To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone… In A While

What's-in-the-Woods Wednesday

2011-03-23T16:24:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody, went rambling around in the woods -as I'm prone to do- i came across this little gem of a.. well... dunno really. Looks like a platform of sorts. It's made of rebar-reinforced concrete and has held up for a pretty long time.

Either way, looks neat, if anybody knows anything about it or stuff like this please let me know.

Location: Midland Park, NJ by the old blown-out dam.

Be Legendary,
-AK the Jefe

The Old Jail on New Street

2010-12-26T17:59:00.008-05:00

Snow lightly falling, I ventured into the depths of Newark to the Science district around Rutgers to see the Old Jail of New Street. Built in 1837 for the staggering sum of $30,000 to replace it's predecessor that burned down two years before. Just to put that in perspective, that's about $14.5 to $16.5 million dollars in today's money.

I took an interest in this place after talking to a guy who worked on it's replacement: it was there he learned the first rule of plumbing: never bite your nails.

So, not getting much of an oppertunity to explore inside, I'll leave you with these shots.

Merry Christmas.

Be legendary, my friends.

-AKtheJefe

Pleasureland: Lost

2010-09-12T17:11:00.003-04:00

I heard from a person who tried to visit it that there was large construction equipment around.

Not a good sign.

Having visited Pleasureland i kid you not two weeks ago, and it was fine, coming here today was like an unmercifully hard punch to the stomach.

Abandoned for decades, withstanding the ravages of Mother Nature's hellish, unmerciful and unrelenting assault, and years of being raided by punks with spray cans, and crews looking to level the once proud and family-friendly attraction.

I'll leave you with the pictures of this fine, fine place.

Seeing the three skeletons of the diving boards standing proud, almost defiant against the oncoming -looming- wrecking crews, reminded me of the parable of Christ's Crucifixion.

"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don't you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 39-43

Indeed this place has done nothing wrong, and deserves no punishment but to while away and let Nature take it's course, being visited like a holy shrine to Explorers. Now, as Sunday comes to a close and Monday morning drives ever closer and the Crews take to their equipment to tear this sacred place down... we remember not as it closed, in the wake of a violent massacre, not as it was destroyed, but as it was when open: a place of happiness and bliss.

Of Paradise.

Rest in Peace, Pleasureland. 1934 - 2010

Deserted Barn

2010-02-03T11:54:00.006-05:00

Kinda at a loss for words as to what else to call this place, I guess "Deserted Barn' pretty much sums it up fairly well.

Me and Sweetie -Sweetie and I- were originally looking for a place called the 'Collage House' which looks a lot like the Addam's Family house

But unfortunatly, as we discovered, it got torn down and turned into a

So on our way back down Rt. 23, I see a HUGE abandoned-looking farm.

Intrigued, I pull in and check for the ominous NO TRESSPASSING signs and saw none.

So, lookin around in the frigid cold, I snapped these shots of a remarkably preserved barn, hope you enjoy.

Walked behind the barn for a ways and THIS is all I got to. From the abundance of tracks, I'm guessing people walk their dogs back here alot.
Either that or there's a lot of wolves following hikers.

-AK

Deserted Village

2010-02-03T11:20:00.005-05:00

As an explorer (how i see myself at least) I spend a lot of time researching, tracking, investigating, and pouring over countless satellite images of a place BEFORE I even set out with camera in hand looking for it.
My reasonings are simple:
1. No wasted trips. I like having a (rough) idea where we're going.
2. Not wandering about too long.

Though I personally like the phrase by Tolken, "Not all who wander are lost" I do like to know that this-odd-thing-in-the-woods-that-may-look-interesting is in THAT direction, as opposed to behind you, on the other side of the road, around the corner, or got burned down 3 years ago.

However, with this trip, my research time was almost for naught, having found an ACTUAL address, and not only that... there were actual signs that said DESERTED VILLAGE on them.

Bingo.

So this place in the Watchung Reservation, the 'Deserted Village', once called Feltville, was settled first in the early 1700s by a guy from Long Island who built a saw mill, but that got town down literally hundreds of years ago.

Then comes this guy named David Felt, a businessman from Boston who moves to New York City to build a factory, realizes that he's successful beyond his wildest dreams, and then builds a second one where Feltville now stands.

So, he builds the factory, housing, and employs about 175 of the local residents who refer to him as King David since he obliges them to attend church every Sunday, and effectivly runs their lives while in power. By about 1875, he's out of business and sells the property.

it changed hands a few times before eventually ending up as it is, abandoned (except for one or two families in houses up the road) and part of the Union County Parks Division.

It's pretty cool to go there, but it wasn't just cool... it was COLD when we went, so our trip wasn't as long as we would have liked but it was fun nonetheless.

A unique fixer-upper

Gorgeous house. The one on the left of it was even better but it's occupied so I wont put up the pics.

See what I mean by 'unique'?

-AK

ABNF

2009-09-09T11:06:00.002-04:00

So I haven't updated in ages since my computer sucks, bad.
Also haven't been active in the UE Community in a long time as well, and finally getting Firefox to work right last night, I noticed that my favorite haunt, AbandonedButNotForgotten.com , is gone!
Or at least, I can't find it. Anybody have any insight as to where it went?

Now that I'm back to school and have access to real computers that actually work, I'll be adding updates for places that I went to this summer, and ones that I plan on visiting this fall. Since I'm now back to work 6 days a week my Exploring time has been significantly reduced, however the flame for adventure still burns strong.

Onward,

-AK

RedBubble

2009-06-24T11:33:00.002-04:00

Having been told by I-kid-you-not dozens of people, I'm now selling some of my photos as prints and posters on the site RedBubble.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/LostLens

-AK

The Devil's Tree... got a haircut

2009-06-09T00:30:00.006-04:00

Perhaps a better description would be 'amputation'. Two of the larger branches on the tree that supposedly were used to hang people from, have as of May this year been hacked off.

The tree as a whole is still there, so is Heat Rock. The DPW can hack off the limbs, but you cannot destroy the memory and the legends of the place.

An older photo courtesy of LostInJersey.com showing the tree with all the limbs intact.
The following shots show it as of this afternoon.

