12/18/04

     Today, finally, Andy and I went to the east side to check out the abandoned factory.  This was probably the best and scariest hunt we have done so far. There are four main parts to the whole east side factory.  The first, and most obvious is the overwhelming smoke chimney.  The second is the tunnel located going into the hill.  Third, is the generator building.  And fourth is the empty brick building.  The chimney did look to have and entrance but it was down in a ditch covered with rubble.  The Tunnel was the best part of the hunt.  Inside near the entrance were clothes and blankets as if somebody lived there.  There was a newspaper that dated back to wendsday the 15th.  Once you got towards the middle of the Tunnel, all the stuff like clothes and bottles lessoned.  About at the middle there was some type of maching that went up about 15 feet. After that machine there was no more glass or anything.  Once you start to get closer to the end, the floor raises up and there is only about five feet from the floor to the bottom.  Originally the roof is about seven feet up.  At the end is nothing but sand and a sad skeleton of a cat.  Also, along side the wall of the tunnel are hundreds of bricks that are in good shape.  I would say the total lengh of the Tunnel is probablly 400 feet.  The thing I hated the most about it was that near the end a cat jumped out from the bricks and scared the crap out of me while Andy was already scared enough.  Then came the Generator building.  The entrance to this building was blocked off by chopped down trees, but I was able to crawl under them to get a look inside.  Inside was nothing more than a lot of garbage and a massive machine which looked to be a generator or something.  Finally, the building was unable to get to, due to the entrance was caved in.  It didn't bother me because the last time I went there was nothing to look at in there anyway.  Overall, the entire area was a very scary place.

Here is what I found looking up info all day on this factory,

In 1903, the City of Cleveland granted a franchise to the East Ohio Gas Company, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company, to provide natural gas to residences and businesses for lighting, heating and cooking.   In 1944, holding tank containing millions of gallons of liquid natural gas exploded.   More than one square mile of Cleveland’s east side was engulfed in flames in the area bounded by East 55 th Street, St. Clair Avenue, East 67 th Street and the Shoreway, creating the most disastrous fire in Cleveland’s history with 130 deaths and 79 homes and two factories destroyed.

UPDATE

After doing some more research, I came across aerial photos of the area and seen that there is a clear shot of cars and a factory in the area where this is.  The photos were taken seven years ago, SO, this factory has nothing to do with the 1944 fire.

  Here is a shot looking up at the entrance of the Tunnel.

  Here is the entrance to the Tunnel.

  Here are some of the bricks inside the tunnel.  Good shot of orbs, which I don't care about anymore.

  This is some type of machine in the middle of the Tunnel.

  This is the end of the Tunnel.

  Standing at the back of the Tunnel, looking out.

  Tunnel maching up close.

  This is looking at the back of the building.

  This is the top of the generator building.

  A shot of the wall in the building.

  A shot looking down at the bottom of the generator.

  This is a shot of the side of the lonely building we could not get in to.

  Here is an up close shot of the chimney.  I couldn't get any distance shots.  I tried but all you can see is a dark outline in the pictures.