it was 10pm, my group previously came here only hours before only to realize the area was way too active for an attempt. Here we were laying low in a field behind a tall razorwire fence waiting for what we assumed was the neighboring golf clubs night watchman to get out of his truck. after about 30 minutes, and no further activity we made the mad dash through the hole in the fence to get to the mansion-esque structure in front of us. Our hearts sunk while checking off every obvious P.O.E until we finally saw the busted window about 10 feet off the ground, and after a prayer and a leap in we made it.
we quickly noticed as we skulked around the hallways of this stone maze that for whatever reason it was warm compared to the freezing temperatures outside, our bulky winter coats were a bit much so we found a dry safe place for them, and continued on.
we stumbled upon a massive metal door, and with some old fashioned elbow grease managed to get it unstuck revealing an area we dubbed "the brig"
after some dumb photos, and nearly falling through some stairs leading up to a storage area we doubled back in an attempt to be thorough. We came across a firing range, some classrooms with a chalkboard that through some miracle still has writing on it after all these years.
one of the classrooms had a tiny dining area with a ceiling so low I nearly split my head standing up
after finishing most of the first floor, and seeing a curious coast guard across the way looking at the building we decided to head towards the main entrance where we found out from a beautiful stonework plaque what this place really was
"the naval reserve of Ohio, essential to the nations war strength is a well trained and efficient reserve"
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, Erected by Civil Works Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Works Progress Administration, 1934 - 1936"
(more reading here:
https://en.wikiped...Ohio_Naval_Militia)
We were stunned that this 83 year old pre WWII building has just been sitting here lost to time for so long. We found some dated tags from 1997 and 2012 but other than those tags and a hallway covered in graffiti this place was surprisingly undisturbed, and very sturdy
After taking a bit of a break and talking over just how well built this place was for being so old we went up the stairs, finding something arguably more stunning that the plaque
This auditorium was massive, and felt almost as big as a baseball stadium but that's probably just delirium from lack of sleep playing tricks on me. We made it up to the rafters and spotted the poor bird who thought it would be a good idea to make their home in one of the lights :'(
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It was getting late so we decided that it would be best to get to the roof as soon as possible. My friends went ahead as I was fixing my cheapo tripod, and when I came up the stairs they shouted at me to turn my lamp off, and before I could even react my buddy ran over to me and took it off my head for me. I was stunned to say the least but he put his fingers over his lips and signaled at me to follow him. When we came to the door to the roof where our other buddy was we saw the curious coast guard from earlier talking to what we thought were two officers. After about 15 minutes of laying low in the dark we saw them all go inside, so we guessed that they were all part of the coast guard just having a (very) late night cigarette break. We went out to the balcony, and climbed a few very steep stairs and finally we made it to the very top.
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after appropriating some slavic culture my buddy pointed out the absolute gorgeous view of the industrial area across the river, which was too bad since I couldn't get a single decent shot of it with my cheapo point and shoot
It was about 2 in the morning at this point so we retraced our steps to the only P.O.E we found and did the leap o' faith in which my knee almost sucker punched my chin. Our favorite and most difficult location by far
note: this is my first post, and I really do hope I haven't unintentionally broke any rules! if I have please let me know and Ill be sure to rectify my mistake ASAP
have a good day!
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