A new urbexer from Wisconsin shares his insights into an exploration of the Stonewall Jackson School.
Kyle Tretow on Flickr.
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Photo: Cannon Memorial Hall is one of many individual structures that make up the school.
On the fringes where rural meets urban outside of Concord, NC is a stone arched bridge that hangs over one of the roads. Ivy has all but covered the exterior of this bridge, but the rusting words “Stonewall Jackson School” are still clearly visible to northbound drivers passing underneath. From the furrow of the road beneath the hedgerow and natural hills can be seen the tops of red brick structures that are common in this part of the state. For those with trained eyes, however, the telltale signs of abandonment are there. Unkept grounds, boarded windows, and a notable lack of human presence permeate throughout this urbex location. This is the site of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School.
The initial inspiration for the school drew from an astonishingly cruel court case witnessed by James P. Cook. In a 1921 article Cook chronicled the unfortunate turn of events for a 13 year-old boy. The boy had been born to an uneducated couple who lived in the Piedmont hills. Disease took his parents and had left him an orphan. With no one else to care for him the boy was taken in by more affluent distant relatives. No effort was made by the boy’s caretakers to improve his lot in life outside of feed and clothe him. One Sunday the boy’s caretakers left him to watch over the property. In their absence the boy went exploring about the house and came upon $1.30 in bureau, which he thusly pocketed. Later that day the man of the house returned to find the money missing. The next morning the boy was arrested and placed in the county jail.
Cook noted the exceptional callousness of the court proceedings for the impoverished orphan boy.
There was none to speak for the boy. The court devoured him. The solicitor’s prayer for sentence upon this white boy, who made no defense – no appeal for mercy, or even humane justice – was the meanest, coldest utterance ever spoken in the state…
[The judge] coldly, easily, and quickly sentenced that small thirteen year-old boy to a county ‘chain gang for three years and six months, at hard labor’. And this was the treatment meted out to a child in North Carolina Superior Court in 1890.
The gross miscarriage of justice left an indelible mark upon Cook. He raised the issue in the court of public opinion by editorializing in newspapers about the dire need for a reformatory. Over the next 17 years Cook’s advocacy steadily changed the hearts and minds of North Carolina’s citizens.
In 1907 the matter came before the General Assembly, which at the time hosted a number of former Confederate soldiers. At the last minute It was suggested to the bill’s authors that the school be named in honor of Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson in order to curry their favor. On March 2, 1907 the bill authorizing the creation of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School passed with all Confederate members voting in favor.
Photo: A silent piano sits the living room area of Cannon Memorial Hall.
On the outset the foundation of the school teetered on the precipice of failure. The General Assembly only allocated a meager $10,000 to the project over a two year period. Unable to purchase a parcel of land adequate for the school, the Board of Trustees reached out to North Carolina communities. Citizens of Concord became interested in the project and raised another $10,000 to purchase a 288 acre tract of land in Cabarrus County. A generous $5,000 donation from the King’s Daughters and North Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs enabled the construction of two cottages on the property. Construction costs for the first cottage exhausted funds to the point where it could not be properly outfitted. James Cook’s wife took it upon herself to rally local businesses and charitable individuals to donate furnishings and amenities. On January 12, 1909 the school housed its first students and staff in the newly completed King’s Daughters Cottage.
Photo (source): Exterior plan of one of the colonial revival style cottages.
Within a relatively short span of time the school was able to overcome its foundational hardships. Word spread throughout the state that the school had positive outcomes in turning the lives of boys around. As a result the campus rapidly expanded over the next three decades. State funds, support from surrounding counties, and private donations supported the construction of a total of 17 colonial revival style cottages. In 1922 the administration was thoroughly destroyed in a fire. In its stead rose the Cannon Memorial Memorial Hall on the north side of the property. By the 1940’s additional buildings included a gymnasium, pool, infirmary, bakery, laundry, print shop, and other smaller structures.
