Return To 7th Line…
Posted bandit on January 20th, 2008 | Filed under Commentary | Comments Off
The farmhouse on 7th line had sat undisturbed by us for almost a year until last night. It had weathered the rainy spring, the searing hot summer, half of a frostbite inducing winter, and remained sitting steadfast at the end of the long, bumpy driveway leading up to it. Everything looked the same, the smashed windows, the overgrown weeds, the rotted porch, the bed frame just visible inside an upstairs room, which amazingly still had an intact window. The intact window that had briefly held the face of a man last April.
During our blogging hiatus, we had the good fortune to meet some local fellow house hunters. As a group, we explored an old insulbrick farmhouse along Highway 3, a Monestary by the lake, and even made a return visit to the “house full of memories”, which is a story in itself. Last night, three of us decided to brave a return trip to 7th Line. My accomplice, myself, and a fellow hunter. Soon, word spread of the planned trip, and three more were in for the adventure. We took two vehicles, plenty of Maglites, some protective measures, and as much courage as we could muster up.
When we pulled in the driveway, the full moon was illuminating just the outline of the large brick house. There were no lights, no cars, no bicycles, no signs of life whatsoever. The accomplice and I figured there would be no happenings this time, as there were last time we attempted to enter the house. Surely whoever, whatever, was there had moved on. The cold was enough to make your fingers hurt within a minute or two, and freeze the inside of your nose with each breath. How could anyone bear to stay in a drafty old brick house with no apparent hydro or running water?
We walked cautiously up to the house, making our way up the formed concrete back steps. The back door wasn’t wired or locked shut, although a rusted padlock was hanging nearby, doing nothing. I stayed outside, on the edge of the porch, with my 6-D cell Maglite held on my shoulder. The rest of the group made their way inside, and I kept watch just outside the door. I watched and listened as everyone stepped forward, carefully, through the front entryway and ventured slowly in to the kitchen. It wasn’t long before there were strained whispers and footsteps shuffling backwards towards the door. I asked, what the hell was going on? I couldn’t hear much since I was outside…
Only a moment later, everyone was making a hasty exit and moving towards the vehicles. Apparently, once people had made their way to the decimated kitchen, a racket started right above them on the second floor. Creaking of metal bedsprings, thumping, and eventually, clearly defined footsteps. Someone said they could hear breathing, heavy breaths… another said they swore they could hear a low whispering. As we left the place, and headed up the driveway, we moved our flashlights over all the windows. The accomplice caught a movement in an upstairs window, but that was all. We saw nothing more.
Who, or what, is living in the 7th Line farmhouse? A house littered with raccoon feces, mould, broken glass and fallen plaster? Where there is never a light on, no sign of electricity, no evidence of a mode of transportation, all the way at the end of a lonely country road. Unfortunatley, we have never made it past that kitchen area to see the rest of the house, and unless the current tenant decides to move away, we may never get any farther.
~Bandit
Catching Up On Pictures - 50+ Pics!
Posted bandit on July 30th, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House, School House | 4 Comments »
I must apologize for the lack of updates. Apparently, having “jobs” really cuts in to the time we can devote to house tours. Another problem is with summer weather comes summer pests… and we’ve learned that hornets and bees LOVE abandoned houses. One home outside of Dresden actually housed a complete hive of honeybees between the outer siding and the wall. It was so loud it hummed like an air conditioner. Luckily we escaped before they decided to make us leave! Another home on River Road looked innocent enough, until the accomplice slid open a glass door only to knock in to a hornet nest which was built in its track. The accomplice miraculously escaped unstung thanks to my screams! Haha! I’d never seen someone emerge from a cloud of angry hornets unscathed until that day. Without further ado, here are some pictures of houses that we have seen in our travels. All have been exciting finds, but for the most part, uneventful.
First are some day-time pictures of the Botany house. We have taken several rolls of film in this home, and always in the same two rooms, we get orbs in the photos. I will have to post those film photos. (Note: This is the home that many people saw the figure of a girl / woman in the window, which is discussed in a prior posting.)
This home is on Eighth Line not too far from the Bloomfield road. We couldn’t get inside easily enough for our liking, so we stuck with just snapping a few outside photos. There is a point of entry, but currently I’m just not feeling that adventurous!
