Posts Tagged ‘Abandoned Car’

Beautiful Freak – The Abandoned Kristoff Pig Farm

Posted: May 19, 2021 by kingleser in #postaday, Abandoned, Abandoned Attractions, Abandoned Business, Abandoned Cars, Abandoned Connecticut, Abandoned Farm, abandoned home, Abandoned House, Abandoned Massachusetts, abandoned new england, Abandoned New Hampshire, Abandoned New York, Abandoned Park, Abandoned Places, Abandoned Rhode Island, Abandoned Road, Abandoned USA, Abandoned Vermont, Abandoned Wonders, Automobiles, Broken, Closed, commercial, darkness, Death, Destruction, dreams, empty, Exploration, exploring the abandoned, Forgotten, forgotten beauty, forgotten home, Ghosts, Graveyard, Haunting, Hiking, History, Information, left behind, lost, Massachusetts, Movies, Mystery, nature, new england, nightmares, overgrown, photography, Public Parks, research, Ruins, Safety First, State Parks, Stories, time, Uncategorized, Urban Decay, Urban Exploration, Urban Exploring, Urbex, writing, WWII
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Beautiful Freak

The Abandoned Kristoff Pig Farm

Written by: Wilk

Photographs by: Lassie

Ladies, and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Children of all ages. Step right up. Come and see the show. May is here. Yay, I guess. We’re well into Spring, heading towards Summer. But for some reason it’s still bloody windy everyday. Like, serious gusts of wind. Why? New England, that’s why. The funny thing about May is that it’s unofficially become our “weird” month. The more unusual places just happen to get covered during this time of year. Maybe it’s because of the nice weather. Or perhaps it’s just fate. Last year we covered the infamous abandoned UConn Kennels. The year before that was Philadelphia’s Goliath abandoned prison/museum Eastern State Penitentiary. Well, we continue the trend this month. I’ve been filming a movie up in Massachusetts for the last few weeks. It’s involved a lot of pre-production, wardrobe fittings, and, of course, Covid tests. In other words, lots of driving back and forth from home to Boston. Just another day in the life of an actor. On one of my many journeys, I decided it might be nice to go for a walk after dealing with film stuff. I like my walks to have some sort of uniqueness to them. Whether it be history, or something to see, or a story of any kind really. And driving back home from an early morning meeting, I just happened to find the right place to check out. And oh, yes, it fit right in with our “weird” month trend.

I honestly thought about opening this piece with Brick Top’s monologue about pig farms from Guy Ritchie’s Snatch. If you’ve seen the film, then you know what I’m talking about. But that definitely would’ve gotten us put on some FBI watch-list. If we’re not on there already… This is another one of those rare places that I just happened to come across while cruising Reddit on one of my days off. It certainly sounded unique, so I decided it might be worth a visit. Even though a couple of it’s original structures have since been demolished. This is the abandoned Kristoff Pig Farm. First established by the Kristoff family in the early twentieth century, this was once one of the most successful farms in all of Massachusetts. Two brothers brought together seven different farms to create one massive property. Their goods were bought and sold all up and down the Eastern seaboard. The family-run business was loved and respected by their community. And they are said to have taken great care of their animals. But like many beloved businesses of this time-frame, time can be a cruel beast. Towards the end of the century, a highway bypass cut straight through their property. And with the passing of their original owner, the farm was forced to close. The animals were sold off. The farmhands moved on to other work. And the land was left to rot.

The abandoned pig farm is huge and right in the middle of wild country. It lies on a desolate road. There is no real parking lot. The gate is blocked. You just kind of have to find a place to put your car that’s out of the way. There are no maps or anything of the sort. You have to find everything on your own, and it’s all very spread out. Many paths lead you to nowhere. A lot of sections are completely overgrown. And you really have to do a lot of digging to find anything worth seeing. I ended up spending several hours here just to make sure I saw everything that there was to see. And while my pictures are not as good as Lassie’s, I think they do a decent job. The first stop on the path is the old processing plant. This is a massive metal structure built into the hillside. At the top it has two large metal tubes, which then lead down to the bottom. God knows what used to be thrown down them. Around here are also a few old wooden pens and what appears to be some sort of feeding station. But you will have to do some climbing to get to them. There are also a few old wooden outhouses off in the distance. But here is where the trail forks. It is the crossroads of the abandoned farm. Both trails will eventually dead-end on you. But both have some pretty cool abandoned stuff, and they unfortunately do not connect with each other. At least, not anymore.