The school also maintained a 984 acre farm to provide both food and financial support. Crops raised on the farm included tomatoes, cabbage, beans, corn and potatoes. A herd of Hereford cows and Berkshire hogs produced an ample supply of meat.
Photo (source): Students assembled in front of Cannon Hall.
Development for boys at the school included a healthy mixture of academics and labor. For half of the day students were expected to work in some capacity on the premises. After a period of general adjustment, each student was assigned to learn a trade befitting his aptitude. Those not inclined to farm work were participated in industrial programs that taught shoemaking, barbering, textiles, and a mechanics. Some students also learned the print industry by producing a magazine called The Uplift. The other half of the day was spent in school, which operated year-round. On Sundays all were expected to participate in Christian religious activities in the chapel.
In the evening the boys returned to their respective cottages to their “father” and “mother.” The father was expected to oversee the boys at play, provide discipline, and counsel them as needed. The mother prepared meals, kept the cottage clean, and insured that the boys minded their manners. Although up to 30 boys occupied an individual cottage at any given time, the intentional family-like structure was meant to foster positive emotional and social development.
Photo: The chapel was renovated in 1997 after a 15-year period of neglect, only to once again fall into disuse a few years later.
At its apex in the 1920’s the school provided education services to over 500 students. Although students were committed there by the judicial system school administrators saw fit to not erect fences. Every year a certain percentage of the student population who were so inclined to leave were able to “make good their escape.“
Over the years the population dwindled as welfare programs expanded and social attitudes towards minor delinquency shifted. As enrollment fell the school ceased its untenable farming operations. Unoccupied cottages were sealed up and left to the elements. The makeup of the student population also changed, as the facility took in minors with more serious criminal offenses. A barb-wired fence now cordons off a 60 acre partition to prevent escape.
Video (source): Historical Moments – Stonewall Jackson produced by Cabarrus County.
Although the site is in the National Register of Historic Places database, there is little public interest in preserving any of the buildings. As long as a portion of the site remains a correctional facility, the prospect that anyone would buy a refurbished cottage as a home is bleak. There are also not enough businesses in the local area to support commercial development. For the foreseeable future the school, once teeming with life, will continue to succumb to unrelenting natural forces of decay.
Resources:
Cabarrus County (PDF) – 2008 Central Area Plan detailing possible development.
Chasing Carolina – A blog entry of a photographer’s exploration experience.
Facebook – Group where people who attended the school share memories.
Google Books – Has a photo of the cottages along with brief description of the school.
Google Books – Discusses the influential roll women’s groups played in founding the school.
Google Books – Description of the school’s role in educating troubled youth.
HMdb.org – Historical marker information.
Independent Tribune – 2009 article on the centennial celebration of the school.
Internet Archive – Full Text of History of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School (1946).
Internet Archive – Full Text copies of The Uplift produced by the school.
Journal Now – Article on the forced sterilization of six students.
National Park Service – National Register of Historic Places entry.
NCPedia – 2006 article on the beginning history of the school.
NCSU Digital Library – Photos and floor plans of school structures.
NC Dept. of Cultural Resources – Summarized history of the location.
NC Dept. of Public Safety – Describes early juvenile justice environment which created the school.
Sterling E. Stevens – A blog entry of a photographer’s exploration experience.
YouTube – Video highlighting the history of the school.
Wikipedia – Article on Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center.
Wikipedia – Article on Stonewall Jackson.
Exploring the history of Emerson School in Gary, Indiana begs an important question about what is taught in schools.
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Photo (source): Emerson School as it appeared when it opened in 1909.
Americans constantly grapple with the best methods to educate children to become good citizens that contribute positively to society. Determining which facts, figures, names, dates, tests, benchmarks and statistics are significant is a battle waged on both ends of the ideological spectrum. Somewhere in the milieu we come to an agreement that there is never enough time to instruct everything in depth. Given the volume of content teachers must fit into curriculum for students to learn, many issues are drastically oversimplified. One of those unfortunate distortions is that after the Civil War the northern states continued to accept black Americans. The racially-charged history of the Emerson School on Gary, Indiana’s east side is one of those that should make you ask, “What did I really learn in school?”