Another home which proved too difficult to enter can be found on Eleventh Line. It looked as though someone was using it for storage, so it is currently locked up tight.
I decided to go to the Chatham Public Library to see what I could unearth on the subject of old houses and buildings in Chatham Kent. I found several binders in the History Room that contained film photographs of old school houses and interesting buildings. I snapped pictures of them with my cell phone and wrote down any useful information. The binders didn’t give exact locations, but the photo of this Florence High School had a 911 sign visible in it. There was also a sidewalk in the photo, so I figured it had to be the main street of Florence. My accomplice and I set out to find out if my suspicions were correct, and they were. To get in to the school, we had to crawl through a small hole that had been apparently chewed by animals at the bottom of a side door! Many felines call the school home, and the unmistakable scent of cat urine wafts through the building. It is VERY rotten inside, which is a shame. I would have loved to explore the classrooms. It is basically impossible to get anywhere but the basement as all access points to the upper floor are rotted away. We got one interesting photo which I included below. It is in the boiler room and shows a bright white streak across the top of the photo. We can assure you there were no wires, etc, hanging in the way to make that streak. Not only that, but it looks as if it’s coming towards you. Interesting!
Since it was the middle of the afternoon when we found this lovely home on Highway 3, staying long enough to go inside and take photos seemed like a bad idea. We will have to return some night and photograph the full interior.
This amazing brick house is located not far from Thamesville, on Norton Line. In it’s day it would have been beautiful. The remaining woodwork is extravagant, and the brickwork on the exterior is lovely. It’s almost remarkable that this house is still standing once you look past the front of the home and see how far gone it is. Certainly a shame.
We ended up venturing out of county one night and happened across a couple of Lambton County finds. The first is a large house, the second a Dawn-Euphemia one room school house.
There are many roads left to travel, and plenty of already-discovered houses that need to be photographed. Check out the video post below - there will be more of those to come. We are working on getting our hands on a video camera, hopefully with night vision. The County Bandits now have an email / MSN address as well, so feel free to shoot us an email or add the MSN contact if you have any questions or information for us! –> CountyBandits@Hotmail.com
~Bandit
First CountyBandits Video!!!
Posted bandit on July 29th, 2007 | Filed under Video | 4 Comments »
Here’s one of our very first house tour videos. Sorry about the quality, it was taken with a cell phone. We’re in the process of acquiring a real digital cam with night vision.
~Accomplice
A House Full of Memories
Posted bandit on June 8th, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House | 9 Comments »
When we first came across this massive home, I questioned whether it was abandoned or not. The windows on the second floor all looked almost new, and at night, it was hard to see things like the crumbling porch and other signs of neglect. We left it alone that night, but came back during the day not long after for a closer inspection. When we pulled up, I saw the kitchen curtains billowing out of a smashed window pane. The cement of the front porch was crumbling, and weeds were overgrown. We wandered around for a bit, looking at the barns and outbuildings, and then finally in the windows of the home. To my suprise, the house was completely full of someone’s belongings. Wait, was this indeed abandoned? Or was it another case of someone living in deplorable conditions?
We went to the front door of the house to knock and find out for sure if there was anyone present in the home. The door was slightly open, so I poked my head in and yelled, hello! There was no response. I could see there was a piano in the living room with pictures sitting on it… a china cabinet full of tea cups… furniture with clothes draped over it… and garbage everywhere. After looking around for a while longer outside, we saw a person pull in to a driveway not far from the house. We’d had limited success with trying to talk to people about houses before, but decided it was worth a shot to try and get the story on this house. It was just too strange.
The farmer we talked to was actually a wealth of information, and very pleasant. We sat and spoke with him for about a half an hour, while one of the curious farmcats jumped in the open window of our vehicle. The story went that the elderly homeowner had been married, but his wife had passed away some years ago. From that day forward, nothing was taken out of the house, garbage included. Eventually, the man fell ill and after a while an ambulance came to the residence to take him to the hospital. When the paramedics saw the state of the home, he was placed in a nursing home where he still resides today. Apparently, his brother is supposed to look after the home, but is rarely there. A daughter is rumored to hold a grudge and wants nothing to do with the home.
