Rather than go swimming in the nearby pool, I took advantage of the Memorial Day holiday to visit an interesting and unusual local cemetery, St. Stephen's, located just east of Old Louisville. It is a worthwhile visit, should you find the time and inclination.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Abandoned Shelbyville Road Bridge, crossing Floyd's Fork in Louisville, KY.
This old double-arch concrete bridge lies slightly to the south of the current US-60/Shelbyville Road bridge. The age of it is unknown, but the current bridge appears to date from the 1990s. My guess is that this structure probably dates from the 1920s, give or take a little bit.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Abandoned flashing rack outpost at the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant - Charlestown, Indiana
This flashing rack station was a part of the old Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, and is located in what is currently Charlestown State Park in Charlestown, Indiana. The purpose of the flashing rack was to check that used plant materials no longer had any traces of propellant. Only a small building that appears to have been an office at one time now remains in the area. At the time these photos were taken the office was more or less how it was left when abandoned.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Nuclear Fall Out Shelter Sign - New Albany, Indiana
I found this Cold War relic in the stairway of the Floyd County Court House in New Albany, Indiana. A lot of old public buildings will still have fall out shelters in their basements, but the signage in most places has been removed. I may return one day to get some pictures of the basement, but the door was locked at the time when I took this picture.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Abandoned Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant - Jefferson County, Indiana
Marble Hill was a nuclear power plant that began to be constructed in 1977 and was never finished. The plant was abandoned by the company now known as Duke Energy in 1984. The abandoned cooling towers of the plant were visible driving the back roads of Jefferson County, Indiana for two decades until the scrapping of the plant began in 2005. These photos were taken in the midst of the scrapping process and the towers came down not too long after that.
Abandoned Eastern Cemetery and Crematorium - Louisville, Kentucky
Eastern Cemetery is located on Baxter Avenue in Louisville, KY next to the infamous Cave Hill cemetery. The cemetery suffered from years of horrible mismanagement before being abandoned and left to the mercy of vandals. Volunteers now take care of the cemetery doing what they can, but it still sits in what is incredible, although improving disrepair. An old building with a crematorium and chapel sits in the back of the cemetery. It was at one point a squatter's paradise, but has now been repainted and all the entrances bricked up. I have included photos of the crematorium before and after a clean up done a few years ago.
Abandoned Rose Island Amusement Park - Charlestown, Indiana
This photo of the old swimming pool is from my first visit to Rose Island back in January 2009 before it was open to the public. |
The Rose Island Amusement Park was once the Louisville area's premier family attraction in the early twentieth century. The park had a wide array of attractions for its time including a swimming pool, hotel, zoo, and dance hall. The flood of 1937 essentially wiped out most of the park and it was never reopened. The ruins of the park sat abandoned for decades on the bank of the Ohio River, as it became part of the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant. After INAAP was shut down the land became part of Charlestown State Park. In 2011 the trails of Charlestown State Park finally expanded into the former Rose Island Amusement Park making access to the park relatively easy.
The Kenwood Drive-In - Louisville, KY
The Kenwood Drive-In was the last remaining old school drive-in movie theater left in Louisville, KY. It was shut down recently and is up for sale. It will presumably be demolished. A friend and I decided to go out and grab some pictures before it was gone.
The Lady - Jeffersonville, Indiana
This post definitely belongs in the weird category. The Lady appears to be a forgotten art installation bizarrely placed in the old industrial area of Jeffersonville, Indiana near the Kitchen Kompact factory on Dutch Lane. The installation sits a bit far back off the road just out of immediate eye sight. It is comprised of two main pieces: the woman and the old scale that sits behind her. From what I gather the piece is not a depiction of any particular woman, but just woman in general. The area appears to be mowed on a semi-regular basis, but other than that it doesn't appear much maintenance has been invested in the pieces.
The Crooked Creek Rail Bridge - Madison, Indiana
Another bridge directly on Madison's Heritage Trail is the Crooked Creek Rail Bridge. The rails are not seen in these pictures here, because they are located at the top of the ridge that the bridge supports. While it certainly is not as in as bad of shape as its neighbor down stream, it's still worth taking a look. According to the discussion on Bridge Hunter there is some documentation that shows this bridge opened in 1841, making it one of the earliest bridges built in the entire state!
The collapsed Crooked Creek Bridge - Madison, Indiana
The abandoned bridge that crosses Crooked Creek in Madison used to be a part of State Route 56 until the present Clifty Hollow Road replaced the route. The bridge is accessible by following an unmarked path at the bottom of the Madison Heritage Trail. Parking is available at the bottom of the trail at the end of McIntire Street, so don't be like me and park at the other end of the Heritage Trail unless you're down for a good walk all the way up hill back to the car.
The abandoned Zoom Floom Waterpark - Bloomington, Indiana
The abandoned Zoom Floom waterpark is located near Bloomington, Indiana on Lake Monroe. The park was once a popular summer destination for families around the area, but was later closed down to safety concerns and the high cost of insurance. The big concrete water slide is still dug into a hill near Lake Monroe, and has now become a popular destination for local graffiti artists.
Abandoned home near Bowling Green, Kentucky
Abandoned homestead - Clark County, IN
These pictures were taken back in 2008, and as you can imagine the house is in much worse shape now. However, it is still standing. There are some local legends about a man who murdered his family in this home, but that sort of story can go along with any creepy house that's found in the middle of nowhere.