Photo: The main doorway of the now abandoned Emerson High School.
Gary’s first school superintendent, Dr. William A. Wirt, helped design the first high school in the area. Wirt brought progressive reforms to the Gary schools that modern educators would accept as the norm. Wirt’s education philosophy revolved around the idea that the “whole child” must be educated. A complete education in Wirt’s philosophy includes not only developing the intellectual, but also the social, physical, vocational and character qualities of the individual student.
The school bears the name of American transcendentalist author Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Emerson school was built to include new facilities to aid student development which included an auditorium, gymnasium, pool, and even a zoo. The new school proved to be so successful that Wirt had to implement a policy to handle the 20-30 curious daily visitors. Wirt would later reuse many design elements from Emerson in the world famous Horace Mann High School on the west side of town.
Photo (source): Emerson as it appeared in 1913.
Wirt faced a dilemma in the 1910-20’s as the city’s black population greatly increased. The East Pulaski and Virginia Street School served the black population, but were segregated and in deplorable condition. The spillover caused nominal numbers of black students to receive education in predominately white schools throughout the city, but they were limited in which facilities they could use. In the 1926-27 school year six black students attended classes at Emerson High School. To help ameliorate the student overpopulation at Virginia Street School 18 black students were transferred to Emerson in 1927.
White students outraged at the presence of more black students in their midst immediately took to the streets. On Monday, September 26 some 600 students walked out of class. Those who remained inside were heckled incessantly until they joined the throngs of protesters. As the demonstration gained momentum signs saying, “WE WON’T GO BACK UNTIL EMERSON IS WHITE. . . . NO NIGGERS FOR EMERSON. . . . EMERSON IS A WHITE MAN’S SCHOOL” taunted the black students. On Tuesday the crowd swelled to about 800 students. Wirt hedged his bets by telling the angry crowd that “possibly when a new black school was erected on the east side, Emerson would be again segregated.” At its apex on Wednesday the student protesters numbered some 1357, which were also supported by family and other local citizens who took to the street. City, school, and district officials met with protesters to begin negotiations for bringing the strike to an end. By Friday an agreement was reached: Three of the original six black students at Emerson would be transfered, while the remaining three seniors would be allowed to graduate. The 18 black students transfered into Emerson would again be transferred out to other schools. The sum of $15,000 was also allocated for temporary facilities until a new black high school could be constructed.
Mounting pressure from civic groups such as the League of Women Voters, YWCA, and Gary Teacher’s Union to desegregate schools pushed district officials to make another attempt at integration in 1945. Again, white students took to the streets en masse in an effort to curb integration. Famous crooner Frank Sinatra even scolded the protesting students for their intolerance during a concert held at the Gary Memorial Auditorium. The following year the school district adopted a new policy that dictated, “children may not be discriminated in the school district in which they live, or within the schools in which they attend, because of race, color or religion.” The policy did not take effect until the following 1947 school year to allow the community time to adjust.
Photo: A classroom exposed to the elements swims in water.
After World War II the United States exported democracy and capitalism around the globe. As American business moved operations overseas major industrial centers began to decline. Because Emerson is a public school its fate is interwoven with that of Gary and its industry. As the population and median income plummeted, so to did revenue for Gary schools. Regular school operations continued until 1981 when low enrollment forced the school to reorganize. In 1982 the school changed its title to the Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). The magnet school focused on attracting talent and fostering liberal arts skills.
Gary school district administrators faced a $23 million budget shortfall for the 2009 budget. At the time the district served about 14,000 students, which was half the enrollment 20 years prior. Consistently low test scores, high dropout rates, deplorable teaching facilities combined with an ever spiraling negative community tax base meant that hard decisions had to be made. The district decided to consolidate some of the area schools over a three year period. The writing, or mold more precisely, was on the wall for the historic building as concerned parents increasingly voiced their concern about Emerson health hazards. In 2008 the final bell rang for the Emerson building, which was just one year short of a full century of education service for the Gary community. During the transition Emerson VPA relocated to Miller Beach, Indiana. In 2011 the school returned to Gary, Indiana and currently occupies the former William A. Wirt High School building.
