In this thread I will post updates on the life of Fred Salomon. I was able to obtain a copy of his obituary, which I will scan and post possibly later tonight. Ally's grandmother, who lives next door as you will recall, was in daily contact with Fred up until his final weeks. She vividly remembers quite a bit about her neighbor, and so I will gladly post more information as it becomes available to me. In addition, I will be visiting again in the near future to perhaps better document some of the contents of the house.

I've got to tell you I've always been interested in "abandonded "houses but never bothered with them because they are usually occupied.
I'm touched by this. As I figured I would want to understand why the house (usually perfectly good) was left abandoned.
INA you really did this man a great service ; although we see the guy as someone who descended into a hell of his own making, at least people here can now understand what he went through, and appreciate him for what he was. Thanks. And I'm sure Frank thanks you as well.
Wow, going to drink an adult beverage now.

I have to say this is the most interesting site I've seen on the database so far. Great job.

I agree with Lisa,

This is indeed a very interesting location - made better by the fact that you know and have related the history of this site. Without that it would just be another random house!

It's fairly interesting to me especially as the one thing we do NOT get to explore often here in Scotland and the UK in general is abandoned houses. They just don't happen given the price of real estate. Here if a house is abandoned the Council will slap a 'compulsory purchase order' on it and have it for thier own - either knocking it down or auctioning it off.

Also, I think this location is further proof that more pictures of good quality = better. How could you do this location justice with 30 pics or less ??

So I find this location pretty fascinating!

Keep up the good work !

Chris...

Posted by 'Dukes I've got to tell you I've always been interested in "abandonded "houses but never bothered with them because they are usually occupied. I'm touched by this. As I figured I would want to understand why the house (usually perfectly good) was left abandoned. INA you really did this man a great service ; although we see the guy as someone who descended into a hell of his own making, at least people here can now understand what he went through, and appreciate him for what he was. Thanks. And I'm sure Frank thanks you as well. Wow, going to drink an adult beverage now.

Sounds like he started shutting down the day his wife died. It truely a sad thing to see a man that had the whole world in his grasp, slip into his own private hell. It's worse than death in a way.

Posted by greywolf45 Sounds like he started shutting down the day his wife died. It truely a sad thing to see a man that had the whole world in his grasp, slip into his own private hell. It's worse than death in a way.

Very true; I don't know why, but the first time I read this post, I said " I can't let this happen to me!" I now treasure my family more than ever. I'm constantly trying to make my life more "meaningful".
Fred's experience has scared me half to death. I'ts also turned me off to exploring somewhat, because most places have traces of people. I don't want to gain enjoyment from the misery of others and,lets face it, many locations are psychs, asylums, closed mines where a whole community lost employment; it disturbs me.
When we got ejected from Hudson Psych, I was almost glad I didn't have to go in there. My enthusiasm turned to depression. The openings we found in the building had this wind coming out from the temperature differential. It stank. It was like the building was alive. It reminded me of the folks that were here, and I was almost glad to go home.
Up here at least I can tie things to history and see it. Large psychs don't scare me , they just depress me, they smell like death.
Abandonded houses? At first I was really interested, but now I'm thinking that I don't want to see what old age/ neglect/ e.t.c. did to an otherwise fine individual that died in their house after being forgotten by their children. Not me; never do I want to die like that.

Wow....Fuked up.

There is a diffrence, you can explore something just to explore it. You can also explore something for the feel, you can go into a asylum and be there. Use the imagination and try to imagine how it was. It makes you appricate your own gifts in life and how much better thing have become for everyone. Thats partly why I love/hate sanitoriums and asylums, when a building is breathing sadness into you by the moment you.. in a way experiance that feeling of what these people went threw. Older homes are the same, in a way you now remember a person you never met. They say items of a person can speak volumes, this is no exception and I think it's touched a lot of people around here.

Talk about a healthy apprication for live.

