Aeroflex

Right next to a small, operational airport is the Aeroflex Hangar: a relic of time past.  Crawling through a hole in a wall, I was greeted by slanted light pouring in through the roof.  The building has not weathered the passing years gracefully, with some of the wooden supports no longer supporting.

New Jersey Zinc, Franklin Mine

Once upon a time Franklin, NJ was a booming center of industry.  The 1700's saw the discovery and subsequent mining of zinc and iron ore, attracting immigrant families looking to make a good living.  The mine was operational until the 1950's. After the mine was closed, a hydrogen plant was established on part of the property and ran until a massive explosion shut it down in 1976.  The 1970's also saw changes in environmental laws, leading up to the bankruptcy of the parent zinc company and abandonment of the site.
Today, the remaining buildings are closed to the public and the grounds are fenced off.  As a rambunctious teen, I remember skateboarding in a building that is now bricked up and crawling through a tunnel that connected another building the smokestacks.  There isn't much left of this operation besides crumbling cement foundations.

makeshift ladder.

crawlspace.

Plastoids

Plastoids holds a special place in my heart.  It served as a castle and jungle gym to an inquisitive adolescent girl with it's dark tower and crumbling stairways;  now it serves as subject of photography.  Located in a town that used to be a center of industry, the factory sits vacant--a testament to times gone by--when a mill, railroad, and cracker plant kept the community thriving.  The front section of the building was damaged by a fire a few years back and parts of the floor are not sturdy at all. The property is privately owned with plans for redevelopment in the future.

The Wheatsworth Mill

The Wheatsworth Mill has not been operational for quite some time now.  The Mill started as a steel works, being re-purposed as a cracker factory later on.  The interior of the factory was gutted by a fire in the 1990's, while the foundations in the woods continue to decay naturally.  The property is privately owned, with it's future uncertain.  This town was once a center of industry.  Now it is a stoplight.