Photo: A ransacked classroom still has notes on the chalkboard from the last lesson.
The challenges of exploring the abandoned Emerson School were similar to Horace Mann High School, but were greatly intensified by inclement weather. The sky deluged the building to the point where some stairwells were inaccessible due to intense water flow. The ground floor of Emerson is set below the earth, so all water flowing within the building pooled in the ground level. The heavy cloud cover also shrouded the building in a cloak of darkness, which made setting up shots even more time consuming. The massive thunderstorm briefly subsided, only to be followed by stifling humidity. Then the storms returned in full force and set off tornado alarms. For a few moments before leaving the sun decided to peek through the clouds.
The building itself, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is massive in scale. Wirt’s philosophies put into practice are immediately apparent when navigating the structure. The entire building revolves around the central auditorium and branches outwards. Science, math, language, music and other classrooms are easily identifiable by the decaying instructional material left behind. Even though the school had closed as recently as 2008, it felt as though Emerson was a generation behind. The only real modern artifacts found were unused textbooks still securely bound in dry storage areas. Each classroom seemed to harken back to an education generation that was no longer relevant to the modern classroom. Newspapers from decades past, Apple II computer equipment, floppy disks, vinyl records, lithographed secular songbooks and grade punchcards were stashed away all throughout. Some classrooms were filled with graffiti, while others still bear the final lesson on the chalkboard.
While considering the history and artifacts discovered on the whole Emerson can be compared to a tragic lifespan. A youthful Emerson was once daring, innovative, and eager to try new things. Mid-life struggles weighed heavily on Emerson’s soul and snuffed out the fire. In its waning years Emerson existed as a shell of its former self until finally passing. The century-old new revival style building lies dormant among a neighborhood of low-income housing and overgrown weeds.
Photo: The YouTube generation will never appreciate the educational filmstrip.
In the introduction to this article I asked, “What did I really learn in school?” Although I cannot formulate an answer for the reader, I feel that sharing what I have learned from exploring Emerson is educational. While studying for my instructor’s license I became intimately familiar with the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education and its followup cases mandating the end of school segregation. I feel cheated that my grade and high schools boiled the segregation issue down to a base pair. It is convenient to teach that the northern United States was more tolerant and accepting of African-Americans. When the test comes it is easy to remember which bubble to fill in. As a white middle-class male I have never given the issue much weight before. In my adult life I find myself undoing a lot of the education that was force-fed. Reading books like James Loewen’s best-selling “Lies My Teacher Told Me” have been monumental in supplementing my understanding of American history.
History, race, decay and photography combined are not on the curriculum at your local school. American Urbex is willing to educate all who wish to educate themselves regardless of race, age, sex, religion or creed. He may not have known it at the time, but Ralph Waldo Emerson actually provides sage advice for the adventurous urban explorer. He says, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Photos: My collection of photos from the Emerson School.
Resources:
City Data – Emerson student and school performance statistics.
Emerson Facts – Short facts about the high school.
Emerson Homepage – The official Emerson website.
Emerson School Class of ’65 – Site dedicated to the graduating class of 1965.
Facebook – Emerson School Alumni group page.
Flickr – Nitram242’s Gary School System set has photos of Emerson.
Google Books – Details the 1927 student protests against integration.
Google Books – Photos of some of the black students that attended Emerson during 1926 and 1927.
Google Books – Has history of Gary’s East Side including EHS. Has photo of Sinatra performing at the local auditorium.
Google Books – Describes the outdoor facilities at Emerson.
Google Books – Describes the machine shop at Emerson.
Google Books – Emerson once garnered so many visitors that it had to restrict visits.
