What's Left of Birmingham

Aftermath: Clay Tornado

2012-01-25T11:31:00.003-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

The destruction caused by a tornado which hit a large subdivision in Clay, Alabama on January 23, 2012.

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Reactor

2012-01-01T08:45:00.009-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Work halted on this reactor in the 1980's. As it sits, the site has had its buildings auctioned off to various entities and is fairly active. An abandoned railway, a couple of engines, and cars sit idle in the middle of the expanse.

Much of the site is well-manicured and patrolled. However, the reactor sits by itself in an overgrown jungle of thorns. You wouldn't know it was there unless you were looking for it. I was looking for it.

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Partlow Hospital

2011-12-21T10:50:00.007-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

A long time ago, this place was awesome. By the time I got here, the state had either leveled or cleaned out the older buildings on the property.

I can only infiltrate what they don't tear down!

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The HELMET Project

2011-12-03T20:56:00.001-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

The HELMET Project
Art Installation
Artist: Gary Chapman

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Bryce Hospital

2011-11-13T19:24:00.004-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Pristine decay.

Active. Secure.

Bryce Hospital

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The Cemetery

2011-10-30T20:31:00.000-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Because it's Halloween, The Cemetery:

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16. Coming up...

Ghost Town

2011-10-16T00:02:00.000-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Once beautiful. Now desolate. No one lives here. No one goes here.

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The Chapel

2011-10-09T11:13:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

A Vision of Holiness.

Upon entering, immediately set a goal of not falling through the floor...

Mission accomplished.

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Dog Food

2011-08-30T21:46:00.001-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

After admiring this location for years, I finally seized the opportunity to infiltrate.

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Hotel Thomas Jefferson V

2011-06-19T21:34:00.008-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Five trips and I find something new every time. Another room. Another angle. Another amazing collection of artifacts.

And in this case, a newly drained basement. Flooded for over twenty years, now available to explore freely without the use of waders and garbage bags.

Same darkness, same diseases, no brown water.

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More Tornado

2011-06-02T22:38:00.012-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

I apologize to the people whose homes and privacy I may have imposed on during this trip. I sincerely hope that my pictures might bring attention to this area. If my photography helps one person in any way then my efforts have been worthwhile. The greater good.

Words and pictures alone cannot properly convey the devastation. Complete. Total. Absolute.

For those who dig it: The storm's path in Google Earth (KMZ)

Requires version 6.0 / Imagery from April 28, 2011

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Pullman Standard

2011-05-22T09:57:00.007-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Pullman was a legendary rail car manufacturer. The Bessemer plant shut down in the mid 1990's. Various other businesses have sporadically set up shop here in the past twenty years, but it is mostly empty again. Yes, it is active. Yes, there is security. Yes, they will detain you. No, you can't go here.

Previously untouched, least explored, dominated. Pullman.

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What's Left of Tuscaloosa

2011-05-16T13:52:00.006-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

These pictures are just a small example of the devastation in and around Tuscaloosa, Alabama right now. Total destruction. Miles long. Miles wide. You see a pile and wonder if it is a house. You stare for a few minutes and still do not know.

It is most interesting to look in these piles and see people's lives, once private, now exposed in the sunshine, laying on the ground.

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Sugar Mill Ruins

2011-04-26T18:58:00.003-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

These ruins were once a highly functional sugar mill...for about five years, at which point the Seminole Indians regulated on it in the mid 1830's.

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Super Creamy Sugar Factory

2011-04-16T22:37:00.005-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

SUPER,

CREAMY,

SUGARY.

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Nuclear Sunrise

2011-02-27T10:09:00.003-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Alarmingly active for a nuclear energy facility that was abandoned in the early '80s...

Efforts to reach the reactor were thwarted by a swam of Defense contractors and a team plagued with injuries.

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Republic Steel

2010-11-21T16:26:00.005-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Annnnd we're back.

REPUBLIC STEEL. Built in 1925. The return trip.

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Cooling Towers

2010-09-09T20:43:00.001-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Be afraid.

Near North Riverfront, St Louis, Missouri

2010-08-24T07:04:00.001-05:00

Posted by: Exoth℮rmic

The Near North Riverfront neighborhood is immediately north of the central business district of Saint Louis Missouri. One of the oldest industrial areas in St. Louis, the neighborhood is sparsely populated and contains many vacant, deteriorating buildings.