Do I believe in the legends associated with the tree? That it's haunted, cursed, a Gateway to Hell? The execution place for unruly slaves? A KKK hideaway? The Devil driving a Black Bronco chasing people away?

Eh, I believe that every legend is based -at least partially- in fact. Slavery was legally abolished in NJ in 1848. However, by the start of the Civil War, NJ citizens still owned 18 "apprentices for life" as they appeared on the NJ census, however, the Federal one listed them as slaves.
http://www.slavenorth.com/newjersey.htm.

Now, that tree does NOT look to be over 160 years old, but I could be wrong. It happens every now and then.

Also, perhaps it was specifically slaves that were hung there? What if it was just ordinary and free African Americans? Or what if a previous tree had stood on that spot back during NJ's slave-holding times that was used to string up unfortunate men, and the legend held through the ages?

Heat Rock is indeed still there, but the statement that "snow never falls on Heat Rock" is a misconception. During some parts of the year, snow does indeed fall on Heat Rock, but then melts into water. The rock is larger and retains heat better than the surrounding top soil, which allows snow to accumulate on it. The concept is call Geothermal heating and conduction of heat. It's physics and engineering that explains that myth, not The Devil.

The legend that Satan drives a black truck and chases you away can also be explained as some guy with a Bronco, Blazer, or Durango that likes to play pranks on people. I had it happen to me one night with a bunch of people in the car and the "phantom truck" happened to be a black Cadillac Escalade.

But, there is that very ominous feeling that you're being watched when you walk there. Like you're treading on hallowed ground, the same feeling when you walk into a cemetery. I do feel that based on my own experiences there (detailed here: http://akthejefe.blogspot.com/2008/09/devils-tree.html ) and that of others who I know better than to make stuff up to impress me... yes, there is something paranormal about this place. And it is my hope that the local DPW doesnt further damage this piece of Jersey legend and lore.

-AK

Ramapo Reservation

2009-06-08T10:33:00.006-04:00

Sweetie and Me found this burned-out building in the Ramapo Reservation woods while on a fishing trip this weekend, and about a hundred feet away, the remains of a mansion built in 1864, according to the plaque on the rock.

Sort of an accidental find, we snapped a few shots then went on to catch absolutely nothing in the nearby river. Either way, we had a great time and let us know what ya think of the shots.

-AK

Camp Bluefields Pt. 2

2009-06-07T18:15:00.010-04:00

Venturing again up into the Blauvelt woods again, I explored more parts of the old and abandoned Camp Bluefields training site.

This was the first time in a while that I've gone somewhere by myself, and since I was alone and having a really sub-standard flashlight, I decided NOT to venture into the tunnels that criss-cross these woods. After a while, all these walls and bunkers all start to look the same, and if you venture too far away from them, it's like they're not even there. You need an iron grip on your mind and senses if you plan on going here. You need to know what sounds are threatening and what are just deer.

This was also the first trip I've been on where I've seen... snakes. Yes, snakes. I was walking along one of those seven-foot tall walls and heard something skitter through the brush by my left foot and sure enough, there was a black snake about the length of my larm and thickness of a garden hose. He didnt bother me, and I didnt bother him.

Fair trade.

I brought my metal detector with me, but didnt use it and it just ended up getting caught on low-hanging branches since it jutts like a foot out of my backpack. I felt a large piece of concrete over one of these tunnels move when I stepped on it, so yeah I took another route when I went back that way.

It's kinda funny, with the route I take to this place, how strenous a hike it is... all the graffitti there is. You figure that most bastards who spray-paint shit everywhere wouldnt waste their time walking 3 miles deep into the woods, right?

It's a great place to go if you have the lighting and the nerve to go there.

I took a whole mess of pics of the places I went to today, leme know whatcha think.

-AK

Womens Federation Monument

2009-06-01T18:05:00.008-04:00

Nestled verrrry deep in the woods of the Palisades is the Womens Federation Monument. Erected in 1929, it commemerates the local women's clubs and orginizations that helped preserve and establish the park for generations to come.

The Monument, looking like a small castle, is about a half-mile hike from my less-than-legal impromptu parking spot through some of the thickest woods and steepest slopes I have ever seen.

I heard about this place from my mother, who went there when she was a kid with a bunch of friends. Now, thirty-something years later, her son and his girlfriend went back to take a look as to how it was doing, and I must say, it's in mint condition.

See for yourself:

The pics have a certain flow to them, showing the route to and from the Monument, through the steep paths and thick forest. Overall, I'm surprised that my knee didnt give out and I gotta admit, it sure was fun!

-AK

NJ Vortex

2009-06-01T17:39:00.007-04:00

These hills of Passaic County are home to the supposed New Jersey Vortex. Sightings of strange mists, ghosts, and dozens of UFO sightings.

And I know what you're thinkin...
Yes, aliens.

My feelings on the concept of extraterrestrial life are that yeah, they're probably out there, and no, they don't but-diddle drunks on weekend fishing trips.

Now, we didn't see anything creepy when we went there when we did, but thats like watching a random half-hour of security tape at a liquor store in ( insert familiar crime-ridden town here) and say it's never been robbed before.

Either way, we took a bunch of cool pics and went as far as we could based on the info i had.

Again, we'll be back.

Ya can kinda tell the quality of the individuals who tag this place.

Was still smokin when we got there.

More to come. Someday.

-AK

Battery Lewis

2009-05-25T01:32:00.007-04:00

miliBuilt in 1942, this massive bunker in the hills near Red Bank offer a glimpse into what a WWII-type defense post must have been like. This site from which you can effectivly see New York City from would have been instrumental in defending NY from German U-Boats which were known to prey off of ships in this part of the Atlantic, and eventually in the 1960s and 1970s, hosted a long since demolished command and control headquarters for the local Nike anti-aircraft system that would have shot down Soviet bombers if the Reds ever got uppidy and sent planes to level NY.

Now, the majority of the bunker is sealed off by chain link fence and the trail to get on top was so treacherous, I went up by myself and almost went down on my ass.

This place was really cool to visit, amazing how 67 years of harsh elements -especially teenagers with spray cans- takes a toll on these places.