Google Books – Photo of white Emerson students protesting school integration in 1947.
Google Books – Describes industrial work education offered at Gary schools.
Google Books – Dr. Ettinger’s opinions of the training offered at Emerson in 1914.
Google Books – Has original campus plans and building history.
IEQReview – Mold discovered in Emerson in 2008.
Jen Cessa – An account of the black experience in Gary.
Journal Gazette – Announces 2008 closure and restructuring of Gary schools, including Emerson.
JSTOR – Had date of school desegregation policy. Don’t pay $9.99 for the article.
NRHP – National Register of Historic Places listing.
Purdue University (PDF) – Publication with a profile of a 2008 Emerson graduate.
Time – 1927 article on white protests against 24 negro enrollments.
Wikipedia – Entry on Emerson history.
Wikipedia – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wikipedia – Actor Karl Malden attended Emerson.
Exploring the abandoned Horace Mann High School in Gary, Indiana.
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Horace Mann High School – Flickr set of the abandoned school.
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Photo (source): The administration building.
Wisconsin has a strong cultural background in agriculture. One of Wisconsin’s first attempts at providing technical education resulted in the Milwaukee County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy in Wauwatosa. The site of the former high school enjoys protected status on the National Register of Historic Places, State Register of Historic Places, and is a Milwaukee County Landmark. According to the Google Map above it may look like there is plenty of activity at the location, but in reality the buildings have been long abandoned. The roads leading up to the campus were stripped away after the satellite image was taken.
In 1912 Milwaukee County had the largest rural populations in the state and opened the School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy. To build the school the county purchased 206 acres of land five miles west of downtown Milwaukee for $72,100 (or $350/acre). Milwaukee architect Alex C. Eschweiler was tapped to design the main campus Neo-Gothic style facilities. Structures for the school include four class buildings, one administration building, a dormitory, power house, barn, greenhouses, poultry sheds, and other smaller buildings.
Photo (source): The five buildings designed by Eschweiler. The building to the far right in the photo has been demolished.
The high school focused on areas of study specific to agriculture. Students were given hands-on technical training, such as this practical example of how to build a farm shed. Graduates of the school were given a leg up for enrollment in the University of Wisconsin System thereafter. Milwaukee Country residents could attend the school free of charge, while non-residents paid $27 for tuition. Heavy advertising and early momentum lead to strong enrollment for the 1912-13 school year with 243 students. By the next 1913-14 school year, however, enrollment dropped to 206. 1914-15 saw enrollment precipitated further to 191. Average class attendance rates were even less than that ranging from 118-146 (source). Attendance dwindled continuously until 1928 when Milwaukee County concluded that it could no longer justify the cost of operating the school.
Photo (source): The area around the campus buildings has incredible biodiversity.
In 2007 then county executive (and current WI Governor) Scott Walker (R) opened the buildings for use by SWAT officers to host a training conference. This decision drew the ire of local preservationists attempting to save the location. One report states that paintballs were fired and caused damage to some of the interiors.
As of December 2010 the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee made a significant move to develop the site as an Innovation Park. The UWM group plans on making installments totaling $13.55 million to be paid by 2014. The Eschweiler designed buildings are expected to be sold to a private group for conversion into apartments. There are skeptics that have been quite vocal about the infeasibility of the impending sale. For better or worse, the sale of the property mandates renovation of the Eschweiler designed buildings. Another groups of environmentalist critics seek to defend the property because it is part of the threatened Monarch Trail.
Photo (source): The monarch butterfly uses the yellow shaded portion that borders the school as a stop on their migration towards Mexico.
Photo (source): Beautiful park area surrounding the school.
While researching this location online sources mention that these buildings were later used as a tuberculosis clinic and/or mental hospital. The location is often conflated with the Muirdale Sanitorium, which is now a part of the Milwaukee County Research Park. Groups interested in preserving the location make no mention of the location being used for medical activities when writing about the history. Another general misunderstanding about the former School of Agriculture buildings involves the closest structure to the site, which is currently occupied by the Milwaukee County Parks Department. This structure actually used to be the location of the the Milwaukee Home for Dependent Children in the 1940’s. These mistakes are forgivable, but the websites that claim the School of Agriculture is haunted do this location a severe disservice to its history.
