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If there is one thing that I didn’t get enough of when exploring it was old industry, massive sprawling complexes that were built up slowly over their life span. And Flintkote was one that I only visited twice, but it certainly matched what I wanted in an old location. Buildings that were slowly being absorbed back into nature. You had to know what to look for when trying to check the spot out as it was mostly hidden by trees with only a rusted water tower and brick smoke stack sticking up behind a rusted fence. For almost every site I’ve featured in this series,Read More →

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The war had become a stalemate, and peace negotiations reached an impasse. Drummond’s siege remained in place but had been reduced to ineffective artillery fire, and most of his troops were reduced by illness due to the ongoing rain and poor conditions in the camp. Drummond’s requests for additional troops had been granted, and elements of the 4th and 82nd Regiments marched with heavy siege artillery to Niagara. On 4 September, the American defenders of Fort Erie did attempt to dislodge the British attackers. The short skirmish resulted in several deaths, including the traitor Joseph Willcocks and many of his Canadian Volunteers in the shortRead More →

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The early parts of 1814 had proven to be a quiet point in the war. While there was some action, it was almost a pause in the war, and both sides regrouped from a fiery 1813. While the British took the time to regroup, lick their wounds and prepare for renewed conflict and the promised reinforcements from Europe, the Americans took a different approach. Secretary of War John Armstrong would mostly be free of some of the older Generals, those who had achieved their rank through appointment rather than merit. As those officers had failed on the front lines, Armstrong either reassigned them to lessRead More →

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Through the balance of 1813, neither the Americans nor the British made any significant gains to achieve victory. The biggest issue was with the overly cautious commanders on both sides; Major-General William Henry Harrison failed to exploit the rapid retreat by the British Army after their defeat at the Battle of the Thames. He chose to establish a loose beachhead along the Detroit River. Similarly, the Americans had only briefly pushed their advantage in the Niagara region but ended up only able to maintain a small occupation force in the region bolstered by over-enthusiastic traitors. On the British side, Major-General Francis de Rottenburg had nearlyRead More →

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The Bernarr MacFadden Physical Culture Hotel has gone by many names over its long history and the building that still stands in Dansville today is not even the original. Better known to the local exploration community as the Castle on the Hill, this certainly was an interesting spot to explore from the beautiful views to the strange books found scattered throughout the property. As a Canadian I still managed to get here three times, once in fancy dress, and always enjoyed the quiet easy nature of the trip despite being a local sore spot. Despite the name, the Castle on the Hill in Dansville hadRead More →

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The loss of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock had been keenly felt through the first part of 1813; while Major-General Henry Proctor had defended the British line in the west, the losses at York and Niagara had dealt a major blow to the British morale. It also did not help that almost every major ship-to-ship engagement had resulted in an American victory. And now with York still rebuilding and nearly the entire Niagara peninsula under American control and Chauncy back in Sacketts Harbor protecting Lake Ontario, the British needed victory to ensure that the whole of Upper Canada be preserved. Major-General Roger Hale Sheaffe was reassignedRead More →

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The first six months of the war had not gone as planned for the United States. Rather than a swift capture of Amherstburg, Niagara, and Kingston, the swift actions of the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock resulted in the capture of Mackinac Island, Fort Detroit and Michigan Territory down to the River Raisin, and a repulse of the invasion across the Niagara River which cost him his life at the Battle of Queenston Heights. The death of General Brock was a significant blow, as his replacement, Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, proved to be a far less effective administrator and military leader. It got bad enoughRead More →

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Lieutenant-General George Prevost, Governor-General of British North America, was displeased with his subordinate, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. General Brock had disobeyed his orders, and instead of sticking to defence, he had gone on an offence and captured both Mackinac Island and Detroit from the Americans. President James Madison was unhappy with the results of the first months of the war, especially the surrender with little to no fight by the defenders. But what got Prevost was that Brock had received high praise for his actions and a knighthood. And with news that the Orders-In-Council were being repealed and the main complaint and the source ofRead More →

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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 →

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When you hear the term subway, you tend to think about long stretches of tunnels that run trains mostly underground. But that is only sometimes the case; if you look at the TTC’s subway system, a great deal runs above ground but below grade. And that’s the key; you can also call roads that run under train tracks ‘subways’, but what does this all have to do with Rochester? Context being everything, the Rochester Subway, or simply “The Subway”, was a rapid transit system that mainly ran below grade. It was one of many rapid transit systems that grew in the United States through theRead More →