Enjoy the shots so far, we'll be making a return trip in the future.

On top of the bunker, that small trail to the left of the sign is all I had to guide myself up with. The route I took was so steep that I was grabbing onto exposed roots to keep from loosing my balance.

View from on top of the bunker, did I ever mention that I am positively MORTIFIED of heights?

Ahhh grayscale

My Sweetheart took these two shots of me from down below. She can take EPIC pics one handed while I use both of my shaky hands and get lackluster results.

We'll be back.
-AK

Lucy The Elephant

2009-05-25T01:16:00.004-04:00

For our Anniversary, me and my Sweetheart spent the weekend in Point Pleasant, and on Saturday morning -this being last Saturday- we went down to Margate, near Atlantic City, to see Lucy; the gigantic 6-story piece of "zoomorphic architecture" and an attraction for literally generations of people.

Lucy was built in 1882 by a fella named James Lafferty, who in fact built several elephant-shaped buildings in NY and NJ, the tallest being 12 stories and resided in Coney Island. She is also the last one to remain standing.

Lucy is made of tin and wood, and despite being nearly 128 years old, looks fantastic. If you happen to be in Atlantic City, head about two miles south and pay her a visit.

For more information, you can visit www.lucytheelephant.org .

Lucy is watching...

-AK

Sleepy Hollow

2009-05-08T19:19:00.009-04:00

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow...

Originally a short story written by Washington Irving, published in 1820, tells the story of a headless Hessian Trooper who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head" which he 'lost' thanks to a stray cannonball round during a 'nameless' battle of the Revolutionary War.

On the night of Halloween, the Headless Horseman chased Ichabod Crane, a Connecticut schoolteacher, through the Tarrytown NY subsidy called Sleepy Hollow, and especially, over the old bridge recreated below.

Irving is burried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, along with Samuel Gompers (founder of the AFL), Andrew Carnegie (yes, that one), Walter Chrysler (guess what car company he founded)... and thousands of others.

This is seriously the first, if not only, cemetary that I've been to and NOT been a little weirded out by. It's incredibly peaceful and almost like a park. You can even FISH there! For more information on the place, you can go to http://www.olddutchburyingground.org/ and http://www.sleepyhollowcemetery.org .

You're welcome?

The original bridge is long gone, but this is a replica of the bridge that the Headless Horseman chased Ichabod Crane over. When a car drives over it -at any speed- it sounds like the clap of thunder. More like a cannon actually.

Current desktop background.

-AK

Fairytale Forest... Take 2

2009-05-08T19:02:00.006-04:00

"Hey!"
"What?"
"There's someone over there!"

Oh shit

Me and Sweetheart, or rather Sweetheart and I went back to the Fairytale Forest earlier this afternoon, and after poking around a bit, discovering new displays and buildings, we froze.

A maroon station wagon off in the distance, part of the self-storage place, with it's owner walking around.

We spent the next half-hour picking our way out of there, using over and moving only when we knew it was safe.

It was probably just somebody who rented space there, but with time of the essence, we made our exit.

Our hearts were beating so loud I'm amazed we did hear each others, and having enough skulking around, we set course for our third and final stop of the afternoon, Sleepy Hollow.

We went to the Forest today to basically check up on it, and dispel the rumors I keep hearing that it's about to be torn down. There's no benefit to using the land what left of it is on, too hilly, too densely forested, and by the looks of the self-storage facility, they already have more than enough room to work with.

Shrooms... they're everywhere.

Donkey!

The Skunk and I

The Great Pumpkin

-AK

Gingerbread Castle

2009-05-08T18:11:00.006-04:00

Or rather, what's left of it.

Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg NJ was -for ages- a fun little attraction off of Rt. 23 for children of all ages.

Having never been there myself, I had to rely on Sweetheart's word that the place looked a LOT better than this when it was open.

Today, Gingerbread Castle has been barbed-wired up and access is nearly impossible.

Notice how I said 'nearly'.

The place looks like it had a lot of demolition work done recently on it. Well by recently, I mean within the past few years. We went there today in the early afternoon and there wasn't a soul to be found.

We couldn't get inside, but maybe someday, before it's gone for good.

Dodge Avenger Cop Car
They see me rollin... they hatin

The Castle

Wheatsworth Mill

Pie?

-AK

Hinchcliffe Stadium

2009-04-22T12:46:00.007-04:00

Sitting near the Great Falls Park in Paterson, NJ, is the old and abandoned Hinchcliffe Stadium. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, there is a movement right now to preserve and possibly restore the stadium -built in 1932- to it's rightful condition.

The stadium was first home to a multitude of all-black sports teams since at the time blacks weren't allowed on white teams. Football, baseball, auto-racing, concerts... you name it, and it was here. It's kind of hard to imagine in our society today that... sixty-something years ago, blacks didn't play alongside whites in major and minor league sports.

The stadium hasn't been used much since 1997 and the amount of vandalism is rather embarrassing for a place that has had some much history pass through it. I took only a few pictures since we were strapped for time and we plan on coming back real soon!

To learn more about this place, and the movement to preserve it, please visit the Friends of Hinchcliffe Stadium at: http://www.hinchliffestadium.org/index.php

Take me out to the baaaall game
Take me out to th-
ah shit wrong sport.

Where's the rest of it?

Finding random car parts in these places reminds me of that scene from Jaws where Hooper and Brody are cutting open that shark on the dock late at night:

Hooper: Ah. Just like I thought... He came up with the Gulf Stream - from southern waters.
[he pulls a Louisiana license plate from the shark. Brody examines it]
Brody: He didn't eat a car, did he?
Hooper: Naw, a tiger shark's like a garbage can, it'll eat anything. Someone probably threw that in a river.

-AK

Glen Island Castle

2009-04-19T02:19:00.009-04:00

It's better to be happy in a cardboard shack,
Then to be alooooone in a castle...

Or so says Harry Connick Jr.

Last Friday, Nicky and me went out to New Rochelle NY to see the legendary Glen Island Castle, now home to the Columbia University rowing team. Built in 1879 by a businessman named John H. Starin, the castle used to have it's own zoo, museum, and beach. Today, all that's left is the castle, crumbling beer garden, cannon, oddball passageways, and strangely mounted rocks.

