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Infiltration Forums > US: Northeast > Yarn Mill(Viewed 540 times)
SaladKing   |  | 
Yarn Mill
< on 8/5/2020 1:08 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER ForumQuote
C. Enzo and I originally visited here a few weeks ago, but due to severe exhaustion, a misunderstanding of the purpose of the visit, and a poison ivy affliction, I left shortly into the trip. We came back now to finish the job. For a fairly empty mill, it's very picturesque.

This gallery marks the first time I've used lens correction in post processing, and while the difference is subtle, not having bowed objects around the photos' edges is a joy.

These photos are from August 1st, 2020.

C. Enzo's gallery is available here:
http://www.uer.ca/...=1&threadid=132190

01: Wide Open Space
This area, which extends further to the left, right, and behind of the camera, used to house some large cotton-involved machines. Former control panels are mounted on plywood sheets on a metal framework that divides this tall area from the shorter surrounding floorspace. The second photo of C. Enzo's gallery shows the area up top.



02: Controls
One, and the more intact, of the two control panels for whatever machines used to be in this area.



03: Fire Extinguisher
It used to be down below, now it's just piles of paint flakes.



04: Peeling Colors
This mill is notable for its wonderful textures on every surface.



05: Extensive Ventilation
These air vents connected to a variety of locations, but most notably to a square wooden duct with sliding doors spaced along its length. The duct ran along the base of the dividing framework between the tall and short area, and we believe it was used akin to a woodshop sawdust vacuum so employees could just sweep stray cotton and not worry about it.



06: Light Pouring a Shadow
Flashlight in a duct.



07: Metal, Wood, and Glass
Seems one pane fell out, but the metal shield bolted on outside saved this window from the ruthlessness of both nature and man.



08: Separated Coating
Some environmental disturbance led this entire layer of paint to separate from the wall in one uniform sheet.



09: Seagulls Flying Over a Vast Ocean
Use your imagination.



10: The Boiler Peeks
This door leads to a short, cluttered area with two old cast iron air pumps.



11: The Cluttered Area
It went off past the two pumps into a short catacombs-esque underground area, where they clearly just couldn't be bothered to finish the area during initial construction.



12: Hydraulic Pump
This cast iron behemoth, abandoned over two decades ago, still spins beautifully. In fact, they both do. A shame they're stuck down here. The tank to the right of it is a massively overbuilt plate steel riveted together along every edge. You can see this pump in action in C. Enzo's gallery, linked above.



13: Battered Paint
Leaving the cluttered area and crossing to the opposite side of the wide open space takes us back to the area we first entered, the turbine hall. The turbine hall is in very, very bad condition.



14: Bad Floor
The white barrel is full of rancid water, the weight of which is doing precious little to help the floor. Beneath this area is the tailrace, which is completely flooded with murky green water. Who knows what sharp rocks and rusty metal lurk beneath its surface? I wasn't about to walk over there and find out.

On our first trip here, C. Enzo walked towards the edge of the hole to look down in, believing the floor had concrete beneath it. Upon discovering it did not, it was all flooded tailrace, he stepped step back and his heel went through the floor. He then stepped back more and faster.



15: Catastrophic Structural Failure III
Amidst the carnage, one pillar still stands. It's worth noting that this is the basement of the turbine building, and this building is four stories tall.



16: Front Office
Climbing a ladder to the upper floor in the tall open area got us out of the basement and into the actual first floor of the mill. There was a lot to see there, (basketball hoop, two halves of a tanning bed on opposite ends of the mill, the fly hole, among other things), but I skipped past it for now. Perhaps for a future trip. Instead we made our way over to the surviving stairs, and into the small front office.

The large pile of large papers near the desk are maps of the property of various purpose. Seems that in 2005, a development company attempted to revitalize the mill and surrounding area as apartments and condos. The maps show dates from 2005 to late 2007 - only Phase I was ever completed, presumably because of the mortgage crash of 2008 that halted the overhaul of Pontiac Mills until 2016 as well.

