If there ever was a location that became my local exploration, the Barber Mill became that spot after the Milton Consumer’s Glass plant went down. I was first shown the mill by a former member of my home church, who I worked for at the time. At a job in Georgetown, he took me over to the mill during a lunch break and taking note of it, I soon went back when time allowed. And since then, it quickly became an easy mark when I got the urge to explore. Plus, it had no security, and you could easily park, get in, and get outRead More →

My history with Consumer’s Glass starts somewhere other than Hamilton, but rather my hometown of Milton. One of the earliest abandoned locations I ‘discovered’ after getting a hot tip was the former Milton plant, but that was among the final Consumer’s Glass plants constructed and among the first to be torn down. The Milton works, completed in the late 1970s and became operational in 1980, was a local landmark, the tall silos standing over a small industrial section and easily seen when heading east on the 401 approaching Highway 25. The Hamilton works, however, were far more interesting, not only larger but older, much olderRead More →

I love big empty industry, but add to that a spot with a long and unique history and a lot of antique computer parts and you have a winner. Sykes Datatonics is another amazing spot that was a draw to the Rochester Urban Exploration community. Seven stores of early 20th Century industrial that proved a rather chill and easy explore, even if you went in a decent sized group in broad daylight. While I only went here twice, I do regret not being able to check out some of the other former buildings in this once massive industrial complex with a rather interesting story. LongRead More →

The city of Toronto offers many photographic opportunities, and doing a general Toronto post would be incredibly difficult. So instead, I will try to break it down into bite-sized pieces of history. So having to go into the city for an appointment at Sick Kids and being close to my birthday, we all headed out for a lovely walk over to one of the best examples of Victorian-era industries that survived in the city, the Distillery District. The history of the creation of alcohol dates back to the earliest parts of human history, but distilling spirit alcohol is something a little newer. First recorded inRead More →