A gallery of abandoned industries in the United States.
There are countless industrial properties that are unused, neglected, or discontinued due to various reasons such as economic decline, technological advancements, or shifts in consumer demand. These parcels often face significant challenges in terms of revitalization and require strategic interventions to bring them back to productivity.
Indiana
Farmers Grain Company
The former Farmers Grain Company elevator of Carlos, Indiana, is located on the abandoned Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railway. Construction began in May 1920 and was completed later in the year at the cost of $33,500. 1
Kentucky
Newport Rolling Mill
The Newport Rolling Mill in Newport, Kentucky, was constructed circa 1901.
Other
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Baker Castor Oil Company
The Baker Castor Oil Company, later owned by CasChem and Vertellus, manufactured castor oil and other food oil products.
New York
Bingham Mills
In 1790, Walter T. Livingston established Good Hope Mill, a grist mill, along the Roeliff Jansen Kill in Columbia County, New York. 6 The area became known as Blatner’s Mills, a misnomer derived from Jacob Platner, one of the first settlers in the region.
Charles Bingham, relocating from Connecticut in 1865, transformed the grist mill into a paper mill. He also built several houses for his employees. 4 6 Over time, the community grew to include a grist mill, two paper mills, a blacksmith shop, a woolen factory, a Methodist Episcopal church dating back to around 1857, and 20 residences. 4 5 By 1878, the village was home to 125 people.
In 1908, George Leary from New York City initiated the construction of a hydroelectric power plant along the creek. By 1928, the surrounding land was acquired, a dam constructed, and the Red Hook Power & Light Company commenced operations.
The power plant was acquired by New York Power & Light Company in the 1920s, which subsequently sold it to Niagara Mohawk. The plant ceased operations in the late 1950s. 6 The dam was dismantled in 1965.
Other
Ohio
Ohio Calcium Company
The silos were part of the Ohio Calcium Company operated by Carter Abel in Lawrence County, Ohio.
Springfield Metallic Casket Company
The Springfield Metallic Casket Company is a former manufacturer of metallic caskets in Springfield, Ohio. Established in 1884, the factory was the largest of its type in the United States. 16
Other
Pennsylvania
C.H. Wheeler Manufacturing Company
The C.H. Wheeler Manufacturing Company was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Other
Tennessee
Baldwin Coal Preparation Plant
In 2006, the National Coal Company, which had established new mining operations and acquired more than 65,000 acres of mineral rights between Smoky Junction and Baldwin in the New River region of Tennessee. 9 The company struggled as it found few buyers for its higher sulfur coal that required more environmental remediation measures at power plants.
By 2009, the Baldwin facility at Devonia was loading only one unit train per week destined for Georgia Power. 10 National Coal was on the verge of bankruptcy in April 2010 and it sold its Baldwin plant and mining operations to Ranger Energy for $11.8 million. 11 12 In December 2011, the Baldwin facility was taken over by Premium Coal, a subsidiary of the Southern Coal Corporation, and the facility was closed in January 2012 after more than a million gallons of untreated water and coal waste were illegally discharged into the New River. 13 14 All underground and surface mining operations out of the Fork Mountain area closed on May 25, 2013. 15
Fisk University Steam Plant
The Fisk University Steam Plant closed in 1982.
West Virginia
Arbuckle Coal & Coke Company
The Arbuckle Coal & Coke Company was constructed along the south side of Arbuckle Creek near its terminus with the New River in Fayette County, West Virginia. 7 A 4,204-foot siding of the South Side Branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway served the facility; two additional short sidings served a tipple and coke ovens.
The Rend Nos. 1 and 2 mines for the tipple and coke ovens were located further up the hollow towards Rend (Minden after 1905). 7 They were operated by W.P. Rend from 1901-04. A narrow-gauge railroad was built on the west side of Arbuckle Creek to bring coal from the mines to a headhouse, where it was transferred to an incline. The incline led down the steep hillside and across the top of the Rend Branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway to the tipple and coke ovens located along the three sidings of the South Side Branch.
By the fall of 1901, Arbuckle was referred to as Rend. 7 In mid-1904, it was noted as B. Mine and then as Minden No. 1 by January 1906. By the 1920s, it was called Weewin.
Bennett & Hester Limestone Quarry
Bennett & Hester of Bellington, West Virginia, operated a limestone quarry at Bowden. 8 It featured a small processing plant along the Western Maryland Railway, supplying limestone dust to coal mines in the Junior coal field.
Coal Dock
West Virginia Malleable Iron Company
The West Virginia Malleable Iron Company was incorporated in Heights (later North Point Pleasant) on September 11, 1902, and produced malleable iron castings. 3 Buildings included a foundry, finishing shop, boiler and engine house, pattern shop, carpenter shop, core room, offices, and storage.
Malleable iron initially cast is brittle and made malleable by a special heat treatment at high temperatures. 3 At the time the plant was built, the company produced bed castings and tank lugs, and later castings for other industries, growing to compass over 1,000 patterns. The largest consumers of the castings were the automotive, railroad, and farm equipment industries. Most of the customers were outside of the state, although some of the castings were sold to West Virginia entities, mostly in the mining and electrical industries. One of the most unique orders came from New York City for 25 miles of chain to be used in its sewer system. It was cast in six-inch lengths and hooked with pins.
In the early 1970s, the coal-fired furnace was replaced with two electrical furnaces to reduce pollution. 3 In September 1973, the Warren Tool Company acquired the Malleable Iron Company, which was operated as a subsidiary until the plant closed on February 11, 1983. At its height, Malleable Iron employed 250.
Sources
- “Industrial and Financial.” Indianapolis News 20 May 1920: 29. Print.
- “Historic Boneyfiddle Region (Entry 47).” Scioto County Government, 23 July 2007.
- Williamson, Helen. “West Virginia Malleable Iron Co.” History of Mason County, West Virginia, Mason County Public Library, Point Pleasant, WV, 1987, pp. 463–464.
- Historical plaque.
- “Hidden Hamlets and Vanishing Villages.” Columbia County Historical Society, 2021.
- O’Sullivan, Darren. “Hamlet once home to factories, bootleggers.” Poughkeepsie Journal, 30 Aug. 1995, p. 1B.
- McChord, Wendell. “Stations on the South Side Branch, the Rend Branch, and South Side Mainline.” Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, Fall 2014, pp. 4.
- Bowles, Oliver. Sources of Limestone, Gypsum and Anhydrite for Dusting Coal Mines to Prevent Explosions, Bureau of Mines, 1925. pp. 12-14.
- “National Coal purchases 42-mile railroad line.” Knoxville News-Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2006, p. C1.
- “Railroad company to file for abandonment of former Tennessee Railroad line.” Independent Herald, 11 Feb. 2020.
- Marcum, Ed. “National Coal Corporation’s doors shut.” Knoxville News Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2011.
- “UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION.” National Coal Corp.
- Fowler, Bob. “Coal operation shut down after discharge in New River.” Knoxville News-Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2012, p. 9A.
- Fowler, Bob. “Coal firm fined for spill.” Knoxville News-Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2012, pp. A1-A9.
- Williams III, G. Chambers. “Pushing to get back on the right track.” Courier News, 3 Jun. 2020.
- In the Heart of the Mad River Valley. Springfield: 1914. p. 29.
I worked there along with most everyone in Carlos Indiana. I sure miss those days as a kid in the 60s.