We photographed every one, and then I got home to find out I'd skewed the focus around a third of the way in, making two thirds of them illegible. To be rectified in a future visit.



17: Quonset Hut
Going further up the same stairwell, we arrived at a Quonset hut, perches up on the second floor of one of the mill buildings. Maybe it was storage, maybe there were other machines here, but we probably won't even know its purpose. Clumps of cotton littered this place too. C. Enzo shot this from the better side.



18: Reaching Over, Illuminated
Lights of different color shone in from the windows, casting some neat colors on the ceiling.



19: Broken Window
Most of the Quonset hut was in great shape, minus this one window near the back.



20: A Balancing Act
One glass pane holds on for dear life.



21: Top Floor (Left)
Going up the stairs in the main building further, we reached the top floor. Considering how long we believe it's been abandoned, it's in great shape. At the far end, where the light is brightest, a small chunk of the roof is actually peeled back and the ceiling is missing. We believe that this, coupled with the head of the sun beating down on the roof and the good airflow coming in from the broken windows and collapsed areas, assist evaporation and prevent humidity, protecting the place against rot from damp, mold, and excessive water exposure.



22: Top Floor (Right)
Looking further right.



23: On the Set of SVU
The top floor had this peculiar little sideroom attached to it. It gave me a bizarre vibe and I left pretty quickly after shooting this photo.



24: Dieselpunk
This absolute unit of a 2-ton chain hoist sat ready and waiting up on an I-beam in front of two double doors on the top floor. Were its control remote not severed and it given power, I fully believe it would work as if it'd the mill never closed.



25: YALE & TOWNE
The big heavy chain connected to a big heavy hook. A past operator once raised it up too high and slammed the pulley wheel into the hoise, breaking off a chunk. Judging by the uniform coating of rust, it seems that didn't hamper its operation.



26: Lavatories
Per C. Enzo, these were now bathrooms for spiders.



27: Freight Elevator
We believe this was the original freight elevator of the mill. Wood comprised almost every aspect of it - the entire elevator car, the gates, the car guide rails, any rollers anywhere in it. Super cool, and it being well ventilated because all of its doors are open means it probably even still works. Last inspected in 1990, so we suspect that's about when the mill shut down, what with the collapse of manufacturing in the USA and all.



28: Cascade
The roof of the turbine hall caved in, which collapsed the floor beneath it, and the floor beneath that, and the floor beneath that, finally landing down in the basement, in the "Catastrophic Structural Failure III" from earlier.



29: Warp
There is a short hallway that seemingly wraps around the outside of the turbine building, then reconnects to its top floor somewhere around that bend.

The floorboards look solid, but there is nothing beneath them. The hall depended on the turbine building for structural integrity, and that is long gone.



30: Roof
As far as we can tell, the roof of the healthy building was redone just before it was abandoned. Besides the hole and airflow, it is very likely the greatest reason the building is as sound as it is.



Epilogue

After reaching the top to see what's left of the original bell tower, we decided to call it a morning. I skipped the middle floors for now, fully intent on coming back to photograph the place in the future. With plenty of day left, we set off to scout another location while we still had the time and energy, then got burritos and putzed around some historical graveyards.


[last edit 8/5/2020 7:01 AM by SaladKing - edited 3 times]

ryanpics location:
Central Va
 
 |  |  | 
Re: Yarn Mill
<Reply # 1 on 8/5/2020 4:26 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER ForumQuote
Nice set. Looks like quite an interesting place, even with the lack of machinery left.



C. Enzo location:
Southern New England
 
 |  | 
Re: Yarn Mill
<Reply # 2 on 8/6/2020 2:11 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER ForumQuote
Nice detail photos. This place definitely had the best roof we've ever seen on an old mill.
I'm glad I didn't get my "fell through the floor into murky green water" stamp.



I come and go like a comet; we are wanderers.
Reports of our eradication have been somewhat exaggerated.
plight location:
Bay Area, CA
 
 |  | 
Re: Yarn Mill
<Reply # 3 on 8/6/2020 4:55 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER ForumQuote
Nice collection here, I really like #4. And wow what a crazy hoist.



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