3. Union Electric Light and Power Company

4. Stripe pattern painted on breaks in the floodwall for road and rail access on the riverfront.

5. Cahokia Coal Power Plant. Built: 1939's. Deactivated: 1970's

6. St Louis Southwestern Ry. Freight Depot

Country Club

2010-08-15T20:37:00.005-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

A SPIRAL STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS? NO WAY!
No bartender on duty.

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Beaunit

2010-07-19T09:52:00.004-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Abandoned Power Plant: Epic. One of the coolest locations we have ever trespassed upon. Miles of rusty piping, machinery still intact, six stories of grated metal floors and a rooftop view worth every moment.

Superfund Goodness Meter - 9/10

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TCI: Up Close and Personal

2010-07-18T17:42:00.013-05:00

Posted by: Exoth℮rmic

One can't get sick of TCI. I have been there 4 times and there is still much that I have not seen. These pictures are freshly finished, but are from our initial visit almost exactly a year ago.

Link to full gallery on Flickr (~75 photos).

1. Note that no one will ever see this and the next particular scenes again. Sometime around the winter of 2009/10 all of the stacks in this image were inexplicably demolished by some nefarious entity.

2. The fact that the historic stacks were knocked over without any public notification or even any media coverage thereafter is a travesty in itself.

3. The otherwordly hot metal mixer.

4. Rust

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18. It was a great day at TCI.

The Vocational Experience

2010-07-16T12:09:00.003-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

I don't always go to Hueytown, but when I do, I take pictures of giant tigers.

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17. Bored to Death

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Bridge to Nowhere

2010-07-12T10:08:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Run-down bridge I found near Bessemer that covers a stream from a runoff that flows under the interstate.

Coming soon, updates from a long-abandoned high school, a power plant and possibly a nuclear power facility. Stay tuned...

Boshell Grist Mill

2010-06-20T16:21:00.003-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

In 1901 W. R Boshell began work on this stone mill dam, designed to power his mill operations through the use of water turbines. The new sawmill began production in October of 1902, followed by the addition of a gristmill in 1903. Production continued until 1963. The gristmill was destroyed by fire in 1976, and the sawmill fell to the same fate in 1986. Both buildings were constructed with large cylindrical beams, board and batten siding and sheet metal roofing. The supporting piers, made of sandstone quarried on the site, still sand.

Very little remains of this structure...

1. Before

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Sloss Furnace

2010-06-08T09:54:00.010-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Conveniently located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, Sloss Furnaces operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. It is now protected by the Department of the Interior.

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Center for Health Professionals

2010-05-20T16:31:00.001-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Possibly the only thing worth seeing in Chelsea, AL.

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Leer Tower IV

2010-05-12T20:24:00.005-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Because it never gets old:

The Leer Tower

3.Man of the Year

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Phosphates

2010-05-06T09:27:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

In a world record for the shortest time spent in an abandonment, I give to you the Mulberry Phosphate Plant in 25 minutes:

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Big Metal Building

2010-04-26T15:33:00.002-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

A post about a fifty-year-old abandoned underground rocket and rocket manufacturing facility is a tough act to follow, so I'm not even going to try.

This building is big, empty and made of metal. Captivated so far? I didn't think so.

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AeroJet Everglades Facility

2010-04-12T17:28:00.020-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

In the 1960's the AeroJet company was considered as the possible supplier of solid-fuel rocket motors to be used as primary power plants for the Saturn I space booster. The idea, in simple terms, was to use a single, very large rocket motor in place of a number of smaller rocket motors. A complex was constructed in the everglades to manufacture and test the rockets.

The AJ260 was the largest rocket motor ever produced and during it’s testing, created the highest decibel noise level ever created by man. Its blast could be seen easily, 50 miles away in Miami. Despite it’s great power and sprawling manufacturing complex, the project was dropped by NASA.

Nighttime Test Fire

All that remains are the ruins of the manufacturing facility, and of course, the rocket, which still sits in its firing tube in the middle of a swamp where it has been waiting for 50 years. The swamp has begun to reclaim this giant complex which stretches across five miles of desolate swamp.

The main complex of huge buildings, a great find itself, is not the highlight of this location. No, the highlight is a smaller metal shack about four miles further into the swamp. Half the roof is missing and a small group of turkey vultures have made the place their home. If you walked through the building you may not even notice it was there, but underneath your feet, below a rusted metal floor is a rocket.

Placing the rocket in the tube.

A trip deep into the Everglades and eleven miles on a girls bicycle will prove rewarding...if you're into this sort of stuff:

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It's a long way down (YouTube)

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The Shack, which can be seen in the Nighttime Test Fire picture posted above.

