The Haven Motel (formerly Lein Motel) was one of the early urbex locations that inspired American Urbex. After discovering the location I did a quick Google search and discovered that the diminutive motel once attracted international celebrity. I have occasionally kept tabs on the accelerated decay of the location since moving into the area. It […]
An odd Chicagoland building played host to famous faces in its prime, but is now on the verge of demolition. In this episode host Ken Fager takes a look at the history of the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Subscribe to the American Urbex Podcast on iTunes. The Purple Hotel article on American Urbex The […]
Photo: You can’t miss the regal facade of this building driving on Touhy Avenue. According to one Chicago area native, the construction crew of the 293 room Lincolnwood Hyatt House were supposed to receive a shipment of blue bricks for the building facade. It isn’t clear if a communication or manufacturing error is to blame […]
Normally when I go to an urbex location it has been abandoned for quite some time. This definitely was not the case this time around. This hotel was foreclosed upon sometime in early 2010. From the looks of it, the employer ran out of time to remove their property. The pool was still half full […]
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 […]
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 […]