The grand irony is, of course, that Fred was an avid electronics hobbyist. He seemed to dabble in anything that powered on, and even had a video intended to explain the basics of AOL (although he lacked a real computer). Without real survivorship, his memory has since survived on the Internet. Just to look at the list of names that have seen all the photos at this location is a testament to the impact that his story has had on us. I knew, from the moment I set foot inside his house, that it would not be the average UE task. Fred's memory and story are now immortalized digitally -- and I think he would have gotten a real kick out of that.

Just noticed that this is the most voted on location in the US LDB that I saw (there could be another location with more votes, I just didn't see it). Thank you voters! If 50 people were motivatd enough to vote, 50 people learned a truly heartbreaking story of a man's life torn to pieces. I hope that everyone that was motivated enough to vote walked away from their computer with a renewed respect for the fragility of life, the human spirit, and other people around us who we tend to know little about.

Sometimes, I suppose, the little people with the little social circles can leave big impressions.

Posted by INeedAttention.com Just noticed that this is the most voted on location in the US LDB that I saw (there could be another location with more votes, I just didn't see it). Thank you voters! If 50 people were motivatd enough to vote, 50 people learned a truly heartbreaking story of a man's life torn to pieces. I hope that everyone that was motivated enough to vote walked away from their computer with a renewed respect for the fragility of life, the human spirit, and other people around us who we tend to know little about. Sometimes, I suppose, the little people with the little social circles can leave big impressions.

I don't doubt it; just wondering if there is an easy way to check this. Obviously 50 is huge; most sites get up to about 10, 20 if it's widely known and really cool.
I wanted to publicize the location; it was exploring , but very moving at the same time. Thanks INA!

Posted by INeedAttention.com people learned a truly heartbreaking story of a man's life torn to pieces. I hope that everyone that was motivated enough to vote walked away from their computer with a renewed respect for the fragility of life, the human spirit, and other people around us who we tend to know little about. Sometimes, I suppose, the little people with the little social circles can leave big impressions.

Very well put!!
Truly moving photo and essay account of a lonely- heartbroken man.

MW

In comparison to the few abandoned sites that I've been to where I live, this place is really the most interesting out of everything I've ever seen.

We had an old farm up the road from me that was used for a chop shop most likely at one time (out back in the barn). I was a young kid and didn't think much of my safety but I really shouldn't have gone in the house. With the exception of the house I was in caving in all around me, it looked very similar to what you've shown here. Garbage and all manner of stuff lying around, personal items, unreturned Erols video tapes (in their red rental boxes), and all sorts of weird crap plus a room of kids toys. If we wanted to explore any of the upstairs part of the house, you had to shove the door hard enough to move all the crap behind it back, squeeze in, and then hope the garbage didn't put up enough resistance to squish you between the door and the frame. The thing is, this place most likely ended up this way due to people going in and out of it and looking for stuff since we had a lot of punkass kids roaming around that liked to break stuff. There was also evidence of someone living in the basement area of the house and in one of the rooms upstairs. There was once a homeless guy in the tiny little town that I lived in, so it was most likely "his" place.

But these pictures are of something different, of someone actually living in that situation.

The similarities between the site I used to explore and this one is that whoever lived in the house I visited was also an electronics/radio enthusiast. On the front porch, right up the center, was a CB antenna mounted to a piece of mast along with one antenna for a scanner. Electronics guys can be a little weird sometimes, those that work with radio stuff can be even weirder (as anyone that's ever been to a hamfest will tell you). I had to clean out my parent's house of a lot of my electronics gear over the summer. It's amazing what people like that do collect, I'm one of them. I have magazines all over the place and a whole rack of parts and spare crap that I've collected. I guess what really gets me about this place is that it makes me feel like I'll end up that way one day.


Sad, but fascinating.

These pictures have really haunted me since I first saw them. Not just the state in which he lived, but when he died.