The song comes to mind because a few hours after visiting the castle, we participated in my school's Sleepout, which is a competition to build the best cardboard shack to raise awareness of homelessness. AND! I'm proud to say that my team won the competition by building the strongest and most efficient shack out of the 6 teams representing my school's fraterneties and sororities.

The castle sits on the west bank of Glen Island in New Rochelle, NY and if you're in the area, is worth the visit.

South side view

Northern side

Western wall of the Beer Garden

Never figured out what these were for.
Not tombstones as far as we could tell.

Sweeeeetie!

Beer Garden, Eastern Wall

DUCK!

Find anything, Indy?

Whatcha lookin for?

This is the cardboard shack that I designed and we built,
In the rain.
It was a lot of fun, we had some good soup and listened
to a few good bands on the front lawn of my school.

-AK

Sparta Train Station / Mohawk Industries

2009-04-07T14:36:00.009-04:00

Me and Nicky visited this place about a month ago, and hearing the rumble of trucks not too far away, I hustled to snap a bunch of shots, rather upset that the place had been recently re-boarded up. I dont know much about the history of this place, and having heard the place called Mohawk Industries in the past, I looked up what I could and the company going by that name is one of the largest carpet and flooring manfacturers in the world. The large pesticide tank outside with the biohazard warning on the outside could be used for industrial purposes, having not gotten inside, there's no way for me to confirm it as such.

The place is plastered with no-entry signs and warnings; but in this case my not entering the building was more a saftey concern rather than a getting-busted concern. Bio-hazzard warnings are something I take more seriously than your typical Beware-of-Dog signs.

It's pretty cool, I wish I had more of a history on the place, but as far as I can tell, it's been empty a while, at least ten years.

BioHazzard

Fire damage, i think.

Right by the tracks

Eh, probably not.

Comfortable.... naaaat.
This is the actual train station, it was sealed up with plywood and oddly enough: locks.

To me, that means that someone still wants to get in there every so often.

Water Tower

-AK

White Manna

2009-04-01T16:24:00.006-04:00

Not haunted...

Not scary...

Far from abandoned...

But in every way, delicious...

White Manna, of Hackensack NJ

The small, garage-sized resturant has been around for well over 70 years, and I'm proud to say I'm -to my knowledge- at least the third generation from my family to eat at this legendary establishment, probably the fourth.

The Manna, as it was known to my old high school, was a right of passage for most in my graduating class. I recall getting out of class before lunch, rushing down to Hackensack -ten miles away- for these fantastic burgers, then rushing back to class with onions on my breath.

They make these small slider burgers that fit comfortably in one hand, made with onions -but you can get them without- on a small potato bun. They start off as a golf-ball sized lump of ground beef and over the next ten minutes, make an incredible transformation into something so damn good it defies description.

The photo above isn't mine, and I'll be uploading my own pics of the place soon.

GO THERE! If you're in the area, and if you're not, drop by. It's worth it! They'll tell you about all the famous people who have been there including but not limited to Jerry Seinfeld and James Gandolfini, amongst others.

Me and Sweetie went there for dinner last night, seeing as how she's going on vacation with her mum for almost a week... what better way to leave home, right? :)

White Manna is located at:

358 River St, Hackensack, NJ

And can be reached at: (201) 342-0914

White Manna: heavenly burgers.

-AK

Letchworth, February 2009

2009-03-10T17:03:00.007-04:00

"What's that noise?"

"It's the two guys on top of the building?"

"WHAT two guys on top of the building?"

Recently, I had one of those 'what zombie?' moments at Letchworth Village.
But, we'll get to that in a minute.
Friday after I got 'released' from work, I raced home and laced up my boots, glad to be out of my dress shoes, and after collecting my gear, went to grab Nicky.

Then my brother from another mother calls and wants to hang out, so we chill with him until his younger brother wants to hang out, so we made our exit and headed up to Letchworth.

The sun was just right and the trees just barren enough for me to see on the side of the highway, "Those buildings over there are boarded up. Hmmmmmmm..."
So curiosity got the best of me and instead of our usual walking route around there, we picked a path around a new building that I had only seen online.
This part of the campus is HUGE! It almost overpowers the half that we DO know about and visit from time to time.
Taking a look at a 99.99992% boarded-up building, owned by the school district, i snapped a few shots and then we decided to head towards the power-plant area.

Over there, we hear what sounded like a bird call, prompting me to say,

"What's that noise?"

"It's the two guys on top of the building." Duh.

Nicky pays a little more attention to things like that then me. Obvious things generally fly right over my head.

Turns out, two nice guys from upstate NY who had heard about this place on ABNF and Opacity. It was good meeting them and it sure beats the heck out of bumping into the usual assortment of teenage punks and hooligans.

Will and Chance, it was a pleasure meeting you.

Power Plant

Dummy.

Talk about scarring the crap outta me.

Nobodys home.

Radio Flyer

Coal Dust

Fall of the Roman Empire

"Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking...." - David Bowie

-AK

Camp Bluefields Part 1

2009-02-23T16:16:00.007-05:00

Most know it as 'Tweed', an abandoned and mysterious complex of concrete tunnels, bunkers, and walls built atop Clausland Mountain in Blauvelt, NY.
Many say it's haunted, frequently visited by Devil Worshippers, home of all manner of odd creatures, homeless, and graffiti artists.

I really feel like a moron writing this, but it took two or three tries to even get CLOSE to the Camp, and then another half-mile of climbing in the wrong direction to finally see it.

See, about a mile South lies the old Nike Missile Base of Piermont, NY. Now, I had figured hey, if the Army owned one thing up there, then the old WWI rifle range must be part of the same complex, right? Well assumptions are the mother of all screw-ups and I want to take this oppertunity to apologize to Nicky for repeatedly leading her on a series of wild-goose-chases through the woods.

Then, once I got a satellite picture of the place and map it out with a red pen, we drive up there, find a suitable parking spot, and proceed to walk up this windy road before I suggest that I take the short cut and run ahead to see if we're in the right direction.

