Places That Were

The abandoned Wyman-Gordon power plant towers above an overgrown industrial lot in Dixmoor, Illinois, the sole remaining structure of a century-old steel foundry.


I'd just gotten a rare opportunity to explore the majestic Abandoned Prison of Joliet, Illinois (click here to check out the article, if you haven't already). Truly an incredible place. I wasn't sure anything could top that experience, except maybe an abandoned power plant.


The Village of Dixmoor and the neighboring City of Harvey are suburbs south of Chicago. Once major industrial centers, they suffered serious economic decline toward the end of the 20th Century.


Lily's Groceries Store stands abandoned and boarded up on a lonely street corner across from the old steel mill site.


Nature has returned to the grounds of the old factory in full force. Trees and shrubs grow so dense that it is difficult to pass through.


Most of the buildings on the property have been demolished. The few that remain are in very rough shape.


The power plant is the only major structure that still stands. Scrappers and vandals have done quite a bit of damage over the years. There is also evidence that fires have been lit inside.


In 1910, when Dixmoor was still known as Specialville, the Ingalls-Shepard Forging Company built a steel mill so large that it required its own coal-fueled power plant. Like others in the region, the factory produced heavy steel parts for railroad companies and the growing auto industry.
In 1920, the Wyman-Gordon Company of Worcester, Massachusetts acquired the plant.


During and after World War I, Wyman-Gordon Company produced parts for military and commercial aircraft. World War II proved an extremely profitable time. The company claims that it produced more military airplane components than all of its competitors combined.


As technology progressed, Wyman-Gordon began forging titanium alloy jet engine parts, which were used in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.


The 1980s saw a decline in business for Wyman-Gordon due to decreased demand for commercial airline components and  military budget cuts after the end of the Cold War.



Following an unsuccessful attempt to sell the plant, Wyman-Gordon closed the Ingalls-Shepard Division in 1986 and 350 people lost their jobs. It was a devastating blow to Dixmoor and the neighboring city of Harvey, which had recently suffered the closing of its Arco and Allis-Chalmers plants. The Dixie Square Mall, also located in Harvey, had closed several years earlier and sat abandoned until 2012, when it was finally demolished.



A machine shop now operates out of one of Wyman-Gordon's old buildings. Most of the others were razed. I'm not sure why the power plant was spared from demolition.




It seems unlikely that the site will be redeveloped any time in the near future. The soil would need to be cleared of the industrial contaminants that have accumulated over the years.


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The beautiful neo-Gothic prison compound of Joliet Correctional Center stands abandoned and decaying after operating for nearly a century and a half.


After a stroll through the legendary ruins of Joliet Iron Works, I headed to the massive walled-off prison compound that lies just north of the abandoned steel mill.


Surrounded by 25-foot-high limestone walls topped with razor wire, Joliet Correctional Center covers 20 acres of land. The once self-sustaining compound consists of 24 buildings, including guard towers, cell blocks, administration buildings, light industrial facilities, a hospital, laundry, cafeteria, chapel and gymnasium. After years of neglect and vandalism, many of the structures are severly deteriorated.


Thick blankets of ivy cover the walls and fences. The grounds are overgrown with weeds that have pushed up through the cracked pavement.


The prison compound itself is not open to the public, but the parking lot has been transformed into the Old Joliet Prison Park. Visitors can enjoy a view of the castle-like main structure and read about the prison's history on a handful of informational signs.




Some of the rooms even had marble fireplaces.




I only got to see a small portion of the massive facility during my visit, but I hope to return one day if/when the grounds have been opened to the public.


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Joliet Iron and Steel Works, once the second largest steel mill in the United States, is now a vast network of crumbling ruins.When I finished admiring the towering industrial ruins of Lehigh Portland Cement Company in Oglesby, Illinois, I continued toward Joliet, the westernmost city of the Rust Belt.


Along the way, I took a quick detour in the city of Morris to check out a complex of beautiful old brick buildings that once housed Gebhard Brewery.


Louis Gebhard, a German immigrant, founded Gebhard Brewery in 1866. His son William eventually took over and greatly expanded the business. Before long, their brew was known and loved throughout the state. He added a bottling plant in 1888, the seven-story brew house in 1896, and a stock house in 1904. William's son Fred joined the business in 1912, carrying his grandfather's legacy into a third generation of Gebhards.

The business was forced to close in January of 1920 when prohibition went into effect. The brew house was later converted into a flour mill. Morris Milling Company operated there from 1935 to 1958.


In 1946 the bottling plant building became the home of Lindsay Light and Mantel Company, which produced mantels for lamps and lanterns. The business thrived for nearly half a century before finally closing in the early 1990s.

The beautiful old brick buildings now sit vacant. I hoped to take a peek inside, but was disappointed to find them fenced off with a No Trespassing sign. I snapped a few photos of the exterior and got back on the road.

On my way through Plainfield, Illinois, I stopped to photograph a neat old Public Service Company building.


I rolled into Joliet, Illinois on Day 9 of the Epic Rust Belt Road Trip. I had finally reached America's infamous Rust Belt.

Since leaving Los Angeles, I had driven through the American West, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains, spending a day or two in each state and exploring dozens of abandoned places along the way. I could hardly wait to catch my first glimpse of the mighty industrial ruins of the former Manufacturing Belt.


Joliet Steel and Iron Works, once the second largest steel mill in the US, was a paragon of American industry. The rails produced there were instrumental in the expansion of the nation's railroad infrastructure. It was strange to realize that the tiny railroad towns I had passed through on my way across the Heartland owed their existence to this steel mill.


Joliet Iron Works opened in 1869, only a few years after the end of the Civil War. Over time, ownership of the mill passed between various steel conglomerates including Illinois Steel Company, Federal Steel, and U.S. Steel.




In its early years, the iron works employed many immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. The job was tough and workers had to endure hazards such as extreme heat, toxic fumes, and dangerous falls. Injuries and deaths were not uncommon.



The iron works closed in 1936 due to decreased profitability, but the steel works continued to operate throughout most of the 20th century. New structures were added over the ensuing decades, including the Nail Department, the Fence and Barbed Wire Department, the Annealing and Galvanizing Department, and a massive warehouse.


Various portions of the plant closed throughout the 1970s and operations ceased entirely in the early 1980s.


In the 1990s, the Forest Preserve District of Will County created the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site. A mile-long walking path leads through the ruins of the iron works, marked with signs that explain the significance of the various portions of the mill and the functions of the equipment that once stood there.




Across the railroad tracks from the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site, the structures of the steel works remain abandoned and rusting. Unfortunately they are off-limits to the public.


Farther down the tracks the solemn guard towers of Joliet Correctional Center peek up over the tree line. The abandoned prison was my next stop. I was completely unprepared for how awesome it was. Click here to check out the article.

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