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A long, long time ago, when you could actually explore in Austin, I heard rumors of an abandoned zoo in a major park.
So I went out there with a friend. You know, someone potentially slower than me if we ran into hostile natives. And we found it: several abandoned cages, and a barn that was caving in on itself.
It wasn't much. It had obviously been used as a party spot by other bored youths, but there was some interesting graffiti, some great thing to get tetanus from, and best of all: a hayloft full of bees.
Sometimes I think about going back there, but there's probably not a whole lot left, and I definitely don't want to go alone.
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I’m pretty overweight, so I used to take walks in the corn field next to our home to help lose weight. One day, I walked all the way across it to the small forest that wrapped around that side. I saw a small water gate where the irrigation drained and decided to check it out. But when I got to it I saw something even more interesting. Covered in vines and hidden by a layer of branches, was a hollowed our farmhouse. The roof had long since caved in and rotted away, and the only evidence that it had ever had a roof was the thick wooden beams laying against the walls and ground. The walls were made of concrete, but in other areas it was brick. My theory is that the owner added onto an older part of it but that’s just a theory, A GAME THEORY. Nah just kidding. I found a room absolutely full, top to bottom, with plastic drainage pipes. As well as a few rooms that looked like stables. The mystery of the house, the feeling that none had been there except me in years, was incredible. It’s what cemented this hobby into my lifestyle.
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I had always been interested in older houses, as my dad used to put me through windows of abandoned houses so I could unlock the door for him (didn't realize this was illegal until much later). When I realized there was a community that actually made this a hobby I was fascinated. I tried reaching out to the more experienced explorers of the time and was constantly sent the coordinates to this one fairly crappy hospital called Henryton so I started doing my own research (which I should have done from the beginning) and saw pictures of the St. Nicolas Coal Breaker. I was so mesmerized by the structure and history of it, I drove four hours the next weekend to see it. I remember being worried about locals, police, etc as this was all new to me. I took a long way as to not be noticed (although I could have just walked up to it at that time) and made my way in with my crappy point and shoot camera. It was like being a kid in a candy shop. I still remember the smell and feel of the place. Finding the chalk board where all the explorers would sign their names made me feel a part of something (although I think that's corny now). The room where the boots of the workers were neatly stacked and the log books was amazing. I felt a peace inside that was usually reserved for church or traveling. I traveled 8 hours for a decent spot but to me, at the time, it would have been worth going twice as long.
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I had always been interested in older houses, as my dad used to put me through windows of abandoned houses so I could unlock the door for him (didn't realize this was illegal until much later). When I realized there was a community that actually made this a hobby I was fascinated. I tried reaching out to the more experienced explorers of the time and was constantly sent the coordinates to this one fairly crappy hospital called Henryton so I started doing my own research (which I should have done from the beginning) and saw pictures of the St. Nicolas Coal Breaker. I was so mesmerized by the structure and history of it, I drove four hours the next weekend to see it. I remember being worried about locals, police, etc as this was all new to me. I took a long way as to not be noticed (although I could have just walked up to it at that time) and made my way in with my crappy point and shoot camera. It was like being a kid in a candy shop. I still remember the smell and feel of the place. Finding the chalk board where all the explorers would sign their names made me feel a part of something (although I think that's corny now). The room where the boots of the workers were neatly stacked and the log books was amazing. I felt a peace inside that was usually reserved for church or traveling. I traveled 8 hours for a decent spot but to me, at the time, it would have been worth going twice as long.
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Mine was while I was an exchange student in Spain in high school. I was in a coastal city in southern Spain, and there was this old sea fort that was open to the public, but had a large network of underground tunnels that was closed off. Well, some friends from school and I decided to go there for a day and go underground to explore the labyrinthine network of tunnels. It was amazing, freaky, exhilarating, and terrifying! We followed the small system of tracks that would transport shells to the canon, climbed steel staircases up four stories to the canons themselves. Super cool stuff! We went back a couple more times after that, and I came back home wanting to explore more. 
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My first explore would have had to have been with I was 11 or 12. There was a big dirt pile (best I can tell used to store soil for landscaping) near my house so one day a friend and I decided to check it out. There was a really neat abandoned barn-like structure (maybe 100ft long with different rooms) that we poked through. Our adventure was cut short though when someone noticed us and called the cops, managed to sneak away without getting caught.
After that I never really explored until I was around 21 (so around 6 years ago) when I found a neat abandoned water tower. It was in the middle of a residential neighborhood so didn't manage to get inside.
More recently I've explored a couple couple of well-known drains around town.
Just discovered UER.ca a couple weeks ago and I'm definitely hooked
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I was around 14 to 15, and had gone to Maryland to help our grandmother move out of her old house. We were left to our own devices one day, and I explored the field out back to find a decayed old horse barn. Seemed to belong to a neighbor, but looking quite old I decided to take a look inside. There was a pile of junk next to the doors, but I was able to find another way inside. Past the pile of junk, the rest of the barn was somewhat untouched, almost frozen in time. Even found a couple of old saddles and ribbons for a horse competition of some sorts.
I had always liked the aesthetic look of old/abandoned places, and getting to experience something like that made me want to find more places "left behind" so to speak.
breathe in the atmosphere.... and the asbestos :) | |
Grew up in the suburbs in New Jersey, but every summer would spend at least 4-6 weeks with my grandparents in Virginia. They had a house on the Eastern Shore, so most of the time I spent on the beach and in the Chesapeake Bay. Occasionally I'd play in the woods on the backside of my grandparents' property.
I don't remember when exactly they told me this, but at some point I was informed that if I went far enough back in the woods, I'd come to an old road that was no longer used. And across the road was an abandoned nursing home where there were ghosts!
Could not contain myself. Started searching, found it, and did at least one explore there every summer after. It changed a lot over the 20-ish years I visited the site, and the state finally tore it down into a pile of rubble a few years ago. But I was able to get some great photos before that.
pics related
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My college had multiple accessible roofs. Some of them were as easy as climbing ladders while others involved climbing pipes. An upperclassman showed me one of them when I was a freshman and I loved being up there, so I spent the next 4 years exploring others. We also could get in the steam tunnels which required picking a very easy lock. I think one of my favorite parts of roofing was the idea of this information being passed down class after class (with college being a very temporary 4 years for most people).
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My first location was an abandoned power plant on a river up in Minnesota. My sister and her boyfriend took me there was I was about 14 during the summer. We walked around the outside. Didn’t try to get in. We went back there a few times and explored more and more. They had security cameras, motion sensors and a road that cops would come down. All doors and easy access points were welded shut. If you wanted to see anything cool you had to really want it if you know what I mean. After going there 4 times I finally had the courage to try and get in and see inside. It was crazy. So much stuff left for so long. Almost nothing was in tact. Everything was smacked or broken (but still in there). I was too young and inexperienced to search for documents or understand the true history I was experiencing. It was the most euphoric experience of my life and forever changed me. After that I started researching and found someone to take me into some local caves, then sewers, a brewery, a few buildings and eventually my first military base. I grew up in Minnesota and there wasn’t a lot of high quality abandoned places (to my knowledge at that time) so I took what I could get. I have been hooked every since that first trip when I was 14, I’m 22 now and fully capable of doing so much more. I’ve realized that urban exploration is a very addicting hobby.
(This is my first post and I’m a glad I found this amazing community)
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