Stopped thinking old factories are just junk after visiting one in Toledo

I used to drive past abandoned industrial sites and just see rusty scrap waiting for a demo crew. Then I walked through an old auto parts plant on Stickney Avenue last fall. A room full of 1940s machinery was still bolted to the floor with leather belts hanging from the ceiling. Now I get why people fight to preserve these places instead of clearing them for parking lots. Has anyone else had a change of heart after actually stepping inside one?

2 comments

2 Comments

verab2812d ago

Walked through an old textile mill in Lowell a few years back and honestly, I was the same way. Just saw them as decaying eyesores until I got inside and saw the old wooden beams and the way the light came through those grimy windows. It hit me that real people spent their whole lives in there, making things with their hands. Now I get why folks get all passionate about saving these relics, they're like time capsules you can actually walk into.

caseyw1212d ago

That old building on Stickney Avenue sounds like a real gem. I had a similar moment poking around an old grain mill outside of Columbus. The main floor was all concrete and dust, but I found a staircase that led down to this tiny basement room where the original millstones were just sitting there. You could still see the grooves carved into the stone where they ground the wheat. It was quiet and kind of spooky, but it made me think about all the work that went into just getting a loaf of bread a hundred years ago. Now I can't look at an old silo or a factory chimney without wondering what stories are hiding inside the walls.