If you go right, you will eventually find what I have come to call “The Graveyard.” This is definitely one of the main attractions of the abandoned pig farm. Here is where all of the old machinery and such has been dumped. An old car rots into oblivion. Dumpsters have been turned over. Some even still bare the name of “Kristoff” on their sides. Tractors decay into the dirt. There is even a massive abandoned trailer full of all kinds of junk. The scariest piece of which is a mask from the 2001 Jim Carrey film The Grinch. Freaky stuff. You peak in through the main hatch and it’s just staring back at you. Everything is also full of bullet holes. So clearly someone is enjoying these old grounds. If you choose to go left on the main trail, you will eventually find the main hog house. This is a large abandoned pen that once housed the largest pigs on the farm. It is a small wooden building with no doors to hold back the outside world. There are several pens connected by a main walk-way, each with it’s own trough. The wooden frame is clearly starting to fall apart. Inside is also all kinds of junk. Things like window frames, a TV, and even an old toilet are cast aside on the ground. Here is also where I found the first real signs of graffiti, as most of the ground had been relatively untouched. Alongside it are a large rusted up tractor and another beat-up trailer full of junk.

In a curious turn of events, when I arrived at my destination, the parking area was full of cars. There were nine or ten of them at the pull-off. But when I got back, every one of them was gone. I had only encountered two other people out there, and they were together. It was a friendly couple who were looking for directions. But unfortunately, I was as lost as there were. I ended up being able to work this website into the discussion. So, guys, if you’re reading this, hello there! The abandoned farm is also absolutely teeming with wildlife. Though the people were few and far between, the animals were another story. Chipmunks scurry amongst the brush. The calls of the chickadees echo through the forest. A portly groundhog shuffles his way around the rusted ruins. A large black and yellow snake suns himself in the middle of the trail. And for some reason, I kept bumping into this one lonely turkey. He was just wandering around, all by himself, clearly looking for something. On several occasions, we’d make each other jump by not realizing the other was there. Oh, and I pulled at least six ticks off myself during/after my walk. I also kept finding them in my car for the next couple of days. Lovely stuff. So be warned. But if you’re up for something a little weird, and a little out there, this place is totally for you. So step right up. Don’t be shy.

Advertisement

A Quarter-Mile At A Time

The Abandoned Blue Hot Rod

Written by: Wilk

Photographs by: Lassie

“I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters; not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less…I’m free.” – Dominic Toretto

Personally, I prefer Need for Speed. But that first Fast and Furious movie was a classic. I remember seeing it for the first time with my brother one Friday night when we were kids. We loved it. We got all the Matchbox cars. We built all the characters out of Lego. We even got our hands on the soundtrack. We had no idea what Ja Rule was saying in his songs, but damn did we find them catchy. My brother loved this movie so much that he has gone on to be a very successful auto mechanic. He truly loves cars, and attributes that love to seeing this movie for the first time. It just goes to show you that any of us can find our inspiration in some of the most unexpected ways. Cars have always been something that have captivated the imaginations of people everywhere. As Jesse in The Fast and the Furious says, “just something about engines that calms me down.” It’s a beautiful thing. So full disclosure here, the snow really got to us this month. We were hoping to make our return to exploring, but we’ve had several inches of snow and ice coating the ground all through February. That said, our hearts go out to all of our friends in Texas right now. So once again, this piece will be from our archives. You know, those adventures that are really fun, but never quite make it onto our blog. Until times like these. This was an abandoned relic we just happened to stumble across last summer, and it’s one that has stuck with me ever since. This is the abandoned Blue Hot Rod.

