Abandoned Places – Huntsville – Oct 08
Oct. 28th, 2008 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jjmaccrimmonHistory still in the making
At the end of my previous post, I asked ” What does an 80 year old cotton mill and NASA have to do with each other? Huntsville is a city of contrasts. It was a center for the cotton industry for the first half of the 1900’s. In the second half of the 1900’s, Huntsville became the host to the developing US Space and Rocket program. Lincoln Mill was the bridge between the two eras.
Built in 1906 as Abingdon Mills, the complex changed owners and names in 1908.
Lincoln was one of the 14 cotton fabric making plants in the city. In fact most mills were self contained small towns, complete with housing, shops, groceries, fire depts., police, schools and hospitals. Lincoln Village didn’t become part of Huntsville until 1954, two years after the mill had shut down.
Being a semi-responsible explorer, when I learned about the mill and it early history, I grabbed the kids and drove out to get some exterior shots of what I thought was a semi-used, derelict building. I was so wrong.
In wandering the outside of the complex I found the number to the current owner and the property management folks.
Shot through an exterior window.
After a couple calls, I finally spoke to the owner of the site and arranged to meet at lunchtime one Friday. Armed with my research and with a number of photos from previous sites, we chatted for a while about the truly amazing history of Lincoln.
Then he gave me the grand tour of the site. The following shots were ones quickly taken on that visit.
In some areas, time has stopped
The lower floor is in use, refinished and secured behind alarms and magnetic locks. Some areas are less used than others.
Some locks are stronger than others
Into the darkness
As we walked and talked, he told me the amazing history of the Lincoln Building. After 1954, this was the first Huntsville home of the US Space and Rocket Center and the design center where the Redstone Rocket was put on the drawing boards by Wernher von Braun and his team.
Much more to follow...
At the end of my previous post, I asked ” What does an 80 year old cotton mill and NASA have to do with each other? Huntsville is a city of contrasts. It was a center for the cotton industry for the first half of the 1900’s. In the second half of the 1900’s, Huntsville became the host to the developing US Space and Rocket program. Lincoln Mill was the bridge between the two eras.
Built in 1906 as Abingdon Mills, the complex changed owners and names in 1908.
Lincoln was one of the 14 cotton fabric making plants in the city. In fact most mills were self contained small towns, complete with housing, shops, groceries, fire depts., police, schools and hospitals. Lincoln Village didn’t become part of Huntsville until 1954, two years after the mill had shut down.
Being a semi-responsible explorer, when I learned about the mill and it early history, I grabbed the kids and drove out to get some exterior shots of what I thought was a semi-used, derelict building. I was so wrong.
In wandering the outside of the complex I found the number to the current owner and the property management folks.
Shot through an exterior window.
After a couple calls, I finally spoke to the owner of the site and arranged to meet at lunchtime one Friday. Armed with my research and with a number of photos from previous sites, we chatted for a while about the truly amazing history of Lincoln.
Then he gave me the grand tour of the site. The following shots were ones quickly taken on that visit.
In some areas, time has stopped
The lower floor is in use, refinished and secured behind alarms and magnetic locks. Some areas are less used than others.
Some locks are stronger than others
Into the darkness
As we walked and talked, he told me the amazing history of the Lincoln Building. After 1954, this was the first Huntsville home of the US Space and Rocket Center and the design center where the Redstone Rocket was put on the drawing boards by Wernher von Braun and his team.
Much more to follow...
