I’m sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, but I've had a question buzzing around in my head since I first started exploring.

How many of y’all have been in places you have family connections to?

I never really considered my family having connections to these places until I thought to ask my grandparents if they knew about any old buildings in the area.
My great-grandfather lived in the Iola TB Sanitarium for several months of his life, and was unfortunate enough to lose one of his lungs there. (For the rest of his life he lived with only one, and lived to be reasonably old despite that. It was quite disheartening to learn that was the reason he only had one lung, and that the buildings were gone.

Besides that, I was visiting my grandfather and asked him if I could show him my photos from the subway. Much to my surprise, he told me that his mother actually worked in the subway, and that he had spent his childhood summers in the subway itself, to a point where he was friends with all the conductors and could ride for free.

Anyone else got stuff like this to share?

Visited an old farmhouse that later on I found out my great-aunt rented in the 60s.
Visited a TB Sanitorium that my aunts mother stayed at for a few years.
Visited the hospital all my step-grandfathers kids were born at (It wasn't "abandoned" per say but empty, and was demolished a few months later).


It's always cool when you find stuff like that. Although sad. It's cool to catch the memories of the place while you can, and I've found that sometimes the family is interested in seeing the photos, as theyd never go themselves.

Posted by Skye_Ann Visited an old farmhouse that later on I found out my great-aunt rented in the 60s. Visited a TB Sanitorium that my aunts mother stayed at for a few years. Visited the hospital all my step-grandfathers kids were born at (It wasn't "abandoned" per say but empty, and was demolished a few months later). It's always cool when you find stuff like that. Although sad. It's cool to catch the memories of the place while you can, and I've found that sometimes the family is interested in seeing the photos, as theyd never go themselves.

See the perks of google earth? You can explore without even leaving your home.

Had an aunt committed to the Essex County Overbrook Hospital. Though I have spent more time there than she did.

My father also used to hang out in the Essex Mountain Sanatorium, so I have been in a tunnel that he potentially walked through 35 years ago.

I actually got to explore the old Consumer's Glass plant in Hamilton, which was a huge part of my dad's life. My grandfather worked there after emigrating from Ukraine up until retirement, and my dad and all of his friends also worked there part-time or during their summer vacations. We still have the set of embossed tumblers that the factory made for my grandfather when he retired.

My dad used to tell me stories about how they'd bring in massive fans to cool down the workers during the summer, and it was pretty nifty seeing them out on the floor. He also told me a story about a man who got caught between the two halves of a bottle mold (they clamp together like a vice before they're filled with molten glass), and I got to see those as well. Nearly everyone on my dad's side of the family wound up at that factory for some part of their life, so it was a very bittersweet exploration trip for me.

I'm paving the way for my unborn grandchildren to explore in.

Posted by EsseXploreR Had an aunt committed to the Essex County Overbrook Hospital. Though I have spent more time there than she did. My father also used to hang out in the Essex Mountain Sanatorium, so I have been in a tunnel that he potentially walked through 35 years ago.

Wish ems was still there.

Posted by A Through Z Explorations I'm paving the way for my unborn grandchildren to explore in.

I agree with this 100%

Great topic guys.

My family thinks Im strange for walking into abandoned places lol but they only brush it off as me being bored with nothing to do. My wife on the other hand has an equal nature of curiosity for old architecture and forgotten places, so she joins me when she can if Im not too concerned about the condition of the old building.