For those of you who don’t remember, or have chosen to forget, the summer of 2020 sucked. It was hot. It was divisive. It was boring. It made people like me realize that summer really isn’t that fun when you’re not a kid. You’re stuck inside with nowhere to go and nothing to do. And if you were like us and didn’t have air conditioning at the time, then you were really in trouble. So it was our policy during this time to get outside and go for a walk whenever we got a chance. Whenever there was a break in the heat, we were out there. One weekend in late July, we got one of those days. So we went out. The plan was to go for a quick walk, grab some essential supplies, pick up some take-away, then head home. A nice/simple summer day. We picked a small park nearby to us. It was close to the city, yet far enough away to be quiet. We had walked this park before once, but it was mostly flooded at the time. The dog unfortunately had to sit this one out. Our walk was nice. The birds were chirping. The sun was shining. And the heat was manageable. Plus there wasn’t too many people around. The trail we took was a mile long loop. But around the half-way point, we came across something hiding in the bushes. Off the beaten path, it looked like just another abandoned car. Not too exciting. So we decided to snap a few photographs for our Instagram. But the closer we got to it, the more we began to realize that this car was a little bit different from all of the others.

I have tried to do as much research as possible on this car, but have yet to come up with a solid make and model. At first, we honestly thought it was an ambulance. The frame is quite big and there is a fading blue paint job on the exterior. But the closer you look, the more this starts to look like an old school luxury car from a bygone era. Judging from the fins on the back, I believe it is from the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. With it’s unique push-button transmission and wired steering wheel, this might be a Chrysler. Possibly a Dodge. But like I said earlier, I’m not much of a car guy. If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to share. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Most of the abandoned cars we’ve covered in the past have just been rusting hulks of metal that have been cast aside. They’ve all been at abandoned houses, old work sites, or forgotten junkyards. This one, however, seemed like it was a real treasure at one point. The striking blue upholstery and sturdy leather seats really make me question why this old hot rod was left out here to rot. It definitely looks like this car was rather expensive in it’s heyday. But why was it left behind? What led this amazing machine to this grim fate? I could see this old beauty cruising along the back roads way back when. Now it lies sinking into the dirt, surrounded by ferns and mosquitoes. We were the only ones out in the park that day, but the old classic car is very much hidden off the main trail. Let’s hope it stays that way.

As a matter of professionalism, we never share the locations of our abandoned cars. It’s nothing personal against our readers. It’s just we’ve had a lot of people contact us in the past looking for abandoned cars to scrap for money. That just doesn’t sit well with me. Relics like this old blue hot rod deserve to be preserved and remembered, not scrapped. I know it seems rather silly to spend an entire article on a single car. But I think our pictures speak for themselves. All that remains of this old marvel are very striking. Some of the tech has somehow survived all of these years. The blue upholstery gives it a very magical yet tragic feel. You can still feel the era that this workhorse came from. Someone, somewhere, must’ve really loved and enjoyed this car at some point. I felt like this one needed to be shared and talked about, as it honestly stands apart from all other abandoned cars we’ve seen before. I know winter sucks right now and things can feel hopeless sometimes. But we have to carry on and hope that tomorrow will be a better day. I miss exploring. I miss being out there hunting down the places that the world has forgotten about. But that is just going to have to wait. Waiting sucks. But it’s almost always worth it. You cannot just skip over times like these. You have to learn to appreciate the little things. That’s how you grow as a person. Spring is coming. Dawn approaches. Better days will be here soon. We’ll get there someday. Even if it is just a quarter mile at a time.

Arrested Decay

The Abandoned Chester-Hudson Quarry

Written by: Wilk

Photographs by: Lassie

On our last piece written for this site, we got a comment reading:

“Not your best effort :-(“

It really pissed me off. But it pissed me off because it was true. To be fair, it was just another one of our “Top 10 Movies” lists. But still. It made me realize that the quality of our posts has gone down in recent months. Articles were getting shorter and fewer in between. The places we visited weren’t as exciting as they used to be. It’s just that the older we get, the busier we get. That’s just the why life is. Sometimes being an adult sucks. Unfortunately, this means we have less and less time to go exploring. Especially as the blank spaces across the map are steadily being filled in. It’s becoming increasingly harder to find good spots to explore. But you guys deserve better. And so, we’re going to be better. And so this is a place that I personally chose as our comeback piece. It is a landmark that I’ve had my eye on for a long time, and it has truly become one of my favorite places I have ever visited. This, ladies and gents, is the abandoned Chester-Hudson Quarry.