Arlington School

2010-04-07T08:33:00.004-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Arlington school was built in 1908 and was Bessemer's first high school.

The school was abandoned in the early 1980's and its current state is indicative of the neighborhood that surrounds it.

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Ishkooda No. 14 and Redding Hoist House

2010-03-30T20:38:00.007-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Ishkooda 14 (Formerly Eureka 2) was a Tennessee Coal and Iron ore mine on Birmingham's Red Mountain. There are several feet of dirt/debris in front of the portal. TCI sealed the slope with a concrete plug when the mine was abandoned. 1895 denotes when mining began on the site and the 1941 date denotes upgrades or reopening after the Great Depression.

Redding was a 400-feet deep shaft mine that connected to the Songo slope mine. It was operational from 1917 - 1927 and is the only vent shaft iron ore mine on Red Mountain.

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The Pumpkin

2010-03-23T20:32:00.007-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Abandoned granary accessible through 100 yards of underground tunnel.

The ECHO that this place produces is as impressive as its appearance. YouTube

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Katana Shores

2010-03-17T18:17:00.007-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Out in the woods is a thing. A couple of things.
I don't know what they are. I am not sure I care.

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Clay and Mineral Mine

2010-03-06T21:49:00.004-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

This area surrounding this site is still somewhat active, although the mine and brick factory and all associated buildings haven't been touched in many years.

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Veterans Steel

2010-03-02T16:41:00.007-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Marc Steel was originally built in the late 1800's, with additions to the structure having been made in 1950.

I passed by this place a million times and after getting my fill of seeing it from the interstate, I ventured in.

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Pizitz Department Store: Locked up Tight

2010-03-01T09:29:00.009-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

The Pizitz downtown flagship department store was built in 1925. The building was completely shut down in 1988. The parking deck was added next to the store in 1965, with a skywalk that took shoppers into the store. Today, entry requires ninja skills of over 9,000, a grappling hook and a friend. The site offers rooftop adventures thus far unparalleled in Birmingham.

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Lyric

2010-02-26T21:00:00.008-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

The Lyric Theatre is a 1914 Vaudeville Theatre.

It opened as the premier entertainment venue in Birmingham during the years 1914-1926. It featured famous acts such as the Marx Brothers, Will Rodgers and Mae West. Once named the "King of Vaudeville" in Birmingham, the Lyric is today the oldest surviving theater in a city that at one time had over sixty theatres, opera houses, nickelodeons and silent movie houses.

Currently, the Lyric has been vacant for over 50 years and as a result has suffered water damage from a leaking roof. Although the building is structurally sound, the missing cornice and building cap as well as the discolored brick reveal years of neglect.

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The giant stage curtain, which features a picture of a giant stage curtain on it,
is made of asbestos and is quite proud.

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Dragline

2010-02-26T00:16:00.006-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

There is something to be said for being considerate. When people are napping, you should respect it. Sleep is sacred and Ford Expeditions are sanctuaries of rest for tuckered out security guards. Bless their hearts.

This dragline is honestly the biggest thing I have ever seen in my life that wasn't a skyscraper. The original plan was to go to the top. However, jagged razor wire and a possible light sleeper thwarted the ascent.

I probably would have died anyway.

Before:

After:
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11. "Shhh..."

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Return to Ruins: TCI Ensley

2010-02-25T23:21:00.006-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Seven months makes a big difference.

In the heat of the summer, at the pinnacle of underbrush and Alabama humidity, TCI looks like a different place than in the dead of Winter. I saw an entire building and a third train engine that I had not seen before. Not to mention numerous smaller structures and holes in the Earth big enough to swallow cars.

Hot Metal
Check it and see

1. I used to live inside

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Dirty Frank

2010-02-19T21:33:00.004-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Over 100 Years of Scraping

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Sloss No. 2

2010-02-01T07:13:00.005-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Sloss No. 2 was the site of one of the mines that supplied raw materials to Birmingham's Sloss Furnace. Today, only parts remain. The actual mine portal dates 1890, but unfortunately, the entrance has been effectively sealed and filled with stone. However, the structure of the entrance and the hoist house remain. Sloss No. 2 shut down in 1959.

Then:

Now:

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6. The Hoist House, Built in the 1830's

7. Entrance

8. Giant Cable System

9. 1500 H.P. 2200V General Electric Motor added in the 1920's

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16. One of the only remnants of TCI's "High Line"

17. Panorama

Thanks to DeBandi for the tips and historical.