The farmer expressed some curiosity about the home himself, and after getting a feel for our intentions hinted that if we went inside and took a look around, he might be ok with that. Of course we jumped at this opportunity and went back for a look inside. The pictures below speak for themselves. Seeing family portaits left to sit in an attic breaks my heart. I only hope someone goes to retrieve these things before it’s too late.
~Bandit
What Is Going On Here?
Posted bandit on April 26th, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House | 3 Comments »
I’ve been to many new houses since my last post, but I have to tell you about one before all the others. The house sits at the end of a long driveway on Seventh line, a formidible brick farmhouse towering two stories tall, with a dormer jutting out of the roof. I barely spotted it when we drove by, and had to backtrack to double check what I thought I had seen. Some bags of raked leaves sat along the end of the driveway almost blocking it, but there was some room to drive around. We parked and took a walk around the perimeter of the house to see what we were dealing with. Most of the ground floor windows were broken, along with every basement window. Brush and weeds were overgrown. There were cracks in the foundation and all the woodwork was splitting and rotten. A formed concrete step led up to the back door of the home. At the top of the steps where a wooden porch once was, there was now a gaping hole which you had to step over precariously to get to the door. The wooden door swung open freely. After pausing for a brief moment, we stepped inside.
The pungent odor of feces and mould hit my nostrils immidiatly. Ugh. The floor had a good layer of raccoon droppings on it, along with plaster bits and junk. The room was a kitchen at one time, but now all the cupboards were empty and a fridge sat with the door slightly open. I looked inside hoping to not find body parts - luckily for me there was only a couple milk cartons from 2001 and a plastic bag. I went to step into the adjoining room, where I could see another fridge which looked to be in a little better repair. I heard a whistle and I paused, looking at my accomplice. “Was that you?” “No, I thought it was you.” We looked at each other wide eyed for a split second then decided it was best to make a hasty retreat. We ran out of the house, got in the vehicle and got the hell out of there. The whistle was human in origin, there was no mistaking that. Not only was it from a person, it had sounded very close. The hair on the back of my neck stood up for the entire ride home. We decided that going back during the daytime would be the best bet!
The next day, we went back in the light to do some photography. Once again, we parked and got out to survey the perimeter. We looked at the back door - it was wired shut. Someone had been here. We decided not to waste time and just take the pictures. Now, on the side of the house at the back there is a new looking steel door. I went up to it and tried the knob. It was unlocked, which seemed odd to me. I opened it slightly then stood back. A second later, it swung open rather quickly but not all the way. I took a step back, startled. My accomplice put a hand over their heart and then approached the door cautiously, taking a look inside. It was just a room filled with more junk, which seemed to lead to the basement. We walked around the outside of the house snapping pictures as we went. When we got back to the side with the steel door, I paused to look inside a basement window which had no glass left in it. I was just noticing a jar on the floor inside when I heard my accompice say in an urgent voice, we need to get out of here NOW. I turned around and ran back to the vehicle. I didn’t even look at anything around me, just ran like hell. We floored it out of there, tired slipping in the freshly moistened ground.
“There was a face in the upstairs window. Someone poked their head in that window…” “WHAT?” My accomplice went on to explain that while I was looking in the basement window, they were just casually looking around when a movement caught their eye. Looking in the upstairs lefthand window, they saw a man, who moved out of view just as soon as he was spotted. There was just enough time to see that it was a man, but nothing else. Dear God, was someone living in that house?! At this point, I don’t know what the situation is. I am trying to make some phone calls and get the full story. Does someone live there, or was it just a neighbor doing something? It is just strange that anyone is in there at all, as the place is in such a state of disrepair. All I know is if I had seen someone in the house last night I think I would have dropped dead on the spot! Hell, if I had seen the person today I don’t even know what I would have done. I will keep you all posted on what I find out, but for now, stay away from the Seventh line farmhouse. Someone doesn’t like visitors.
~Bandit
Five Houses To Make Up For My Absence
Posted bandit on April 3rd, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House, School House | 6 Comments »
First of all, I wish to sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. My personal life has been a rollercoaster ride over the past few weeks and things are finally just getting nack to normal. However I’d rather not bore you with that type of information, especially since I have a lot of writing to do. During my hiatus, I continued the house tour, and have pictures of five houses to post up.