Located in the breath-taking town of Becket, Massachusetts, this location is nestled deep in the Berkshire Mountains community. Those of you who follow this site should know by now how much I love the Berkshires. The Chester-Hudson Quarry was a thriving granite business in the community starting in the mid-1800’s. Stone mined from the rich quarry was shipped off to be used all over the country. But, as is a recurring theme of these places, times always change. The need for such commodities eventually began to wane, especially with rising costs and an ever changing economy. With a steadily declining prosperity, the quarry was eventually shut down in the 1960’s. While the workers went home, they left behind many of their tools and equipment to weep in solitude. I don’t know they did this. Maybe they were hoping to return to work someday. But someday never came. Fear not, though. The grounds were saved from commercial development by the local Becket Land Trust.

Our visit to the abandoned Chester-Hudson Quarry came on a beautiful misty day in early summer 2018. Full honesty: we visited this place on my 27th birthday. I usually hate my birthday, because everything just seems to go wrong. Luckily for me, today was not one of those days. The rain had luckily missed us during our trip, covering the grounds in a ghostly mist. We were the only visitors there that day, which is the way I like it. From the first steps into the preserve, this place looks like any other New England walking trail. But after a short hike in, you begin to see the remains of the old quarry. A few rusty structures still barely stand. Two mysteriously left behind old trucks slowly rot into the earth. The quarry itself is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. You turn the corner from the old wreckage, and boom. There it is.  The water glistens vibrantly in the sun. The deep croaks of the bullfrogs echo across the rocky walls. And for a moment, or two, there is true tranquility to be found. I will truly never forget the first time I saw it.

Atop the hill overlooking the quarry are the remains of the rope system. These were once used to lift large rocks from the quarry for processing. It is a bit of a walk to get to, mostly through the mud and tall grass. But it provides an excellent view of the entire grounds. Much like the town of Bodie, California, the Chester-Hudson Quarry sits in a state of what is called “Arrested Decay,” also known as a “Preserved Ruin.” The structures are not repaired, but they are kept from falling into complete deterioration. It seems to be an ever growing trend across the country. People are looking to preserve what they can while they can. The old lifting machines are quite rusted, but the stiff-arm derrick of the old quarry was, in fact, restored by the local volunteers of the Becket Land Trust. The whole notion gives this place a very unique, almost “abandoned museum” type feel to it. Plaques and info-panels have even been added in some places. Clearly, this place is very loved and well cared for by its owners.

The Chester-Hudson Quarry is completely legal to visit, and I highly suggest this place to all of our readers who are hikers. It may not be pure-blood urban exploration, but it’s still pretty amazing. Personally, it was especially nice to see during the very early days of summer. There is just so much here to see and experience. Sometimes it’s hidden amongst the underbrush. Sometimes it’s right on the trail. A word of caution though to all potential visitors: Salamanders. Salamanders everywhere. We must’ve counted over a hundred small fiery orange salamanders on our walk through these woods. They were just bloody everywhere. So watch your step. They didn’t show up until half way through our visit. But once we started seeing them, they just wound up being everywhere. As summer begins to come into full swing, there really is something magical about this place. It has a hauntingly mystical quality about it, and really is one of the most special places we have ever explored.