Good call AK.

Now I'm a quarter-mile up in the thickest woods I've ever seen, having scaled two 20' embankments that put my knees to the test, and my right one failed.

Pulling out my binoculars, I looked around and saw nothing akin to a large bunker and began to sheepishly stagger back towards Nicky when I look north and see part of the western-most part of the camp. Keep in mind, this camp was constructed around 1918 to train soldiers for WWI and specifically trench warfare. Its 91 years old, and trees are growing through it. The whole thing, according to my satellite photos, covers a few hundred square acres.

Ouch.

Before and after WWI, the place served as a Girl Scout Camp, and summer camp for young women. The NY Times even did an article on it, where for $3.50 a week women could go for some relaxation… especially from men. (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B06E1DF123DEF3ABC4052DFB066838D609EDE) It was then re-opened in 1942 to train soldiers to fight in WWII, however, since trench warfare wasn’t all that commonplace in that chapter of world history, it wasn’t all that useful.

So I go find Nicky and promise it wont be too far a trek through the woods.

Turns out you have to cross two ravines to get there, and since Princesses don't walk across fallen tree trunks five feet above freezing water... I went ahead by myself.

Making a long story short, I got to the 'tower' and took a bunch of pics of the inside and surrounding area. For being 91 years old, minus the graffiti, it's in pristine condition… structurally. The steps are still functional and the rails all around are in good shape.

After looking around there, I headed east along the ten foot wall and ducked down into two of the trench-training areas and snapped a bunch of photos. Along the wall was a series of 10" iron flanges that I assume used to hold slats of wood. Standing on one of those pieces of metal, I could just get my face over the wall. I assume that's where the soldiers were trained to shoot from, since trench warfare basically means ducking in these long trenches in the ground, poking your head and rifle up every now and then to try and squeeze a shot off at the enemy. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_warfare )

Learn your history. It's some nasty stuff.

Either way, I shot 24 pictures of the site, most aren't worth posting but the good ones I will as soon as I can get my bastard computer to work right.

We plan on coming back here more when the weather is warmer.

"The Grave"

Training Area

Alls Quiet on the Western Front

-AK

The Cow

2009-02-11T18:26:00.004-05:00

Set deep in a cornfield in Central Jersey is the legendary Cow, so coveted by frat brothers from Rutgers and nearly toppled by mother nature on countless occasions. Overall, the trip realistically wasn't worth it, the cow was a quarter-mile behind barbed wire and is only about 12' tall and nowhere near worth the sixty mile trip from home. Oh well, we did have a lot of fun on the way and figured we'd hit our next stop: the grave of Elise the Cow.

Elise the Cow was featured in many old movies back in 'the day' and became a legend all around the US, and brought fame to Central Jersey. However, we couldn't find her grave site and basically drove around for an hour down there for no real reason other then to get really dirty when we tried to walk into the local cemetary. However, the scenery was nice and it was a pretty good trip to welcome spring back and get back into exploring the abandoned, haunted, and the bizarre.

-AK

Letchworth Village Cemetery

2009-01-20T19:07:00.006-05:00

So me, Nicky, and Dave took a little trip up to Letchworth, and specifically to the newly found cemetery. Upon coming up to a new bunch of buildings and parking the car, I spotted a local police officer parked behind one of the buildings along the main road. I know he saw us, we saw him too, I didnt make eye contact and basically carried on like he wasn't there. We weren't going in the buildings around here anyway.

Nicky and I went up there a few days before, and saw that the local DPW boarded up most of the old doors and easily accessible windows on the abandoned builings in the northern end of the campus.

Now, you'd think this would aggrivate me. Nope. In fact, I'm a little glad that the local towns have taken an initiative into preserving the place from vandalism. Also, a lot of those buildings are full of asbestos, noxious fumes, mold, flooded elevator shafts, unstable floors... etc.

Keep the stupid people from doing... stupid stuff.

Heres a little selection of the pictures of the cemetery and what the Village looks like today.

The Cemetery is a verrrry creepy place. Most of the headstones there bare no name. The few that do, and have dates on them, bring chills to your spine and a tear to your eye. The oldest one we saw: the person died when they were 39. The youngest: six. The average, 15-19. I'm 20.

All those things on the "honeydew" list...

Picnic anyone?

-AK

Sad News

2009-01-07T11:14:00.004-05:00

I'm writing this post from California, me and Sweetie are out here on vacation.
I regret to inform you of the passing of a good friend of mine, and a big supporter of our little hobby: my pal, Jamie Mabin.

Jamie was more than just a mentor to me, he was my friend. He dedicated his life to hard work and providing for his family, who he loved more than anything else in the world. I can only hope that I'm as good a father as him someday.

I'm comforted by the fact that the last words I said to him, before I left for California, were "I love you too, Bro."

Jamie, you will surely be missed by all.

Semper Fidelis

-AK

Route 59 Drive-In

2008-12-28T22:31:00.006-05:00

After going to 'Hudson Point', looking for the weird stuff up on Tweed Rd. in Orangetown, and putting my dad's Taurus through roads so steep that Mt. Washington turns green with envy... we went up to the old Rt. 59 Drive-In movie theater in Monsey.

Monsey. The town sucks.

No offense if you live there, but if you do, or know anyone who does, tell them to learn how to cross a street. The right way. Look both ways, don't run out into incoming traffic, you know, simple stuff like that.

If it happened once, okay, that's just one moron, capable of living and replicating everywhere. But literally, people are running all over the place neglecting to remember that its Saturday afternoon, people are out DRIVING!

This ISN'T your living room where you can let your kids run willy-nilly and knock stuff over and not really care: this is a HIGHWAY!

Rahr.

My youngest brother put it best when the same thing occurred as we went to the Palisades Mall, and I asked aloud,
"Where do all these idiots come from?"
"They're like the locust from Gears of War: they just keep coming out of holes in the ground!"

You don't wanna know what i was shouting at them.

Anyway, back to the drive-in.

