Places That Were

Showing posts with label abandoned military base. Show all posts

Kingsbury Ordnance Plant - An Incredible Abandoned WWII Era Ammunition Factory

Across a sprawling 13,000-acre stretch of land lies the scattered remains of a World War II era Ammunition factory. The crumbling industrial buildings and subterranean bunkers of Kingsbury Ordnance Plant punctuate grids of cracked pavement surrounded by farm fields and forestland. The gears of the wartime industry that lifted America from the Great Depression and fueled the Allied victory over the Axis have long since ground to a halt.

Kingsbury Ordnance Plant Abandoned Ammunition Factory in La Porte Indiana

After an incredible day in Gary, Indiana exploring the abandoned Palace Theater, City Methodist Church and other awesome abandoned places, I set out to see the ruins of Kingsbury Ordnance Plant.

I stopped at a gas station just outside the city of La Porte. In an icy tone, the cashier asked for my credit card and drivers license to hold while I pumped my gas. I was surprised, but shrugged it off and filled up my tank. When I came back in, she was all smiles and explained that she was being extra careful because she'd never seen me before. The other cashier asked why I was visiting La Porte of all places and then started dancing around behind the counter. We shared a laugh and I got back on the road.

The remains of Kingsbury Ordnance Plant are spread out over a huge rural area with a small population, so I doubted I would run into anyone during my visit. I was very wrong.

Some of the old buildings have been sold to private companies. A security guard working for a chemical company approached me to make sure I wasn't snapping photos of the plant. I assured him I was only there to look at the historic buildings and he seemed satisfied. Still I decided to leave the area so I wouldn't cause undue concern.

Navigating the old ammunition factory was challenging because there are no signs to indicate what or where anything is. I relied mostly on satellite images.

I found an area where dozens of identical bunkers lay spaced out in rows like houses in a subdivision. Grass covered the sloped roofs and trees grew atop many of them. They seemed to be empty, but I couldn't be sure. It would have taken a very long time to peek inside each of them to find out.

Some of Kingsbury's old structures were fenced off or sealed up.

Others had collapsed to little more than foundations with rows of bare concrete walls.

I wandered around, occasionally managing to get a peek inside.

A few buildings still contained relics left behind when the plant closed.

As I made my way back to the car, a man in a white pickup pulled over and asked if I was parked nearby. He told me that a guy who was leasing the property had called the cops because he didn't recognize my car.

Police had already arrived at my car by the time I got there. I told them I was only there to take pictures of the old buildings and didn't mean to cause any trouble. Apparently I had driven past a No Trespassing sign without realizing it. After running my license and seeing that I had a clean record, the police said I was free to go. I apologized for the inconvenience and headed back out on the road.

Needless to say, if you're thinking about exploring Kingsbury Ordnance plant, keep an eye out for No Trespassing signs. It's also be a good idea to contact local law enforcement and ask which areas are okay to explore. They will appreciate it.

After France fell to Hitler's forces in 1940, the US began gearing up for war. The Department of War commissioned the construction of 73 ammunition manufacturing facilities across the United States.

LaPorte County, Indiana was deemed a prime location because the land was relatively flat and had plentiful well water. It was far enough inland to avoid enemy attacks, but well positioned near highways and railroads so that product could be easily transported to the East and West coasts. The area was also far enough from any major city that an accidental explosion was unlikely to cause much harm.

Buildings were spaced apart so that if an explosion did occur, the surrounding structures would not be damaged. Fortunately, there were never any major accidents.

Two hundred and fifty families had to relocate to make room for the ordnance plant. They were given 30 days notice and paid what was deemed fair value for their land.

The government purchased a total of 13,454 acres and quickly began construction.

Workers were recruited from the surrounding areas. Many came from the city of Gary because Kingsbury offered higher wages than workers typically earned at US Steel.
To accommodate an expected 10,000 workers in a community that only had a population of 16,000, The War Department built thousands of homes, trailers and dormitories just outside the factory. The new settlement was dubbed Kingsford Heights.

By May of 1942, employment at Kingsbury Ordnance Plant had swelled to a high of 20,785, about half of whom were women. For many it was their first job outside of the home.Inspired by Rosie the Riveter, the plant adopted "Tillie the TNT Girl" as a mascot.

Kingsbury closed at the end of World War II, but reopened in 1951 after the US entered the Korean War. It ceased operations permanently in 1959.

A portion of the land has been converted into Kingsbury State Fish and Wildlife Area and another segment is now Kingsbury Industrial Park.

Redevelopment of the area has been slow due to the fact that waste from the ammunition plant still exists on the land and cleanup is expensive.

Future plans include a new rail yard, the restoration of old railroad tracks and extension of existing lines. The railway will connect Kingsbury with facilities in Florida and across the Midwest, facilitating the distribution of produce and other farm goods. In March 2017, the LaPorte County government took control of the project with the hope of bringing in new developers.

