2016 was a good year for me, both personally and exploring-wise. I didn't have the time to hit as many spots as some of you but some of the ones I did visit are among my all-time favorites. As usual, most of the locations are from Ohio but I was also able to do some exploring in Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virgina. Included were a fifth trip to Detroit and my first visit to Gary. Before this year, I'd never explored an abandoned hospital, but in 2016, I was able to hit two of them. I was also able to introduce a couple of new friends to the hobby this year. Each location is pictured at least once, some a couple of times because I couldn't just pick one. Enjoy my 2016...
1. The first trip of the year was only about fifteen minutes from my house. This was a small, concrete-block church built in the 1960s and closed in 2006.
DSC08777 by
KMD1720, on Flickr
2. My next trip was another close one. This was a former hotel-type building where railway workers could stay while stopped there. It was built in 1920 and scheduled for demolition soon.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
4. February brought a trip to sprawling manufacturing plant built in 1896. The city wants to demolish it for a new industrial complex. A bunch of cats currently live there.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
6. This house was built in 1895 and burned in 2014 after it was already abandoned.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
8. March: We attempted this rural house back in summer 2015 but the vegetation was too thick to get to it so we came back in late winter to properly explore it.
DSC09054 by
KMD1720, on Flickr
9. One of the year's highlights was this Italianate mansion, built in 1856 and once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It was built by a wealthy abolitionist from Virginia and is currently being restored after a couple decades of abandonment. Included in the house are five bedrooms, three parlors, ornate dining room, library, servants' quarters, ballroom and cupola on the roof.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
13. This old wood frame house may have been built around 1840 if my information is correct.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
14. Another house a bit north of the previous one was built in 1910 and is leaning visibly toward the rear. There are six rooms and when you're in the rear staircase, you can really feel the house leaning.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
15. On the same day as the previous two, we also visited a former golf lessons/hobby place built in 1995. This is youngest abandoned building I've ever explored.
DSC09277 by
KMD1720, on Flickr
16. This is among one of my favorite schools I've explored. It was built in 1903 and closed in 2005. Unfortunately, demolition is pending.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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20. April: I found this rural abandoned house in Virginia while visiting relatives.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
21. This former motor plant in Detroit was built in 1912.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
22. An abandoned Detroit church built in 1917 and closed in 1999. This became the education/recreation building after a new sanctuary was built across the street in 1937.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
25. This former Detroit Catholic school was built in 1917 and used by the church next door until 1967 and later for other programs. After that it was used for storage.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
26. Next door to the school was this church completed in 1921. It lasted until merging with another congregation before closing in 2006.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
27. Our final stop in Detroit was this enormous auto body plant built in 1919 and closed in 1983. It's six stories tall and takes up most of a city block.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
29. May: This house we found was built in the late 1700s according to neighbors. If true, it's the oldest abandoned building I've explored.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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32. Next door was another overgrown house built in 1884. It was still full of furniture and belongings and had some nice bay windows on each of the front rooms.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
34. This house is locally known as the Witch's House due to the architecture.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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37. Next was a re-visit to the ruins of this 1880s school because my friend had never been there. It has been abandoned about 90 years and sits hidden in the woods outside the smallest incorporated community in Ohio, population 36.
DSC03827 by
KMD1720, on Flickr
38. Our final stop on that day was Shawnee, Ohio, a former coal mining town that has fallen on hard times. It has a lot of unique architecture and many buildings are abandoned. We were able to talk to several residents and learned some of its history. We also got a tour of the old theater that hasn't been used since the 1960s.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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41. Many belongings were left in this abandoned house that was hidden in some trees behind a row of occupied houses.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
42. This overgrown house had lots of dog-related items in the basement that made us think it was some kind of puppy mill or something.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
43. June: When Columbus's former insane asylum was demolished, it left four disused cemeteries in the surrounding area. This one is rather hard to find. Some of the graves are labeled "unknown" and are probably victims of a fire at the Columbus Penitentiary in the 1930s.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
45. My first hospital exploration was a former tuberculosis hospital-turned-rehab center. It was built in 1915 and closed in 2010. The county plans to demolish it in order to make the property more attractive to buyers.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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49. Built in 1913, this abandoned school is crumbling in a field in Indiana.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
50. July: This apartment building was constructed in 1902 and had seven sections with eight rooms apiece.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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KMD1720, on Flickr
52. In August, I made my first trip to Gary. This is the lobby of the former public schools auditorium. Most of the building was demolished after it burned in the 1997 Gary arsons.
DSC04426 by
KMD1720, on Flickr
53. Architecturally, this is another of my favorites. A former train station built in 1910 that has been abandoned for around sixty years.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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55. Next up was that church everyone's been to.
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58. The final stop in Gary was a high school abandoned in 2008 due to a black mold problem.
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61. October: This Pennsylvania hospital operated from 1915 to 1965 before it became a nursing home for twenty years. It was shut down in 1985 due to various code violations and is now a wreck.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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64. November: I found this former industrial complex about a block away from my new job. It was absolutely full of all kinds of stuff including vehicles, boats, tires, toys, books, furniture, and just about everything else.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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66. December: This abandoned house on a deserted road has been left alone since the 1960s and is rapidly deteriorating.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
67. This one-room church hidden down a gravel road in the woods was built in 1887 although the congregation started earlier than that. It also has a cemetery next door.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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71. This house is supposedly haunted according to locals but nothing weird happened while we were there.
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KMD1720, on Flickr
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73. 2016's final exploration was the ruins of a school built in 1913 and burned down in 1960. Nothing was ever done with the site.
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