There's one left in this area, up in Warwick, here's their site, http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1006131/driveinmovie/news.htm and I highly recommend that if you're in the area, load up the car with as many people as you can, stuff blankets and lawn chairs in the trunk, and go there for a show. It's well worth the dough, and more fun than going to a regular theater.

There used to be thousands around the country, here's whats left of one of them. The one closest to me was just a few miles from my home in Paramus, now it's the parking lot for the Garden State Plaza.

There wasn't much to this place, and it's now used as storage for a local trucking company.

And a place for me to get my boots muddy taking a few good shots.

-AK

Ya CANT miss it!

Hudson Point

2008-12-27T17:20:00.008-05:00

Up in Perimont NY, at the end of Ferry road sits this long pier that juts out in to the Hudson. So far, in fact, that you can hear Yonkers across the river. I'd blame that phenomena mostly on the fact that the area was blanketed with dense fog that reduced visibility to less than a hundred feet, and the amount of moisture in the air allows sound to travel more efficiently.... yeah so my point is that we heard stuff that's far away. The pier at the end is dedicated to the untold numbers of American servicemen and women who took ferries from here to fight overseas. The place must be beautiful during the warmer months, but the low visibility and no living plant life gave it a little creepy aura about it. Other than that, it's really a great place to go to, and I'm glad that we went.

-AK

Return To Letchworth

2008-12-13T02:54:00.008-05:00

December 7^th 2008

We ventured back to Letchworth on Sunday, this time looking for the elusive morgue that I keep hearing about. Today’s historical significance was fresh on my mind all day, even as I worked at school for a few hours. 12/7/1941: Pearl Harbor Day. Sixty-seven years ago today, the Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbor Hawaii and effectively thrust the United States into WWII.

This place was open, and filled past maximum capacity by this time. What was the reaction of those here? Did they read the paper, listen to the radio, possibly tune into the occasional TV and see President Roosevelt delivering his hastily written Day-Of-Infamy speech before Congress? Were they told what was going on?

I remember my generation’s own Day of Infamy: I was a seventh grader when 9/11 happened. I had trouble processing that this thing was going on less than twenty miles from my classroom in Northern NJ. Maybe I didn’t want to believe it. But I had to. I lost friends that day. We all did.

The principal, a Vietnam Vet and all around good guy, went on the loud speaker and gave us a bit on what had happened. I never heard his exact words, I was standing on line in the cafeteria when some bee-yatch started talking loudly behind me, garbling what I’m told were really meaningful words. I doubt the leaders at Letchworth would have done the same thing.

People think that mental patients are completely insane. Not true. They can –some more than others- process complex thoughts like love and hate, happiness, sadness, and even thoughts of tragedy and loss. The diseases they had were simply conditions, and in no way told who they were as people.

Thoughts like this went through my mind as we drove up to the place, and subsequently saw that the Village was –compared to most times we go- swarmed with all manner of walkers, joggers, and even a lone photographer with equipment far more sophisticated than mine.

I saw the cornerstone of one building, built in 1939. This building had to have been in brand-new condition during the onset of the war. It’s interesting to see how 69 years of use and then neglect have caused it to deteriorate. Every time we go, this place seems to fade more and more, falling in on itself and crumbling away.

I’m rather angry at the vandals who have torn this place apart. I’m sure at one point it was actually a nice place to explore, until local punks, probably all under the legal drinking age, trash the place at night. Setting fires, etc. At least two of the buildings have substantial fire damage, one so bad it’s got a chain link fence surrounding it. No warnings not to enter though and I walked right up to it once and noted that it still smelled like it had burnt down only yesterday. Kind of like a fireplace in the dead of winter.

The Old Hospital Building looms in the distance, heavily damaged by fire, no doubt started by people with more matches then sense. Its three impressive and foreboding stories tall, we focused on the basement and second floor, having already visited the third floor at one point during the summer.

Finding the morgue was easier than we had expected, basically, turn a corner and… there it is. A big clue that we were headed in the right direction was that one of the trays that the deceased would lay on while in the cooler was found down the hallway we were walking in, about a hundred feet from the morgue itself.

I found it interesting that there were no doors on the morgue itself, but reading threads online, I’m guessing some jackass took em off. Also, the area by the cooler had no doors whatsoever. Aren’t those areas supposed to be like, hidden? It was an easy find, which probably explains why it’s been torn apart.

The last photos in this set are shots of the morgue, with several orbs in them. Some believe that orbs are spirits who aren’t manifesting themselves as ‘ghosts’. Are they ghosts? You be the judge.

I’ll leave you guys with this quote, from Charles Little, Superintendent of Letchworth Village in 1912:

“As the law provides that we are to care for epileptic and feeble-minded persons, and as the training for both is along similar lines, it has been thought advisable to classify both feeble-minded and epileptics into groups, separating them only with distinct and suitable buildings.”

Ouija Board

Classic Shot of the Old Hospital Building

People tell me theres no such thing as ghosts.
They're in your head.
Your mind plays tricks on you.
We didn't go there on 12/7/2008 looking for ghosts.
We went looking for the morgue.
We found it.
And so much more.
They say I'm creative.
That I tell good stories.
And I'm entertaining.
I know something they don't.
I know they're there.
Down the roads to nowhere.
In the towers, nut houses, and fields around us.
I say this to the skeptics:
You can deny everything people tell you.
About what they see, hear and feel.
But when you go there yourself
And these things happen to you...
You believe.

Letchworth

2008-12-02T14:55:00.007-05:00

I’m panicking as we walk up the stairs from my basement to the kitchen. My parents are in the process of getting dinner together and we break the news that Nicky isn’t feeling good. Asthma attack. My blood turned to ice for the second time in two hours when she mentioned it to me.

I made record time getting her home to her inhaler, and a steam bath.

To make a long story short, she felt better soon thereafter, but missed dinner with my family and our evening meal was considerably lonelier without her.

After an hour or so, I went and picked her up again, finding that she was back to normal and eager to talk about what transpired at our most recent trip to the Village. Letchworth Village.

It was memorable for the amount of ground we covered in such a short amount of time, the encounters we had with ‘something’, and that I brought my good buddy Dave along for the trip.

