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This set is from three different trips, one in 2018 and then two from this year (you might recognize a handful of these from a prior UER thread). A friend came up from Texas recently and we ended up visiting three different ghost towns that week, which gave me the chance to finally see the last of this place (minus the interior of the yellow house, which only seems to be open when I'm not there).
This is one of Colorado's more popular ghost towns (established 1880), which partially fell into disuse after being largely wiped out by the Spanish Flu in 1918. A few residents, such as the owner of the post office/general store and his family, remained until the last resident left in the early nineties. While it was once much larger, what remains today is the post office/general store, the house of the owner (which oddly is connected to it), the home of the owner's sister, some shacks and a large church that the steeple blew off a few years ago.
I don't normally include much for write-ups but there are some stories to tell here so I'll include a bit of that...
1.
Taken By Storm by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
2.
Sun Room by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
3.
Board Meeting by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
Here's the interior of the church when I first visited in 2018. Next I headed to the basement where one room was unusually clean with an armchair and stand-up flood lights. There was another room to the end of this one which was closed and while I planned to check it next, I quickly noticed very new syringe-puncture topped bottles of a drug called Novine. A friend later informed me this is an antipsychotic, which means I was entirely right to become too uncomfortable to stay. This is one of the few times I gave up on a location and left due to a bad feeling.
4.
All On The Table by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
5.
Over The Hill by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
The chilling thing about this photo is that I had assumed the pickup truck was abandoned, yet when I returned this year it was gone in addition to the Novine bottles and additional windows on the church were boarded. I never considered that this may have been the vehicle of the person who took up residence in the basement.
6.
All Squared Away by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
7.
The Straight And Narrow by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
8.
Gated Community by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
9.
Sunset and Forget by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
10.
Off The Rails by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
11.
Canned Laughter by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
12.
Clean Up Shop by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
13.
There Goes The Neighborhood by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
14.
Clyde's House I by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
15.
Clyde's House II by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
16.
Bottles Of Piss In The Church Basement by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
Now here's where we get scary. After a years of asylums and all that you stop seeing abandos as scary at all, but this made me realize that perhaps that's only due to the lack of relevancy to that fear. Sure, it's creepy when you visit a place of someone's doom a century ago, but...well, that was a century ago.
These are mason bottles filled with urine. While it's possible this may have been an attempt to create drugs from fermented waste (perhaps you've heard of jenkum) I feel the more likely answer is a concerning one. The bottles of antipsychotics are a clear indicator of mental illness, as might be the fact this person chose to live in the church basement of a ghost town in the middle of nowhere. Some people with mental illness have been known to store their urine in sealed jars in secret places. One reason for this may be paranoia in the belief that they can be tracked or manipulated by someone finding their waste.
Regardless why they stored their urine, it's a likely sign that they would not be welcoming of me at all. This is what was in the closed room I didn't enter in 2018 and I'm now very grateful I didn't run into the owner of that truck (or owner of the urine) before they vanished. The door was wide open this time and the whole basement smelled terrible. Am I crazy to wonder if they were in that room the first time I was here?
16.
Stoop So Low by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
17.
Last House On The Left by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
18.
Things Are Looking Up by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
19.
Support System by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
20.
Dry Drunk by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
21.
Multiple Choice by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
22.
Sleep Patterns by ⓦeͤ █ iͥ rͬ dͩＬiͥ █ G̷̃̊̏̂̓͂̅, on Flickr
And that's that, the last of the place I gave up previously. I'm really glad to have an answer about what was going on in that basement even if I had to light paint long exposures in a urine sauna. More ghost towns to come once I have all the shots uploaded, but that might not be any time soon. Thanks for viewing!
~fin~
[last edit 9/30/2020 6:06 AM by Weirdlig - edited 9 times]
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
Hell yeah! This is A GREAT SET. LOVE IT.
RIP Blackhawk | |
I've always loved ghost towns, this is awesome!
"Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there.
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Posted by randomesquephoto
Hell yeah! This is A GREAT SET. LOVE IT.
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Posted by Aran
I've always loved ghost towns, this is awesome!
