Watch out for old houses that still have stuff in them. It is not uncommon for the farm family to stop using the original house and move to the other end of the property. There was a case in... Kansas, I think? Called Katko v. Briney where a guy climbed in the window of an "abandoned" farmhouse to try to scrounge some gl*** jars to sell as antiques. He opened the bedroom door and got his leg blown apart by a 12ga "spring gun" that the old farmer had set up because he was sick of tresp***ers. -Dave
If I dont find a job soon, you can add a pic of my house to this thread.................................
Back in the 60s in the u.p. of mi. there was a old piece of property that we used to sled on that had a old house ,squared logs. never bothered it. there were apple trees and remains of old cars, roadster top irons,running boards and a few t fenders. in the 70s,i found the property was owned by some one in a ins***ute, with no relatives. shoulda got off my dead a and tried to find a way to own it. beautiful ,to me. would like to visit it some day.
...Zettles, that 2nd one is east of Burkhart's LP south of Polo. Mrs. Crow used to own it but now some farmer does. ...this one's rite in downtown Polo, been like this for years. ****s and birds live here now. A guy down the street says at sundown the ****s are lined up out to the street waitin to get in!
I really like this thread. I am always out scouting back roads for old tin and abandoned houses. It makes me really sad to see this places because you know that at one time they were like your house or mine, full of life. One caution though to snooping- watch out (right around the foundation or spring kitchens) for old sistern wells. They could be just covered with a thin layer of leaves or dirt and have a rotting plank underneath. Always watch your step and never go alone!
A little off topic but a buddy and I, uh, entered an old boarded up farm house that we stumbled across, and the inside was full of toys in one room, nothing but old hard cover books and Life magazines in another, and a large bedroom filled with a table, gun shell packing equipment, and thousands of empty casings and stuff. There were still dishes in the cabinets and clothes in the dressers, all from the early 70's at the latest. It was totally spooky with only a few flashlights.... don't have a clue who lived there, or where they went. Love old houses...
I just finished reading The G****s of Wrath (never had to read it in high school, and this is a very poignant thread because of that. As noted, the people sometimes had to just walk with what they could carry. You're dead-on about the cisterns; when I was about 10, we had an old abandoned house down the street in beautiful Hammond, Indiana. We were screwing around and I fell in what I thought was a cistern, but turned out to be (yuk) the septic tank!!! I had nightmares for years!! They didn't use concrete caps on them back then...
heres the veiw off my deck! the one on the left has my coupe sittin in it! and our old neighbors across the gravel! the built the lil house in the 50's.
Old abandoned buildings are one of the things I love to photograph. I've got a lot of places scouted out to take photos of when I get my new SLR camera. Most of my shots though are interior shots, because most of the time I find what is happening and what is left on the inside to be more interesting than the outside. Nebraska http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/48007787 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/48007147 North Dakota House 1 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42081554 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42082166 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42082502 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42082620 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/42082740 House 2 (behind my tahoe) http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/36366977 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/36366850 Other junk http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/40593801 http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17595010
Our place was abandoned for about five years when we bought it. All the local would be criminals broke into it for practice. The old boy who lived in it managed to die and fall into the fireplace, made a real mess. We've been here ten years, love the place, but are trying to sell to get the hell out of Florida.
Man, I have a lot of abandoned structure shots . . . at night. Bodie- the cl***ic American Ghost Town Fort Ord- abandoned housing used for tactical combat training. One of the hundreds of abandoned barracks buildings at Fort Ord. Demolition happening as I type this. Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. An entire neighborhood, several street, dozens of houses, abandoned for 20 years. Torn down in 2006. Hunters Point interior. Razed in 2006. Skaggs Island Navy Base near Sonoma, CA. Over 100 abandoned buildings. Decommissioned George AFB in SoCal. Again, an entire neighborhood used for tactical combat training. I have over 1000 abandoned location/object images online, most shot at night using gelled strobes and flashlight painting. Go to there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lostamerica/
Zettles, that house may have been used on the underground railroad, I'm not sure, but the house just north of the Energy Mart (formerly Citgo ) gas station was for sure. Lost America, I've seen your work on here before, awesome pics! Here's one kitty-corner from the one the ****s took over; someone was restoring it a few years ago, now it's fallin back apart. ...thanks for all who posted.
...here's one in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, the city wanted to restore this at one time but I think it's too far gone now. This was one of the first houses in town. Last guy to live in it was a guy named Charlie Wolfe who owned/ran an auto junkyard here until the city ran him out of town to the country where he lived in a tarpaper shack.
lost america....glad ur on here, couldnt think but how cool this post would be with your contribution, had no idea u were a member. love ur work. especially the junkyard shots (but of course)
I know, its a gas station. I was just compelled to stop an look at it. It was just outside of the salt flats in utah.. I think, long trip.
Hey Kurt you should drive down the National Hwy, there north of Victorville, you might find something you like. Chris
THere are a lot in my area. 1/2 the houses we looked at were empty and had been for a while. Once it warms up around here I will start getting pics.
Here's a before and after on my place. Wasnt completely abandoned, but was in sad shape. Two solid years of 10 -12 hr days to remodel.
There's alot of neat ole' buildings around Brownwood, Cisco, and Ranger. That's a neat part of Texas.
There are a ton of run down/abandoned houses around my area here in South Carolina. It makes ya sick to see some of em because they are big old farm houses. I was planning to go around this summer and take some pics. My kids were riding their bikes on a trail at the end of our street. they came back and told us there was an old house in the woods so I went to check it out. They were right... big 2 story house that someone apparently tried to fix up then quit. New foundation, electrical, plumbing... then gave up and now the roof is starting to come apart and leak all over the inside. Found out the guy on the corner owns it. Was his dads and his dad died while fixing it up so he just left it there. I asked if he wanted to sell the place and as expected, he didnt. I'll post some pics soon if I can
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