After dishing out the flashlights to everybody, we got to the first building, a dormitory by the looks of it, with the front door wide open. Dave led the way, and we got a good tour of the ground floor of the building. The familiar smell of decay and must permeated the air. Venturing into unknown territory, we poked our heads in and out of the rooms along the hallway and were impressed with the lack of graffiti along them. Sure, it was there, but it looks like this building doesn’t appeal much to the vandals.

Perhaps it’s because as soon as we got ten feet away from the front door, it slammed behind us. And the same with the exit door. Wham!

Maybe it was drafty.

We walk around the property near the powerhouse for a bit and decide to venture into the largest building I’d yet seen. From the outside, it looked rather small, but appearances are deceiving and the large airplane-hanger-sized building, dark and odd, was pretty cool on the inside. I stepped on a metal sheet on the floor and saw that there was a space under it. Shining the beam from my light into a small hole, the cavern below looked to be about thirty feet deep with what looked like a forklift down there. Whatever it was, it was yellow and looked like it said HILTI on the top of it. Maybe this is the entrance to the tunnels I keep hearing about, sealed off by the local DPW so no one gets stuck down there.

So we continued into the neighboring power-plant and began checking out the mechanical system when we heard a painfully loud BOOM! Followed by two more as we slunk out of the building.

Walking along the exterior of the building, we entered the lower portion of the building, in the basement area for the life of me, I heard two men’s voices whispering softly. I shout

“Who’s there?”

Nothing. Then BANG!

“If someone is there, make that noise again.” I spoke clearly, like I was talking to someone who wasn’t familiar with English, or, as I look back on it, the way I speak to people with apparent intellectual deficiencies.

“Alex, there’s nothing here, it might have been the wind or-”

BANG!

“Did you work here?”

Nothing.

“Were you a patient here?”

A five second pause than BANG!

“Do you want to talk to us?”

Nothing.

“Do you want us to leave?”

Nothing.

“Alex, the banging is coming from that way, we best head in that direction.”

So we did, and entered another part of the basement.

“I’m back!”

Nothing.

“Were you a patient here?”

This time, the bang was fainter, like the striker was loosing enthusiasm.

“Do you want to talk to us?”

Nothing.

“Do you want us to leave?”

This time, I heard a very soft thud. Taking it’s advice, we the area and poked around some buildings used for storage and maintenance equipment, all razed and tattooed with graffiti. I don’t have too many good-quality pics to show, mainly because of bad lighting and a shaky hand, we focused more on simply exploring this time, rather than documenting our trip.

For Dave’s first trip to a place like this, I think he had a good time and his eagerness to walk headlong into darkness with his light off shows bravery that few I explore with possess.

Be Legendary,

-AK

Creeeeeepy place.

I just want my phone call. -The Joker

I think this one came out pretty good.

Welcome UER Furries

http://www.uer.ca/

Would that include us?

I'm starting to think of this place as like the place from the song Hotel California:
You can check-out any time you like... but you can never leave

Stairway

2008-11-25T00:14:00.006-05:00

In Saddle Brook, NJ, right by where Rt. 46 passes over Midland Ave sits this odd landmark with little or no known history about the place. I’ve taken to calling it The Stairway To Nowhere and that’s not entirely true since it does lead right up to Rt. 46. It’s a pretty cool place to go, albeit strewn with beer cans, graffiti, and sticker bushes that made my leg bleed something awful.
It was worth the trip, and the funny thing is... I've driven past it a thousand times and never even seen it before.

My car from afar

My better half

This is the actual stairway, kinda unstable and falling apart but
once you got a firm footing, easy to climb.

And shes buying a stairway to heaven

Be Legendary,
-AK

World's Fair

2008-11-19T19:52:00.003-05:00

Flushing Meadows, Queens, NYC

Anybody else remember Men in Black? That one with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, the finale, took place right there in Queens, right by the Billie Jean King Tennis Center and Shea Stadium. It was defiantly worth the trip, but bad weather forced us to abandon the other sites we wanted to visit and we ended up spending just a lot of time here, which was fine with us, made for some good photos and I’m working on getting better with this new camera, which I’m not 100% happy with right now. What I NEED is to save up for a digital SLR-type camera, but with those being as expensive as good ones are, I’ll stick to my tiny Casio and smile knowing it fits in my pocket and takes up less space than my iPod.

In 1964 the World’s Fair took place right here in NYC, and most of these places were used just for those events, and not much else. The “Globe” is frequented by tourists, BMX’ers, and dog-walkers all day long. Overall, a pretty cool place to go.

Enjoy the shots!

Be Legendary,

-AK

Renwick Smallpox Hospital

2008-11-02T23:16:00.005-05:00

Renwick Smallpox Hospital

Nicky, Clay and I loaded up the Taurus for the second day in a row and proceeded to investigate a place none of us had been before. This weekend was someone new, seeing as how yesterday we visited the two swimming holes in Oakland and Paramus, and now we ventured off to Queens, NYC.

First, let me get this out there: New Yorkers drive like assholes.

Now that that’s outta the way, back to Renwick.

Renwick Smallpox Hospital was opened in 1856 as a place to treat people stricken with… guess what? Smallpox! Designed by James Renwick Jr. the same guy who did St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and was built by prisoners who were serving time at Blackwell Island Penitentiary, which used to be a little ways up the little strip that is now called Roosevelt Island.

The Island sits in the middle of the East River, smack dab between Queens and Manhatten, offering great views of both boroughs and the back of the UN building. Also, a little south of Roosevelt Island, resides a little rocky outcropping called U Thant Island, to which Wikipedia says: “U Thant Island (officially Belmont Island) is a tiny 100 x 200 foot artificial island in New York City's East River, just south of Roosevelt Island. It lies across from United Nations headquarters at 42nd Street, and is legally considered part of the Borough of Manhattan and New York County. The islet is currently protected as a sanctuary for migrating birds, including a small colony of Double-crested Cormorant, and access is prohibited to the public.

The island has its origins in the 1890s as a side-effect of William Steinway's construction of trolley tunnels under the river to link bustling Manhattan to his eponymous company town in Steinway, Queens. The island was built up on the existing granite outcrop Man-o'-War Reef using excess landfill from a shaft dug down the reef to the tunnels. Steinway died before his tunnels' completion, and it was financier August Belmont, Jr. who finished the project in 1907, leaving the finished islet as a bonus.