I did a bit of searching and according to the social security death database, his son died 29 Dec 2002 at only 53 years old. His wife died 10 years before that (at age 76 - she was older than he was) and he died 2 days before his own 80th birthday, 24 January. I can unfortunately see all too well how he'd kept on (even if getting somewhat senile) after his wife died, but then his son died. And after the year anniversary of his death, he probably just decided to give up instead of facing another year of his own life without anyone he loved.

I can see how it would happen. Although I wish that no one had to feel as alone as he must have felt.

For those who *were* touched by these pictures, especially with the upcoming holiday season, get out and even if there are no single elderly people near you, call around to a nursing home and see if there is even one resident who has no family who may enjoy just a short visit or a small (inexpensive) gift.

Right on Courtney.

I'm not so sure this location belongs in the DB. After looking at these pictures I feel like I've invaded the man's privacy, and disrespected his memory. Imagine is this were your house? Or your dad's house? How would you like a bunch of internet strangers rooting through your personal stuff?

Posted by NirvyGuy I'm not so sure this location belongs in the DB. After looking at these pictures I feel like I've invaded the man's privacy, and disrespected his memory. Imagine is this were your house? Or your dad's house? How would you like a bunch of internet strangers rooting through your personal stuff?

If I was clinically dead ? It wouldn't worry me too much.

If this is a problem, we will have to remove EVERY abandoned house, hospital, care home, health centre etc etc from the DB... BY wednesday!

Chris...

Posted by NirvyGuy I'm not so sure this location belongs in the DB. After looking at these pictures I feel like I've invaded the man's privacy, and disrespected his memory. Imagine is this were your house? Or your dad's house? How would you like a bunch of internet strangers rooting through your personal stuff?

Here's the problem: He doesn't have a family that cares to take offense to this. He didn't even want to leave his property to his daughter-in-law, who was the closest relative that he had. This is a human tragedy, in the most real and undeniable way. This man lived like this in a very affluent community, and he just existed out of sight, and out of mind. Instead of helping him, the community turned his back on him. For shame!

Or, if you care to be cold and suggest that this is some kind of privacy violation, to that I say: if I were involved in the development of this property in the future (which I loosely am), then I am just documenting the site. If this isn't a snapshot of a man's shattered life, then it's a junk pile that someone has to clean up. Which perspective are you taking? I'm not even quite sure.

I didn't express myself very well in that previous post. My father hasn't been "all there" for a number of years now. The "freshness" of your exploration combined with my personal situation set me off. To the point that I asked Av to consider deleting this location last night.

I've had a change of heart since then. This is actually a great location, INA. Your original writeup and your subsequent comments are both tasteful and considerate. The photos aren't half bad either. Given the opportunity to explore such a location, I would go for it in a second.

What bothers me is your decision to divulge the occupant's name, and details of his personal history. Sure, they add to the poignancy of it all, but I don't think the location would have suffered any had you left them out. Consider letting him drift into obscurity by removing some of the more personal details.

FWIW, I don't believe in any afterlife. But it costs nothing to err on the side of caution and have some respect for a disturbed individual's right to privacy, whether dead or alive.

Nirvy; at first I was tempted to say "you've got a point".
But the thing is like INA said, there are no relatives left that give a rat's ass.
INA is preserving the memory of Mr. Solomon by the act of mentioning his name.
I was very touched. And I'm almost devoid of any emotion except humor.

If this was the typical "old house" post, I wouldn't have looked twice and Mr. Solomon would have passed into oblivion with noone remembering him.

In addition, the post has made me rethink my life. That's one of the first times an LDB post has done that. It appears it has affected alot of people.

Sorry for the goofy responses to the pictures, but you can't be serious all of the time.

I hope I too can someday post a location that evokes such an emotional response.

If you want a fitting tribute; I will remember that man's picture 40 years from now; I don't want to end up like that.

This man's disfunctional life made an impact on people after all.