Sherman Cahal and Adam Paris, authors of the newly released book Abandoned Kentucky, recently visited the former Old Taylor Distillery complex near Frankfort, Kentucky, to compile a series of before-and-after photos. Colonel Edmund H. Taylor acquired property along Glenn’s Creek and Versailles Pike and established Old Taylor Distillery in 1887. It was intended to be different from the distilleries of that era which had little confidence from consumers due to product quality. From its iteration, Old Taylor was designed to be a showcase for bourbon. Drawing heavily from his travels through Scotland, England, Ireland, and elsewhere, Taylor designed his distillery…
Tag: Industry
There was no better way than spending autumn driving the backroads and camping in the Potomac Highlands region of West Virginia, photographing forlorn houses, historic sites, covered bridges, and vast landscapes against a backdrop of golden hues.
The abandoned lime kilns at Eagle Rock, Virginia are all that remain of an operation that was operated by a series of entities between 1878 and 1954.
Earlier this year, I revisited the Lonaconing Silk Mill, a significant historical site as one of the last intact silk mills in the United States. This mill, operated by the Klotz Throwing Company and General Textile Mills Company, was in active use from 1901 until its closure in 1957.
Located along the Kentucky River Palisades is a unique but abandoned fluorspar mine turned speakeasy.
Snaking through the southern reaches of Floyd County, Kentucky is the remains of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Long Fork Subdivision that connected to some of the most prosperous coal mines in the state.
This guide explains how nitrocellulose (smokeless powder) and black powder was produced at Indiana Army Ammunition Plant in Charlestown, Indiana.
The Amanda Furnace and BOF at the former Armco/AK Steel Ashland Works were simultaneously imploded at 8:30 AM this morning. Steelmaking operations were idled on December 15, 2015, and the plant was closed for good by November 2019. The Hanging Rock Iron Region in southern Ohio, northeastern Kentucky, and western West Virginia produced iron between 1818 and 1916, which helped build armaments for the Civil War, hulls for the Monitor and Merrimac ships, kettles and pots, tools, and wagon wheels. It was predicted that iron ore in the Hanging Rock Iron Region would last for 2,700 years but most of…
I’ve always been curious about this cool neon sign on the side of some concrete silos in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
The drive along Zenith Road to the unincorporated community of Zenith, West Virginia is a step back into time.
Charcoal timber, iron ore, and limestone supplied material for numerous furnaces that produced pig iron, munitions, and tools in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. One of the most preserved is the Buckeye Furnace near Wellston, Ohio. The Buckeye Furnace was financed by the Newkirk, Daniels & Company and constructed by Thomas Price in 1851. It initially produced 7½ tons of iron per day, operating 42 weeks out of the year. Output was later increased to 12 tons of iron per day. The furnace was sold to H.S. Bundy in 1862, the Perry Austin & Company in 1864, and the Buckeye…
The introduction of the railroad to West Virginia’s New River Gorge turned the area into a globally significant coal mining region.
The Totuskey Creek Store is an abandoned mercantile stand along the still waters of Totuskey Creek near Warsaw, Virginia.
After losing my first drone, a GoPro Karma, to a tree and ultimately Tupper Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York over a year ago, I have been itching to get back in the air. And since that faithful day, I’ve been wanting to capture this massive tailing pile and concentrating plant. I finally got the chance to yesterday after a fresh snowfall blanketed the region.
The printing operations for the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, then the world’s largest magazine publishing house, was located on High Street in Springfield, Ohio. After years of underutilization and disuse, the remainder of the once-storied complex will be demolished.
The Lonaconing, Maryland silk mill, last operated by General Textile Mills, is one of my favorite buildings to photograph. From its early 20th century machinery to its dated calendars and papers, it is remarkable that this testament to industrial heritage remains standing well over 50 years past its closure.
In 2016, I embarked on a journey of self-reinvention, turning my attention to the Finger Lakes after enduring a challenging period in Cleveland, Ohio.