This house on Botany Line was one which we found fairly early on in our house hunt. To date I believe we’ve been in or around it about five times, and there is still one room we have yet to explore due to a sticking door. Outside on a porch there was a cardboard box filled to the brim with loose dirt. Hiding under the layers of collected sediment were Crown sealer jars, with dates ranging from the late 1930’s to mid 1950’s. I wondered how long they had to sit there to become completely covered in dirt. I personally love this house, as I have a weak spot for old brick homes. There is one photo of this house that I posted up on a message forum and had someone comment that they could see a figure in a first floor window. My accomplice agreed and said they could see the silhouette of a female head and torso, wearing an old style dress, in the bottom half of the window. Other people agreed. Personally, I do not see it, which is kind of a let down! It is the last picture in the group, you can judge for yourself. It is the bottom left side window.
I loved the first school house we found on Mink road, but this one proved to be even more beautiful. We were fortunate enough to get some excellent daytime photos, and without trespassing! The owner of the property was outside rolling the lawn so we approached them. Lucky for us, they were very open and friendly and allowed us to take all the pictures we wanted. This school is on Eighth Line and right next door to an occupied house, so getting pictures otherwise would have been difficult. The date on the building is 1889, and the inside is now a sort of shop by the looks of it. I wish we could have gotten in to the basement, but we only spent a few minutes inside. The fence around the property is beautiful too, and looks to be as old as the school house itself.
I was early for a dinner date the other night, so I took a detour and ended up out on Sixth Line. I was very pleased when I stumbled upon this abandoned frame house! Later the same day my accomplice and I went to snap some photos while there was still some sunlight. There’s not much left of the place, but the spray painting on the inside is interesting. Judging by the slogans painted on the walls, you would date it to about the 1960’s or 1970’s. Perhaps the painter was just feeling nostalgic. I did enjoy the water pump outside and all the mature trees creeping in on the home. I am betting it would be a little spooky at night.
One day on my way in to Chatham following Charing Cross Road, I happened to glance over and see a monster of a house sitting just a short way down on Ninth Line. The place was simply massive, and looked to be in a sad state of disrepair. I made a quick turn so I could drive by and take a look. It was amazing! I could only imagine how grand of a house it would have been when it was new. A late night visit revealed that the internals of the house were seriously rotten - too much so to enter - and every room was filled with junk. A ladder was stuck under the front porch overhang to hold it up. It was a couple days later when I mentioned the house in casual conversation to a friend that they remarked, “Oh, you mean Crazy ****’s house? [Name starred out]”. I was shocked. “You mean someone lives there?” “Yes… well they used to, but the house got too trashed so now they live in the barn.” Oh my. And to think we had been walking around the property! When I thought about it for a moment, I recalled other stories about this individual, and around Chatham it’s a well known fact that they do in fact reside in a barn. I just had no idea that THIS was the place! Enjoy the photos, because I certainly will not be going back!
We first saw this home on a late night tour and almost passed it, not sure whether it was abandoned or not. When we went back, it was clear that it was empty. However, the front door was nailed shut and we weren’t about to force it open. We peeked in the barns on the property, but there was nothing of interest. A few days later, we found ourselves back in the general area when we were taking other daylight photos. We pulled in the driveway and to my suprise, the back door was open! I poked my head in a yelled hello, but there was no response. Upon entering the home, I was hit with the strong odor of urine and feces - yech. I wonder how many years I’m taking off my life by going in to these places? Anyways, it was completely empty so we toured each room and snapped some pictures. Back outside, we found a basement window was open. My accomplice stuck the camera in the window and took a picture. Looking at it on the camera, I thought, is that water? It was hard to tell on the LCD screen. I picked up a rock and threw it in. Splash! Oh my. The basement of the house was filled with water. I thought back to walking around inside it only moments before… what if I had fallen through a rotten floor? I would have found myself neck deep in the scummiest water imaginable. I guess that’s the risk you take with all of these houses. As long as I have an audience, I will continue.
A Day of Houses
Posted bandit on March 9th, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House | 8 Comments »
Where should I begin? I’ve got tons of pictures to post from a daytime tour that we went on yesterday. We snapped photos of the farmhouse on County Road 1, a one room school house on Mink, an imposing but rotten frame house on Burk, and an odd assortment of dilapidated shacks. I might as well get right into it!
