Well, at the very least it'd been a popular drinking spot for the locals for some time. Pull-tab cans! Someone should make these again.
Found this cool brick in the ruin. Not really sure what any of it means. Still, anything with writing is pretty neat in my book!
This is where it was sitting. Obviously the pull tab beer guys had liked this brick too, and set it out for me to find later.
Backside of the steps that would have led into this building. Not a full basement, just a good sized crawlspace apparently.
Another brick with writing! I wonder who Lacey was?
So, standing in the foundation with a floor support to my right, I could see there was a covered area off to the side. Of course I moved in for a closer look!
It had a concrete roof that had partially collapsed, and a small window or access chute coming off the other side.
There also seemed to be a hinged door on top of this area. Since this would have been the floor originally, I imagine there was some sort of storage access to this room below. Why this area would have had a concrete floor is perplexing. Maybe this was actually outside?
Looking into the room I could see someone had been camping here at some point. Notice the piece of carpet on the floor? Also, i noticed that this door i was looking into had a wooden frame on it at one point. It was still on the left. Either this basement was dug out more at some time and had been filled up over time, or this was a seriously short basement, and you better duck when you were down here! I'd practically have to get on my knees to get in here. The ground didn't look to appealing, so maybe next time. Ha!
So, it looks like taking old rails and using them to reinforce concrete was a big thing back then. I guess when rails were always coming at going like they did around here, that you needed to reuse them somehow. Pretty resourceful I'd say!
Here's a close up of the opening from the top down into the little room. That hinge looks like it held on a pretty solid door! I wonder what they kept down in there?
It wasn't the only "room" in that foundation. There was a few other smaller sections, all along the same side of the building. Here's the shot into the next one over. More beer cans and trash, but I think that wood is from the original floor. Also, two very different kinds of wall here. Maybe newer construction on something older?
Stairs to the entrance? I wonder what this place was. If I ever learn about it I will have to do an update!
Hard to see here, but the outline of a foundation was right under the grass here. See how there is gold grass in the middle, and then the lighter less bright grass on the bottom of the picture? That's where there was a concrete wall. The higher ground was closer to me, and the golden grass was in the lower land. Considering how the water level was much lower here than it used to be, I wonder if this was right on the water? Again, the Mather's "B" hoist house is the monolith on the hill to the right.
Looking back into the ruin. Obviously been a while for all these trees to grow up in here!
The stoop for the side of the ruin facing the road. This is the one I took a picture of the other side from down in the foundation. You can see the floor supports behind it.
I'd poked around that ruin enough, so I sauntered back over to my car, taking this picture of the tailing pile. This was a good size pile of rocks! Shortly after I took this two deer were spooked by my less than stealthy approach. Much to my surprise they ran right up the side of this hill! It's all loose rock, but they must have been part mountain goat because they made it up with any problem.
Wasn't but a little ways up the road before I spotted another ruin through the trees. Fall is a great time to go looking for these things because the leaves any shrubs aren't blocking your view. I probably drove by this place 4 or 5 times this summer and never noticed it!
You know something has been sitting there for a while when a cluster of trees grows up and lifts a slab of concrete!
This place feels much older to me. It's a foundation that appears to be made of left over poor rock from the mines. Also, it could seriously use some more mortar!
Lucky for the person who built this there was no shortage of leftover rock to build with. In the upper left of this photo you can see just how close this foundation was to the Mather's "B" waste pile. Certainly there are more foundations buried underneath its massive heap!
Looking into the ruin, there was definitely a newer piece of brick wall built at some time. I wonder what it was for? Was this a functional basement, or simply a crawlspace? If so, perhaps it was simply added support for the floor above? Again, judging by the size of the trees growing up from here, I'd say this place hadn't been bothered with in a while.
Crazy old, barely any mortar holding it together, but I was impressed with how square this corner was. Old craftsmen sure did good work with what they had!
I love all the different sized rocks they built this place out of. It must have been quite the task building a foundation like that!
The ubiquitous tire that invades every ruin found its way here too!
At first I thought this was just a fallen log, but it showed signs of work on it, so now I think this was a support beam of sorts. One solid piece of wood it was, probably quite sturdy back in the day.
Here's a closeup of that newer wall. I can only guess as to its purpose. Oh to be able to see back in time! What I would give!
This large slab of rock almost shimmered. I bet it was rocks like this that got the old miners attention back in the day. Definitely some minerals around these parts!
Looking up the tailing pile. My brother and I drove up there when he was here last, but I've been having a hard time finding the road we took. I certainly wouldn't want to climb it!
I went a little closer to the rock formation, and this would be the easier way to the top. Maybe next time though, because I was on way to some good sized ruins that I knew weren't far from here.
On my way back to the truck, I noticed this laying down on the ground. It was an old telephone or telegraph pole! I guess they just knocked them all down for some reason when they left, or its been so long that it just collapsed and broke due to age. Either way, I almost didn't notice it with all the fallen trees around.
Doesn't look like a modern one. I wish I knew more about these poles so I could figure out how old it was. Judging by the wood I'd say its pretty damn old!
Did these rings help conduct power, or communications? Whatever they did, sure was a lot of them!
Well, time to head to the next stop
I went to my car and moved along to the large industrial ruins of what I believe was once the active ore concentration facility.
To be continued...