BQ5

If you would like to learn more about the Becket Land Trust, please visit their official website – https://becketlandtrust.org/

The Top 5 Abandoned Places of 2016

Posted: December 30, 2016 by kingleser in #postaday, Abandoned, Abandoned Amusement Park, Abandoned Attractions, Abandoned Business, Abandoned Cabin, Abandoned Cape Cod, Abandoned Connecticut, Abandoned Farm, Abandoned Forts, abandoned home, Abandoned Hospital, Abandoned House, Abandoned Massachusetts, abandoned military bases, abandoned new england, Abandoned Racetrack, Abandoned Resort, Abandoned Rhode Island, Abandoned Ski Area, Abandoned Stores, Abandoned USA, Abandoned Vermont, Abandoned Wonders, Beaches, Cape Cod, Closed, Connecticut, Destruction, Exploration, exploring the abandoned, Ghosts, Haunting, Hiking, History, Hogback Mountain, Information, Massachusetts, Military, Military Forts, Mystery, Mystic, nature, new england, Ocean View, photography, Public Parks, Rhode Island, Ruins, Stories, Truro, Uncategorized, Urban Decay, Urban Exploration, Urban Exploring, Urbex, Vermont, writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Please check out our second annual Top 5 Abandoned Places video! It covers all of the best places we’ve explored this year. Happy New Year, everyone!

Welcome to the Tombs

The Abandoned Car Graveyard

Written by: Sean L.

Photos by: Amanda H.

We love to explore. It’s kind of what we do. We do our research, we go out on investigation, and then we document our adventures on this site. But every once in awhile, we simply stumble across things in our travels. I mean, that’s how we got started in the crazy world so many years ago. While hiking, we randomly found ourselves in the middle of the abandoned Sunrise Resort. We weren’t planning on it. It just sort of happened. Every once in awhile, we just find things. Like in the early Fall of 2015. We were out for a hike in a forgotten little state park along a lonely little river. The sun was slowly fading, and the leaves we gradually beginning to fall. But while strolling along the riverbank, we stumbled upon a long lost graveyard. Not for people, or even pets. This graveyard was for long lost automobiles.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Motorized transports can be traced back all the way to the sixteen hundreds in ancient China. But automobiles as we now know them first began to take shape in the late nineteenth century. Both German and American engineers began to make headway in what is now a billion dollar industry by pioneering the field of gasoline powered engines. By the early nineteen hundreds, factories were beginning to produce engines all around the United States. But the concept truly became a phenomenon when Henry Ford began to mass produce and perfect the automobile design. By the time the Roaring Twenties came about, Ford’s design could be seen on both sides of the country and across Europe.Today, cars are everywhere.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sadly, this includes being lost and left to rot beside an old river deep in the woods. We discovered a half dozen rusting corpses of all cars scattered amongst the underbrush. They were all within a quarter mile of each other, some grouped closer together than others. Old parts and other scraps were strewn about all over the place. Most of these old cars were too far gone to really discern what make or model they were (if you are a car expert, please feel free to comment). To me, they just all look like the cars from The Untouchables. Though the interiors had long since rotted away, the local wildlife now occupies most of these old relics. Wild snakes dwell on the ground, sunning themselves on what is left of the once luxurious seats. And in the ceilings, families of mice cluster together in fear whenever anyone walks by. It was a true graveyard, one that has been lost for what appears to be many years.

Welcome to Garden of Lost Cars.

Welcome to the Graveyard of Empires.

Welcome to the Tombs.

Rest in Peace.

Abandoned Shoe Taken Back by Nature

What is your favorite story about your urban exploring? Did you have a scary moment running into dangerous individuals, did you have an exciting moment where you discovered a new place to explore? Do you have a favorite type of location to explore (ie. abandoned homes, hotels, hospitals, railways, etc.)? Share your stories below! We would love to hear about your experiences, incite, and suggestions for other explorers!!

~Amanda and Sean

http://www.facebook.com/abandonedwonders

https://abandonedwonders.wordpress.com/

Far from Home

Exploring the Abandoned Skinner House

By Sean and Amanda

There’s a knock at the door, but nobody answers. The sounds echo through the house’s empty rooms. There’s a hole in the roof that will never be fixed. Birds and wildlife come and go through it as they please. The old shed collapsed years ago. It lies in ruin beside the decaying barn. An old car sits in the driveway. The tires have been flattened over time. Wild vines have started to take it over. Blocked in behind it sits an old truck. Its original color and model name have become unrecognizable. If these old walls could talk, I don’t think they would talk at all. I think they would scream. They would scream because they have seen too much, and they’ve had to go through it all alone. They would cry out in pain and anguish, because whoever once called this place home clearly left a long time ago. This is the Skinner House.