These are photos of the County Road 1 farmhouse that I wrote about in a previous post. As you can see, part of the house is old, and the other part sits unfinished. I was wandering around the property, and poked my head in to one of the barns. I noticed several bicycles — new ones, not dusty old bikes that would have been sitting there a while. Next thing I know I’m being hustled away from the barn by my accomplice, who says they hear voices in the other barn. I didn’t exactly want to stay after that, but I thought about it for a minute and figured out that it was just some teenagers using the barn for… whatever it was they were doing. We took lots of pictures of the exterior of the home and then popped inside quickly to snap a few photos before we decided to pack it up.
This one room school house sits on Mink road, plastered in no trespassing signs. Hey, I’m illiterate…? We’d been in this school before when we stumbled across it during a previous tour. I found an old hatchet on the floor amongst the plaster bits and dirt. I love the lockers and I’d love to get a set! Next to the school house itself is a small shack with two beds and a chair in it. Can’t really say what it’s purpose was. The sign on the school reads “SCHOOL SECTION NO. 17 HARWICH”.
I love this home. I love the design and I wish I could have seen it in it’s prime — it’s simply massive! Someone obviously uses it for storage, as seen by the junk all around it. The interior of the home is far too rotten to even consider stepping in the door, unless you are willing to risk a broken limb when you fall into the basement. It’s really too bad it’s so far gone, I’d like to see the whole interior.
A little ways down the road on Burk there is a long laneway which leads to a yard surrounded by large evergreen trees. From the road nothing is visible, but this pile of debris sits hidden behind the evergreens. I enjoy that you can still get a sense of the decor from the wallpaper clinging to the one remaining wall.
This tiny home sits just off River Road, with no driveway or path to it. The farmer simply farms around it. It’s so small, you wonder why they don’t just knock it down? Of course I’m glad it’s still there, but it’s certainly a curiosity. At least in it’s day it would have been easy to keep clean!
Another home off River Road. This property is actually for sale, I’m sure it would make someone a nice starter home! A handyman’s dream! As you can see there is extensive fire damage, and the roof has fallen in. I found a small concrete bust of a German Shephard which was kind of neat, along with a tea pot and some broken dishes. The whole place smells of heating oil, and I wonder why the house wasn’t just left to burn to the ground.
It’s time to pick out a new area of the county to search. I’ve got my fingers crossed hoping for some excellent finds!
~Bandit
Snowflakes on Abandoned Rooftops
Posted bandit on March 7th, 2007 | Filed under Abandoned House | 3 Comments »
Last night was uneventful. I am so addicted to this house hunt that I swear I go through withdrawls when nothing interesting shows up. We toured A.D. Shadd Road and Highway 3, as well as some roads inbetween. There was one house on the Shadd that needed to be “re-checked”, and a house on Highway 3 that needed to be scoped out as well.
From a previous tour we had noted an abandoned frame house on Shadd. That day we had walked up to the house in broad daylight to check if the hydro meter was moving — and were yelled at from a house down the road. Needless to say we didn’t stick around. Last night, we passed the house again.
An abandoned house has a strange presence to it. You can usually see one from far up the road and sense it’s emptiness. Not a light on in or around the place, no cars, no nothing. They almost stand out, dark silhoutettes in the night. When you approach one, it evokes feelings of curiosity and wonder, and moments of suspense.
The frame house on Shadd sat silently among the gently falling snowflakes. We didn’t plan on looking inside or even being there at all, so we just snapped a few photos and left. The house that we really wanted to check out was much further up the road. A day or two before we passed an old brick farmhouse that looked just dilapidated enough to be empty and neglected. However, at the last moment we noticed a yellow light glowing inside a basement window. A re-check last night revealed the light was still on, and the hydro meter was moving ever so slowly. Cross that one off the abandoned list, for now.
On Highway 3, a large brick farmhouse had piqued our interest a couple nights back. Another inspection last night was uneventful — the house sits very close to a new and very lived-in home, and looks like it is sealed up pretty tight. We snapped a pic of it through the snowflakes and left. I’m hoping that there will be some excitement within the next few days to sooth my withdrawls.
~Bandit
