner has decided to maintain it.

Abandoned Farmhouse in Janesville, WI

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.

Sullivan Home

These photos were taken on a property outside of Sullivan, WI. The property appears to be kept up, albeit infrequently. It is clear that no one lives on the property because old mail has piled up by the doors.

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

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Research Links:

Hoard Museum

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Article

El Tidy’s Visit Account

My Flickr “Abandoned Haven” Collection

American Urbex

Exploring America's Gritty History