Down a back country road in a forgotten part of a little town lies an old house. Who lived there? How long has it been abandoned? Why was this house left to rot? We don’t know. And in fact, nobody around here seems to. The neighbors of this place were either no help or could not be reached for comment. What we can tell you about the Skinner House is that it has clearly been empty for many years. To be perfectly clear, we can neither confirm nor deny that it is in fact called the Skinner House. It has earned this nickname due to the fact that it sits right on the corner of Shoddy Mill Road and the windy Skinner Road in Bolton, Connecticut. It is barely a mile from the border of rural Andover, Connecticut and a stone’s throw from the heavily trafficked Route 6A.

I drive past the Skinner House almost every day on my way to and from work. It took me awhile to even notice that it was in fact abandoned. No offense to the people that live in these rural towns, but most seem to have at least one house that is not very taken care of. But after weeks of driving past this old house in the early mornings and late afternoons, I began to notice things. I never saw a single person come or go from it. There was never a light on inside of it. The two broken down cars in the driveway never moved. Every single day passing by it, the house seemed to be sitting there frozen in time. Nothing ever seemed to change. Using our standard methods of preparing for an investigation, (see The 5 Rules), I found absolutely no information on the house. It had simply been forgotten.

So during a chilly winter day in December, we decided to go have a look around. The Skinner House isn’t too difficult to find. It is nestled at the crossroads of a nice little neighborhood and a backcountry road. As stated earlier, it is almost right on top of the border between the towns of Bolton and Andover. It stands right next to a small bridge covering an even smaller stream. Just in case there actually was someone living there, we didn’t just pull up the driveway. There is a little spot beside the bridge that we could easily pull up to. The Skinner House is actually a good sized building, with at least two floors. There is also a large barn standing beside the street. The remnants of what looked like a shed or even a smaller barn lay next to that. Behind the house is just wild trees and wilderness.

Not only did we find not a single sign of life, but we also didn’t find a single NO TRESPASSING sign. There was nothing here. In the woods behind the house, there were plenty of signs warning off any potential hunters or fishermen. But no such signs were posted on the property itself. After a quick look around and a knock on the old door, it became perfectly clear to us that this wasteland was indeed abandoned. Inside of the house, there was nothing but trash left behind. And in fact, the caved in roof and the old floor boards are so unstable that we did not even go inside. To do so would be incredibly dangerous. We also found evidence of some sort of large animal, or animals, taking up residence inside the old house. Even though there are no KEEP OUT signs, it is best to do so.

What we found most interesting about the abandoned Skinner House were the cars that had been left behind. They sit alone in the driveway, with brush and foliage all over them. In the front is an old red Mercury sedan. Its tires are flat, but it could still be in salvageable shape. Blocked in behind it is an old truck. This thing was so old and beat up, we couldn’t even tell what Make or Model it was. It is now just a rusty hunk of metal. Remarkably, we didn’t find much of any vandalism on the property. None of the windows on the house have been smashed, there was no liter on the grounds, and we didn’t find any graffiti. Inside the house may be a different story though. The barn is in just as poor shape as the house. Paint is slowly chipping and the wood frame is rapidly decaying. On a lighter note, we did find a family of rabbits now occupies the old barn.

The Skinner House is by far one of our more unique investigations. Not only did we not find any information at all about this place, but it seems like it has been relatively left alone in its state of decay. Not a single FOR SALE, NO TRESPASSING, or KEEP OUT sign can be found on the property. With the cars still in the driveway, it seems like people just got up and left one day. Nature now rules this place. The wild now lives where humans once did. Though the house still stands, it is far from a home. We are still left to wonder why the Skinner House was abandoned. And what happened to the people that lived there.

** Please Share, Follow, Comment on, and Like if you enjoyed this article! Thank you!! **