Abandoned Silver Creek Railroad Bridges - New Albany, Indiana

Over the stream of Silver Creek near Floyd County's Loop Island a pair of abandoned railroad bridges sit vacant and until recently were mostly forgotten.  The two bridges were one of my favorite areas to explore in Floyd County, but are now set to be turned into "rails-to-trails" incorporated into the Ohio River Greenway Project.  The bridges were dangerous to cross, and still are, but were close enough to each other to make a nice afternoon adventure.

Abandoned Lock and Dam Valve House, Leavenworth, Indiana

Abandoned but largely intact, this old building in Leavenworth, Indiana was the valve control house for the now demolished Dam 44.  Built to withstand flooding and hard use, this structure has survived nearly forty years of neglect.

Abandoned Quinn Chapel Church, Louisville, Kentucky

Located near the intersection of 9th and Chestnut Streets in downtown Louisville, this abandoned Gothic Revival church most recently housed the Quinn Chapel African American Methodist Episcopal Church.  Today it sits empty, decaying near two of the city's busiest streets, rarely noticed except by the occasional passersby.  But, it wasn't always so...

Ruins of abandoned industrial site, Louisville, Kentucky

 At one time, Louisville Kentucky was a thriving industrial town.  Even today, there is a fair amount of manufacturing capacity scattered throughout the town.  But like all towns in the rust belt, abandoned factories are scattered throughout its boundaries, like headstones in some industrial-age graveyard.  The set of ruins that we are examining in the photo set are of an unknown origin, but like many others we've seen lately, they are on their way out.

Abandoned Sulphur-Bedford Road Bridge - Trimble County, Kentucky

The old Sulphur-Bedford Road bridge was built in 1901 next to a mill dam and was used until its closure in 1999.  A new concrete bridge has been built since the closure, but the iron truss bridge still sits there on the Little Kentucky River next to the old dam.  The bridge's narrow wooden deck, which was later covered in asphalt, is now deteriorating without maintenance.  Even though 14 years is a relatively short period of abandonment in comparison to some other locations we've visited, the use of this bridge well beyond its intended lifespan gives it the appearance that its abandonment has been much longer.

Fort Knox tank graveyard - Fort Knox military base, KY

Every Memorial Day the Fort Knox military base opens up their restricted areas for several hours to civilians to have access to the over one hundred cemeteries on the post.  While the primary purpose of our trip was to check out the cemeteries, we ran across quite a few of these abandoned tanks along the sides of the road while we were driving.

While most of the public is familiar with Fort Knox as the location where the U.S. Treasury has their bullion depositary guarded, it is also a military base that housed the Armor School up until 2010.  The road we were driving was right on the border of the area used for artillery and armor fire, which explains why the tanks were close by.  While many of the tanks we passed did have more extensive damage, indicating they may have been used as hard targets, these tanks didn't display any signs that they were on the firing line.  These tanks may have been used in recovery exercises, or their time may have never came to be used as targets.

Ruins of the Whitewater Canal - Brookville, Indiana

The Whitewater Canal was a long term project in the state of Indiana, requiring eleven years of construction after the groundbreaking, being completed in 1847.  Spanning 76 miles, the canal required a lock and dam system to raise and lower boat traffic a total of 491 feet.  Many sections of the canal were wiped out later that year after a major flood in the Whitewater Valley.  Today sections of the canal do remain and some of the 56 limestone locks are still standing.  There is also a restored section of the canal with a functioning lock.  A gallery of this restored lock can be found at the end of the post.

Abandoned Philip Morris factory, Louisville Kentucky

Cigarette maker Philip Morris closed its production operations in Louisville in 1999.  After more than a decade of disrepair and abandonment, the city has decided to raze the final remaining structures on the site.  Updated 10/24/13 with more photos.