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The VCXPEX events were a great way to check out locations I usually would not see. Old industries in Ontario were few and far between and often had been restored with some adaptive reuse or so run down that it was unsafe to enter. Enter the former Hooven & Allison Rope Factory or Cordage company, depending on where you looked and who you asked. This massive 19th-century rope work factory in Xenia, Ohio, was a local attraction even though it had been burned three times. Tracking a complete and chronologically accurate history of the Hooven & Allison Cordage Company proved difficult. Mainly because the peopleRead More →

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I had not been exploring in Buffalo proper since 2007, and honestly, if they had including some of these locations at that event I probably would have had a better time. So taking advantage of the invitation to join in a short Labour Day exploration in 2012 to check out a couple of locations on the other side of the border, I jumped on the chance. Both locations we checked out were right next to each other in a former industrial corridor on Northland Avenue. Of the two, the most interesting is this spot, the former Curtiss-Wright metal forming works, but its history is muchRead More →

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The industrial architecture of the early 20th century is interesting because it followed both form and function. Producing a building that could output the product and look good simultaneously. And in terms of defining this, look no further than the former McCormick Candy Factory in London. This beautiful example has white terracotta facings and lots of glass throughout the factory floors; this place was once known as the light palace as there was always enough natural light throughout the factory to help the workers. And even in its abandoned state, it still looks fantastic. Thomas McCormick arrived in Canada West, the modern-day province of Ontario,Read More →