January 14th, 2006 - Abandoned Places

Northampton State Hospital
2006

So the other day my boyfriend and I went for a walk. Across the green from our school lies the old Masonic Temple.

 

The Masonry, for those who do not know is one of the oldest and largest fraternal organizations in the world. For more information go here. Though they claim everything is very legitimate about the organizations, there are still stories that float around here about rooms with no windows and secret ceremonies at the dead of night. The building it's self has a very........ominous air about it.

 

The Masonry is no longer is existence in Norwich, CT and the Masonic temple was recently purchased by one of the Indian Tribes (Mohegan, I think) and they plan on tearing it down because it lies on top of ancient Indian burial grounds.

 

No one currently uses the building. They auctioned off most of the objects that were inside of it last year, my father bought a portrait of my great, great uncle who was assumingly a free mason.

 

It's near impossible to get a shot of the entire building because one, it's huge and two, the way the roads are angled around it, you would need to stand in the center of a very active road. Not a good idea..........

 

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Abandoned Tobacco Barn
Manchester CT 2006

This is the former Quackenbush Mfg. Corporation, which closed last year after 100+ years of operation. Although they manufactured a variety of products (i.e. air rifles) over the years, they were best known for making nutcrackers, which Mr. Quackenbush invented (He also invented the extension ladder). The buildings are now undergoing extensive remediation--from asbestos to toxic chemicals--by the EPA.

As a matter of trivia, Mr. Q's son built a huge stone house in Utica. This home was ultimately purchased by a friend of mine in the '90s & I rented an apartment there :-)

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