From Kingsbury, I made my way to Niles, Michigan to see an old hydroelectric dam that wouldn't be around for much longer.

Thank you for checking out this article. If you enjoyed it, please share it on Facebook.

To receive an email announcement whenever I post a new article, please subscribe to Places That Were.

Until then, feel free to read my previous posts about the incredible places I explored on my Epic Rust Belt Road Trip.

I have many more photos of Kingsbury Ordnance Plant than I was able to include here. I'll be sharing them on social media, so please follow the links below if you'd like to see more of this incredible abandoned place.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/placesthatwere

Instagram: http://instagram.com/theplacesthatwere

Twitter: https://twitter.com/placesthatwere/

Tumblr: http://placesthatwere.tumblr.com/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JimSullivanPlacesThatWere/posts

EyeEm: https://www.eyeem.com/u/placesthatwere

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jimplicit

500px: https://500px.com/placesthatwere

Thank you!

Green River Launch Complex Abandoned Military Base in Utah

Green River Launch Complex, a sprawling abandoned military installation and Cold War relic, occupies a vast stretch of barren land in Eastern Utah. From 1964 to 1979, it served as a test facility for Air Force and Army missile programs. Now it languishes beneath the harsh desert sun while scrappers and the elements slowly chip away at its remains.

After an unplanned detour in Sevier, UT to check out an awesome train graveyard, I got back on the freeway and headed to Green River.

I'd heard there wasn't much left of Green River Launch Complex, except for a few concrete foundations, so my expectations were fairly low. After a long drive down a rough unpaved road, I was surprised and delighted to find that quite a few buildings still remained.

Long metal conduit boxes that resembled conveyor belts meandered across the hillsides, connecting buildings and underground tunnels. It was a strange and beautiful sight.

The first place I explored was a reinforced concrete blockhouse, a bunker-like structure that once housed the control equipment for Green River's Athena Missile Launch Complex.

The building was almost entirely stripped and had been heavily ransacked.

I went outside to take a closer look at the conduit boxes. The pipes and wiring that they once contained had been completely removed by scrappers.

I followed one of the conduits to a tunnel that cut through one of the hills.

On the other side, I was greeted by the sight of a tall steel building with a garage-style door that hung halfway open.

The structure was a Temperature Controlled Environmental Enclosure (TCEE), in which the Athena missiles were assembled and prepared for launch. Each TCEE was situated on rails. Just prior to launch, the structure would be rolled away to expose the missile, which was then raised into firing position.

Between the rails outside sat a concrete cylinder, which had once supported a gantry platform. Its hollow center functioned as a conduit and allowed for venting during test launches.

There were several smaller structures nearby, but I'm not sure what functions they served.

This one looked like it could have housed a hobbit or gnome.

As I was exploring, an SUV drove up. I approached with a smile and a friendly wave, hoping I wasn't about to be kicked off the property. I hadn't seen any no trespassing signs or anything else to indicate that I wasn't supposed to be there, but I was still a little nervous.

A man, his wife and their dog got out of the SUV. I introduced myself and he told me his name was Jim too. He had worked at the base in the '60s and was kind enough to tell me about the various buildings their functions. He comes back to visit the site every few years and finds that fewer structures and equipment remain each time.

He explained that prior to each missile test launch, the equipment had to be balanced at facilities several miles down the road. After balancing, the equipment was driven very carefully and slowly (3-4 miles per hour) to the launch site, making it a very time-consuming process.

Gantry components at an Athena missile launch site

Where the Athena Missiles once rested

After Jim and his wife left, I continued exploring and made a note to check out the facilities he had mentioned down the road.

The box conduits were interrupted by the road at one point, so I took a closer look.

Alongside the road are two cylinders with conical roofs, where the conduits take a brief detour underground. The ladder was very sturdy, so I climbed down.

The short segment of tunnel ran for several dozen feet before leading back up to the surface.

Unfortunately the short length of subterranean conduit was a death trap for rabbits and other creatures. Bones and mummified corpses of small animals littered the floor. I shuttered to think of the dozens of animals that had ventured down into the tunnel over the years, found that it was too deep to jump or climb out, and then slowly died of starvation.

I did happen upon one inhabitant that was still alive: a black widow.

Thankfully, I returned to the surface without incident.

Green River Launch Complex (also known as Utah Launch Complex, Green River Test Site, Green River Test Complex, and Green River Missile Launching Site) was a subinstallation of White Sands Missile Range, which is located in New Mexico. Established in 1962 as a missile launch site for the ABRES (Advanced Ballistic Re-entry System) program, the Green River base remained active until 1979.

From 1964 to 1975, roughly 244 test launches were carried out, including Pershing and Athena RTV missiles. Over 140 Athena RTV missiles were launched from Green River, achieving altitudes of 300 km and speeds of 6700 m/s, and traveling 450 miles to reach their targets in White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.