I'll be the Roundabout

2010-01-24T16:21:00.007-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

This abandoned roundhouse was built in 1915. Located near what used to be major railroad hub, the roundhouse was used by railroads for servicing up to 25 locomotives and steam engines. This large semicircular structure used to have a turntable in the middle of it which facilitated access to the engines.

Since it was used as a roundhouse, it was converted into a warehouse and expanded inward for semi truck access, making it much more shallow. A large percentage of the original structure was made of glass, but most of the windows were covered at the time of the conversion. The renovation also brought with it the addition of the huge warehouse to the south.

1. As it looked years ago

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3. Today, as demolition looms

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17. Panorama

Thanks to DeBandi for the tips and historical.

Red Iron Ore Mine

2010-01-16T19:39:00.004-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

The old foundations on the hill are the remains of the Spaulding Red Iron Ore Mine. Is was in this gap in Red Mountain, on Bayliss Grace's farm, that the first Red Ore was mined in the Birmingham District in 1848 and hauled by wagon to a Bibb county Furnace to become iron.

1. Aerial

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13. Power House

14. Ore

15. On the way home

16. Panorama of one of the filtration pools

Machine Works

2009-12-28T18:43:00.005-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

This is a giant complex which used to be a respectable machine plant, but has apparently lost its usefulness. It is currently half abandoned and half active and it is actually big enough not to matter. You could have a rave in the north end on a Monday morning and not one of the 100 people that work on the South end would ever know. In total, there is about two miles of structure to enjoy.

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Coke Plant

2009-12-20T17:26:00.005-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Birmingham's finest urban relic: The old coke plant

Climbing up the see-through stairs on the way up the side of the coke oven was a rush that was equaled minutes later as we descended the conveyor shafts down over 100 feet to the ground below. Watching pieces of our stairs make the long fall was sobering.

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Thermafux

2009-11-22T22:05:00.005-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

Rockwool, Insulation, Asbestos, oh my!

Once a great mecca of abandonment, Thermafiber is slowly fading into memory. The cancer that is a giant evil bulldozer is eating away at it from all sides, slowly, surely, inevitably.

Stay tuned.... More adverbs to come.

1. Grey

2. Docx

3. Hope

4. Winslow

5. Peel

6. Dumper

7. Thermafiber

8. Hyd

9. The Wall

10. The Machine

11. The John

12. Expose

13.Rocks from beyond

14. Loom

15. From above

16. Hall of Tile

17. Self

18. Moss

19. Link

20. Extinguish

21. Panorama

Water Treatment

2009-11-01T16:58:00.004-06:00

Posted by: Naaman

They used to treat water here. Amazing, I know. This place used to be a bit more compelling, but there has since been a fire, removal of most of the heavy equipment, piping and a general boarding up of the place.

The rot is chlorinated.

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Cabana Redux (Leer Tower)

2009-10-26T09:14:00.011-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

We returned to the Cabana to explore the basement, warehouse and some of the finer points of the rooms and roof. The Basement was pitch black, wet and breezy. The Warehouse was less breezy and wet, but about as dark. All things considered, it was a good mix of moisture, light and breeze...

1. Yes, those are floating toilet seats.

2. There's two feet of water in the entire basement.

3. Laundry Room: Discovered

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5. Warehouse

6. Dolls

7. 55 Gallons of Cleaner: Win

8. Ballroom

9. Grand Staircase

10. 2nd Floor Terrace

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16. Bingo was played so hard in the warehouse

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27. Kitchen

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30. Panorama

The Yellow School

2009-10-22T19:57:00.006-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

This old abandoned school is in North Birmingham. Expect some more shots from this location in the very near future. It was pretty crowded around the school and I didn't want to push my luck today. I have no idea what the name of the school is. I do know that it is yellow.

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Cabana Living

2009-10-06T10:31:00.005-05:00

Cabana Living, originally uploaded by Naaman Fletcher.

Inaugural Issue

Garage

2009-09-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

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More Jemison

2009-08-09T20:37:00.006-05:00

Posted by: Naaman

Besides the Care Facility and the old Jemison Aslyum, there are a handful of other structures on the property:

1. The Golf Course
Yes. There is a building with a mini golf course in it.

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4. Suspended Shed Snake Skin
Original Size

5. Shed connected to the golf course building.

6. One shot of the boring little house, possibly the caretaker's quarters.

7. Power Building

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14. The Furniture Shack

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16. charred and wet

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