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Thanks y'all! This place was actually lowest on my ghost town list. There's a lot of good ones here.
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
Cool place and write up.
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Wow, awesome set! I also enjoyed reading your writeup. Freaky that the truck wasn't abandoned. I also wonder how old or maybe how fresh that urine was when you found it, either way that's pretty gross. This looks like a nice ghost town regardless, I love the vibe. Picture 5 is my favorite. Thanks for sharing!
~Silenceoftheabandoned
https://silenceoftheabandoned.com/ | |
This is a great set! Really like all your colors and textures, fits the vibe of the scenes. Really enjoyed "things are looking up" and "sleep patterns". Kinda disturbing about the jars, glad you didn't run into that guy!
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Posted by Dave Summer
Cool place and write up.
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Thanks dude!
Posted by silenceofthebandos
Wow, awesome set! I also enjoyed reading your writeup. Freaky that the truck wasn't abandoned. I also wonder how old or maybe how fresh that urine was when you found it, either way that's pretty gross. This looks like a nice ghost town regardless, I love the vibe. Picture 5 is my favorite. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks much! I don't know how to judge the freshness of urine by scent but it was awful lol
Posted by Goste
This is a great set! Really like all your colors and textures, fits the vibe of the scenes. Really enjoyed "things are looking up" and "sleep patterns". Kinda disturbing about the jars, glad you didn't run into that guy!
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Thanks! I'm really glad too. I've met a handful of nice homeless people in abandos out here but I had a bad feeling about that one.
[last edit 10/9/2020 12:40 AM by Weirdlig - edited 1 times]
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
These are great! I love ghost towns.
Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 50mm 1.2, Canon 28mm 1.8, Canon 16-35 f2.8L
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenbley/ | |
Posted by macgruder
These are great! I love ghost towns.
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Thanks man!
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
Those jars look absolutely NASTY! I was wondering how you identified them but read on to see that you wrote a whole paragraph about the smell alone. Great collection of pictures!
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super cool and the info about the urine storage was super interesting to read. i'd definitely feel uneasy after seeing that as well
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Sometimes you see a set and you just need to come back to it and really reflect on the pictures and story. This is one of those times for me. Enjoyed the write up and the basement find. Poor Guy must of been terribly messed up and im glad you never ran into him face to face. Really admire your B&W's. They really get to the heart and soul of the issues you had at hand there.
A place of Mystery is Always worth a curiosity trip!
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Posted by PastaMan
Those jars look absolutely NASTY! I was wondering how you identified them but read on to see that you wrote a whole paragraph about the smell alone. Great collection of pictures!
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Posted by bleckfrog
super cool and the info about the urine storage was super interesting to read. i'd definitely feel uneasy after seeing that as well
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Posted by MisUnderstood!
Sometimes you see a set and you just need to come back to it and really reflect on the pictures and story. This is one of those times for me. Enjoyed the write up and the basement find. Poor Guy must of been terribly messed up and im glad you never ran into him face to face. Really admire your B&W's. They really get to the heart and soul of the issues you had at hand there.
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Thanks so much, all. I really appreciate the kind words!
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
I love your photos here, but the story is even more interesting!
One question though - I tried reading about Novine by Googling it, but didn't find anything. Could it have been Navane?
The #1 rule about poking things with sticks is never use your finger. | |
Posted by corvidcache
I love your photos here, but the story is even more interesting!
One question though - I tried reading about Novine by Googling it, but didn't find anything. Could it have been Navane?
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Good question, maybe it was? I can't say I stayed around to double check. I just know after asking around a friend came back and told me it was an antipsychotic and he used the word Novine when he told me. But googling Navane brings up a Schizophrenia med, so it would make sense.
http://www.flickr....irdlingphotography | |
Posted by bleckfrog
super cool and the info about the urine storage was super interesting to read. i'd definitely feel uneasy after seeing that as well
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I had a friend who had gone through some issues, and he used to do that.
Grossed me the hell out.
"Well, let me just jump into my time machine, go back to the Twelfth Century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show." |
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