The Steinway Tunnels are still in use as part of the 7-Flushing line in the New York Subway, and trains still pass directly beneath the island many times a day. Belmont Island, named after the financier, became the legal name of the island.

The small inconvenient island was unused and almost forgotten for nearly a century, until in 1977 it was adopted by employees at nearby UN headquarters following the guru Sri Chinmoy, who served as an interfaith chaplain there. The group, called Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations, leased the islet from New York State, greened its surface and unofficially renamed it after Burmese Buddhist United Nations Secretary General U Thant, a friend of Chinmoy. Although unofficial, U Thant Island has stuck as the common name for the island. The islet is now the site of a thirty-foot "oneness arch" preserving personal items of the island's namesake.”

Back to Renwick-

It was basically abandoned fifty something years ago, and since then has done little but fall apart and decay. For something that’s been rotting longer than my parents have been living, I’d say it’s in reasonably good shape. We couldn’t get inside, but from the glimpses we got from behind the fence showed minimal graffiti and all and all, it’s a very cool place to go.

Good news: the city of NY and the locals who run the island are in the process of re-strengthening Renwick, in hopes that it won’t come crumbling down.

Cant be THAT dangerous

The aforementioned U Thant Island

Its got a lotta 'awww' factor

Be Legendary,

-AK

Old Mill Pool

2008-11-02T01:52:00.011-04:00

In Paramus sits the Old Mill Bathing Beach, closed for literally decades, its sits abandoned and fenced in, waiting to get reopened. Nearest I can tell, dirt bikers ride around in the sand of the pool's bottom but otherwise it sits untouched. It was an easy find, but we got spooked when we saw some dude walking around in the woods behind us, kinda checking us out, so we took our last shots and went on our merry way.

My dad remembers going there for a trip when he was in the third grade and seeing his Uncle Eugene there with someone other than his Aunt Dorothea and yea it just went downhill from there.

The way my dad tells the story goes something like,
Talking to his mother-
"Guess what Mom!"
"What?"
"I saw uncle Eugene on da field twip toooday!"
"No you didn't, he was at work."
"Nuh-uh, I saw'd him, he was wit some pwetty lady with bwonde hair."
"Aunt Dorothea has brown hair."
"I knoooow. But this lady had bwonde hair."
"It wasn't him, Allen."
"Yes it was, he talked'd to me. He say he see you on Labor Day at Uncle Petey's."
"It wasn't him."
(Throws his hands up)
"Otay! If you say so!"

He'll carry that on, talking like a little kid, for a half-hour.
Funny thing was, this guy is/was/I'm not sure if he's still alive or what, my father's godfather. To this day, I still think my grandmother doesn't believe that my dad say Uncle Eugene there. Granted, we put the 'funk' dysfunctional.

I also think this is where my grandparents first met. Kinda strange because my grandmother lived in Jersey City and grandfather from Hoboken, originally Ireland. It was either this one or Graydon Pond in Ridgewood. More likely, this one. Poppy used to tell the story about seeing the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen there, doggy-paddling up to her and went about telling her that.

So if you wanna look at it like that, The Old Mill Bathing Beach holds an interesting place in my family. And the funny thing is, thousands drive past it every day and wouldnt give it a second thought.

Be Legendary,
-AK

Pleasureland

2008-11-01T21:14:00.004-04:00

So out in Oakland is this long abandoned place called Pleasureland.
Yeah, sweet name.
Its a relic from the sixties and seventies, and used to be a big swimming park kinda place.
Rumor has it that it was originally abandoned after a pair of Rastafarian gangs had an beef with each other resulting in... it closing.
So, there it sits. At the end of a short, wooded road that was recently paved and had a bunch of barricades and boulders dragged across the path.
The place is literally COVERED in graffiti, some interesting, some... dumb.
It was also one of the easiest finds we ever had. Right off a pretty busy road in Oakland NJ, we must have driven past it a... dozen times going around there before the 'oh yeah somethings back there' reaction occurred.
Its nice, and most certainly worth the trip.

Guilty as...

Ewww

Dr. Jones

Playin around with the 'monochrome' setting on the camera, and I kinda like the results.

You know, theres about... twenty-five pot leaves painted around this place, and someone had the audacity to paint DEA on something :)

Clay's foot. Oh yeah, hes the one in the red flannel in all the pics.

You talkin to me?

Be Legendary,
-AK

Upcoming Trips

2008-10-30T15:28:00.001-04:00

Call it my To-Do Lists
Some repeats, some new, either way, it's gonna be interesting...

Back In Black

2008-10-27T22:07:00.003-04:00

One Big Happy Dysfunctional Family

I saved up some money and got myself a new camera. I went with a Casio Exilim series again because of the price, features, and above all… it was on sale.

This time though, just for kicks, I got a cheap little carrying case for it so that oughta prolong it’s life right? I also got myself a warranty for it too.

Gotta love Best Buy, either way, expect more and newer updates. In the mean time, me and Sweetheart carved these yesterday, enjoy!

Lets put a smile on that face!

-AK

Telephone Pole Farm

2008-10-13T00:29:00.005-04:00

“THERE IT IS!”
Nicky’s shout gets my immediate attention and I quickly see where she’s pointing. We spent the past half-hour combing the area north of the actual site, looking for it.
Out in Chester Township is locally known roadside oddity that consists of a few hundred small telephone poles stuck in neat rows along the side of the road. These poles were ‘planted’ in the late 1920’s and used by AT&T, Bellcore and Telecordia communications companies as testing sites to measure how they held up in the ground, etc. All the poles –at one point, most still have them- had a copper or brass plaque nailed to them with a three or four digit number, and some have aluminum plates with more sophisticated info on them. All and all, it’s a very cool place to go. You can find it on North Road in Chester Township near the ball field. Its not haunted, or creepy, or frequented by evil spirits. Its just there.

I look like the fifth Beatle now that I hacked off the beard

Madness is like gravity... all it takes is a little push

-AK