The campus buildings have signs stating that the area is under surveillance. The doors are either bricked off or bolted shut. To prevent access even the highest windows are boarded up. When I first visited in April of 2008, however, one of the doors was wide open. We wandered through the building and found mostly emptiness. Unfortunately my point and shoot camera battery died, so I don’t have very many photos. The ones that I was able to take are of poor quality due to the darkness. After we explored the first building I wondered about how we could make it into the others. My gut told me that each building may be connected via a network of tunnels. We went to the basement and my instincts proved to be correct. There really wan’t a whole lot left on the inside. Some of the buildings had power and a few lights on. One had an operational telephone closet running in it. The most interesting though was the administration building. At the very top is a beautiful chapel, which has been covered in graffiti. I returned a few months later in 2008 only to find my means of ingress had been bolted shut. Whatever the future has in store for this location the park area is a great place to spend an afternoon.
Resources:
All Business – Article detailing SWAT exercises at the location in 2007.
Davide Jackson – Great infrared photos of the school.
Google Books – History of Milwaukee entry on Alexander Eschweiler.
Google Books – 1911 US Office of Experiment Stations bulletin noting the agriculture school.
Google Books – 1915 Milwaukee County School of Agriculture report.
Google Books – Industrial Arts Magazine describes a student led farm shed project.
Google Books – American Poultry Advocate describes some of the farming activity on the grounds.
Google Books – Wauwatosa Historical Society book with a photo of the school.
JSOnline – Discusses the future plans of the site.
JSOnline – Discusses monarch preservation efforts by environmentalists.
Milwaukee Country Historical Society – Page on Wauwautosa landmarks.
TMJ4 – Report of damage caused by SWAT training.
Wauwautosa Now – UWM sale requires renovation.
Wikipedia – Entry for Alexander Eschweiler
Photo: The main entrance to Horace Mann High School boarded up.
The now abandoned Horace Mann High School served the Gary community from 1928 to 2004. The building takes its namesake from the progressive education reformer Horace Mann who advocated many of the things taken for granted in modern schools. As editor of the Common School Journal Mann advocated for public funding of public education, that public education be secular, available regardless of sex or race, that teachers be accredited, and that education focus on supporting American democratic ideals. Mann also recognized the importance of an expanded curriculum, comfortable learning facilities, and providing instructional material. During his lifetime these controversial ideas were considered a radical departure from the status quo. Most Americans today would not disagree with Mann’s basic assumptions about education, since education is so important and that’s why using resources like igcse and a-level tuition centre could be really helpful for this.
Photo: Horace Mann High School postcard with a waterfront scene. (Source: Ancestry.com)
In the early years though the Horace Mann building served grades 1 to 12. During those formative years middle and high school students were organized using the platoon system implemented by Gary Schools Superintendent William Albert Wirt. Wirt was a conservative progressive who sought to maximize education resources and applied business theory to their organization. The “platoon system” alternated the amount of time students spent with regular and specialized teachers. Course work not only included the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also vocational studies specifically designed to give students demonstrable skills.
Photo: Horace Mann in 1950. Notice the pond waterfront, which is now a parking lot. (Source: Children of the Mill: Schooling and Society in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1960.)
Wirt’s platoon system became internationally famous and was dubbed the Gary System. It even garnered the praise of influential progressive education reformer John Dewey. Lawrence A. Cremin writes in his 1961 book The Transformation of the School, that “Wirt’s notion was not only to afford each child vastly extended educational opportunity–in playgrounds, gardens, libraries, gymnasiums and swimming pools, art and music rooms, science laboratories, machine shops and assembly halls–but to make the school the true center of the artistic and intellectual life of the neighborhood.” (Source: Quote found in Blueprint for Change by David J. Hoff.) Wirt’s education system remained in place until his passing in 1938. By 1940 the school would abandon the platoon system of organization and assign one teacher per class.
