Since I fell behind on my blogging the following happened almost a year ago. You'll remember that in 2009 I posted a blog about Graniteville mill and talked about how I wish I could get a tour. Well in 2010 when I signed up for Aiken Tech's digital photography class I got my wish my instructor had somehow permission for us to go inside the mill. In the end we even got some stuff printed and displayed which a lot of my photography is sitting on display in the Hickman Hall office. So what you are about to see is sights that many people never get to see.
The mill has been inactive since 2006 however signs of decay are noticed on entry. Though not near as decayed as Clearwater finishing and a little more cleaned up as the shutdown of this mill was much more orderly. Still you can see several signs of how time stands still and that's what us urban explorers love.
Yes the Ivy is not only growing over the window but through it as well.
A few steps in and I'm already finding discarded materials like this Winch operating manual.
So we enter the warehouse which I was expecting to be a total wreck instead it's kind of sort of a wreck.
I'm guessing this was a supervisor's office still left pretty well in tact.
Not sure exactly what these were used for but whenever I walked over the boards it always felt like I was going to fall through the floor. Our guide assured us we wouldn't and of course nobody did it was just a feeling.
Inside these lockers is what I believe is an old cotton gin, I could be wrong. From the outside it reminds me of a locker. The lower floor does have power to.
I went into the opened door and this is the machinery inside. Looks like cotton would slide down a shoot into this locker onto this cylinder.
Just because I had the urge to here's a little bit of my photoshope effects put to work.
Paint starting to chip off in flakes.
Old personal belongings left behind possibly by workers.
Stair to this door must have been portable.
Lots of phones and computer equipment just left here in the office. The roof has been leaking. Another sign of decay as I'm still on the ground level yet this leak has apparently made it through both floors.
When I talk about things that make time stand still this is what I mean. As you can see sheets of paper with names of shift managers and papers dated from late July 2006 about the time the mill closed. In this photos are also job postings, safety policies and emergency plans.
Another piece of machinery I can't tell what it is.
Another office I think.
On the 2nd floor nature had set in a bit. Some cracks in the building allowed pigeons to fly in and nest. I also saw where predators had been in there as well according to our guide a hawk had been in there. So along with the live birds it wasn't uncommon to find a body of a dead pigeon on the floor every now and then.
Looks like some kind of supervisor's window where they would stay in the small room and watch the workers to make sure nobody got out of line.
Not sure what the number system is about here.
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Before I go to my time exposures here's a little more traditional stuff.
While my classmates were running around bouncing flashlight beams throughout the warehouse I was bent on doing more traditional exposure using natural lighting. I did a lot of long exposure while in Hickman Hall and got some awesome results. The black and white out really pans out on a cloudy day like that day. The problem was many of my long exposure shots had flashlight beams caught in them from my classmates in the background so also black and white helped me eliminate the unnatural lighting. It's frustrating when you're shooting 30+ second long exposure tripod shots and there is always something moving through the frame that is undesired. My main objective was to let the light through the vents do it's own work. To start there are still a few old pieces of machinery still up there. While I don't know what this thing did. I tried like eight different times to get a 30 second time exposure and every time one of my classmates ether went flying through the background creating a light ghost effect or they were shinning a light under it. Here you can see the lighting is not completely natural ether. One of my classmates was shinning a light under this machine while I was taking my time exposure. Often times I found myself having to work ahead of everybody else and I had to get it done before anybody else entered the room but this is easier said then done when you're doing time exposures.
Close-up of the control panel.
I love that creepy lighting, the woman in the office really likes this one to.
More of that lighting.
So we departed Hickman Hall
Next it was through the fence and into the oldest part of the mill. This area is not a place for the screamish of course nobody in my class was screamish. The conditions in there were horrid though. We didn't go in the worst parts of course. The worst parts of this section of the mill are already leaking, molding, or falling in. So we wouldn't go in there not because we were scared but because we're not stupid. Those places are so rundown that to set foot in those structures would be totally stupid. Above is my close up of the steam valves.
This is one of those buildings we wouldn't be setting foot in. Word is it has a turbine located underneath it from way back then the creek's flow used power the mill.
High voltage
There is Sulfuric Acid here to.
We had to cross this bridge which has all kinds of crap growing on it and some of the foot boards are rotted so in some places we were walking the plank.
First thing I notice is this small green shack. What it's function was I don't know but it had a few interesting things.
These two fire extinguishers are still in place. I believe the paper attached to them may be their inspection paper.
Old Modine Gas heating unit.
A friendly reminder of another hazard asbestos.
Another structure we would not be entering.
Inside the thing posted above.
Trees growing up the old stairs.
It seems that around 1944 this is where delivery trucks used to come in. I figure by it's condition the practice must have ended before the mill closed in 2006. Judging by the decay over here this section of the mill looks like it might have started decaying while the mill was still open. Probably was the first section of the mill to close down.
A few more old gadgets.
That was all for that trip but two week later we were back at the mill doing some exterior shots.
I started my exterior assault by going over the small brick wall. Only thing was the hole was deeper than it looked. As you can see from this photo the growth was pretty much up to my eyes. Walking in there was really hard to because the surface was slippery and muddy to make things worst it had also just rained that day. I believe there used to be a building where I was standing because tons of broken bricks were scattered everywhere. Because the walls were higher than I thought getting out of the pit was difficult. I eventually found a hole in the bottom of one section of the wall and was able to crawl out of there.
I was the only one in my class who would walk on the old railroad trestle and get the back view of the mill. The trestle and mill spur are obviously inactive. As a railfan I'd never climb on an active railroad line. The Bridge is in good condition with a few wood planks rotting and trees growing through it of course. But it is strong enough to support the weight of several people walking on it.
A few various rusted and burnt out items.
I was told this was an old electrical shack.
Steven's steam plant's huge water tank.
Steven's steam plant, ground zero of for the train wreck site.
Well that concludes this blog hope you enjoyed. Not every day I get this privileged to check out something this amazing. I was very lucky to see the inside of this place before they tear it down. When they will I don't know. I'm sure it probably won't get near as ugly as Clearwater finishing.
Signed
Joseph W. Johns