Photo: Auditorium seating photo taken by re-Verse.
At the very heart of Horace Mann is a spacious auditorium. Every Horace Mann student spent some portion of their school day in this room engaged in an academic activity. After school hours the auditorium played host to community meetings, extra-curricular events, PTA, and even screenings of Hollywood movies for 10 cents. All of the other academic rooms, with the exception of the modern gymnasium, physically surround the auditorium. For the community at large Horace Mann was a vital organ of the city of Gary.
Photo: The science labs had a lot of equipment left behind. Unfortunately vandals have destroyed much of it.
When we arrived at the site of Horace Mann I had significant doubts about gaining access. The first floor windows were entirely boarded up. All of the steel doors around the perimeter were welded shut. Even for a Sunday morning there was significant activity in the area. We circled around the entire building and spotted two possible entry points. The first would have most likely caused deep cuts had I tried to squeeze through it. The second less obvious entry point was dirty, swarming with mosquitos, and required an acrobatic feat to get through. But get in we did.
Photo: A cross section of the human head in one of the science labs.
My urbex partner and I spent the next six and half hours wandering through the stiflingly humid halls. The enormity of it all was intimidating and yet so very fascinating. It took every ounce of strength to continue on after a full day of urbex the day before. Fatigue, intrigue, and adrenaline definitely impacted the quality of the photos I took. I’m thankful that I snapped so many shots because my camera SD card corrupted when I got home, effectively wiping out around 25% of the shots.
Photo: Apple II hardware was littered throughout the building. (Editor’s sidenote: As an Apple collector it saddened me to see so much good hardware go to waste. There were many IIe and II+ units.)
As a Bachelor of Education graduate, I found the Horace Mann building to be one of the most interesting urbex sites I have ever been to. Most of the damage within the building has not been done by the natural force of decay. It is clear from the exposed ceilings that metal strippers have taken anything of worth. A pile of ashen books set alight by some arsonist sits outside the administration office. A row of burned black seats no longer conforms to uniform red in the auditorium. The science labs are littered with smashed pyrex glass, unknown chemical substances, and preserved specimens. Old Apple computer equipment with the rainbow logo lies all around in hallways, gymnasiums, and classrooms. A disheveled teachers lounge was packed with visual aids, books, and prefabricated lesson plans. Trophies bearing the school’s victories were strewn throughout the building in odd places. Chalkboards bear the names of previous urban explorers, some of whom I recognize.
Photo: View of the modern gymnasium. Lack of climate control has severely warped the floor of the basketball court. This room was actually completely dark and the photo was created using a really long exposure. The light in the foreground is from Nick Forslund’s iPhone 4 LED while the brighter streaks of light are from my flashlight.
Video: Analog camcorder video digitized and uploaded by jrex66 on YouTube.
Roy Herold from the Class of 1964 has a touching farewell to Horace Mann in Gary’s West Side: The Horace Mann Neighborhood.
They may tear it down, but Horace Mann will live on until the last graduate passes from this earth, and even then the stories will have been passed to the next generation. Stories that tell of Gary’s Camelot that was once known as Horace Mann School.”
I did not graduate from Horace Mann, but I certainly will pass this story on. American Urbex exists to do just that.
Resources:
My Flickr Set – Horace Mann High School
Amy Heiden’s Flickr Set – Horace Mann School, Gary
Nitram242’s Flickr Set – Gary School System
Gary’s West Side: The Horace Mann Neighborhood
Children of the Mill: Schooling and Society in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1960
Horace Mann High School – Official Webpage
Horace Mann High School – Alumni Social Network Site
Gary Comprehensive Plan – State of the City Report (PDF)
My Horace Mann Online – Neglected Alumni Page
A Blueprint for Change – Article contains quotes from early alumni