I've always loved this building.
Sid Barnett's Machine Shop.
No one on the mountain can remember it
being open.
Today I finally stopped
and took a few pics.
As I was taking pictures
I heard someone yelling
at me from across the
street:
"HEY, HEY, NO TRESPASSING!
SHE'LL / I'LL (?) CALL THE LAW ON YOU!!!"
I yelled, nicely)
(over the din of the traffic)
back to the nice lady
who was standing
in the doorway of her trailer in a
pink and green house dress
that I was just taking a few pictures and
she said:
"HEY, HEY, NO TRESPASSING!"
SHE'LL / I'LL CALL THE LAW ON YOU!"
I said again, nicely, that I was just taking a few pictures, showed her
my camera, and she said:
"HEY, HEY, NO TRESPASSING!"
SHE'LL / I'LL CALL THE LAW ON YOU!"
I flatly stated over the din of the traffic
that I was on County property
(Transylvania County, btw)
and that I would continue to take pictures.
She stared blankly from her single-wide
and closed the door.
Not 2 minutes later,
up roll the PO-lease,
and they just
slowed down, and then
kept on
rollin'.
I kept shooting.
This was a hard shot.
The windows were FILTHY
and it was near dark,
outside and inside,
but with a little tweaking
you can see
what a time warp it is inside.
This shot came out weird,
but cool,
It is an old jar filled with
ball bearings and rocks.
There's the sign.
The place is huge.
There is a giant open shed
behind this that looked amazing
too.
But I didn't want to press my luck.
It looked like one day
possibly in the 1960s or 70s
that they just up and closed
without even
clearing off their desks.
The window were so filty,
but it looked AMAZING inside.
I would kill to get in there to see the
machines and tools that were all
just sitting there in
a state of suspended animation....
Maybe one day....
Uh, city slicker messing with the yokels... you know from Deliverance and Texas Chain Saw Massacre... you might survive but walk away all bloody and freaked out, right?
ReplyDeleteReally cool find, anyways next year I'll visit and risk a little B&E maybe?
Squeal like a pig!!!
looks great.
ReplyDeletemaybe the original premises of the chainsaw massacre (the lady over the street the playwright..)
didnt want to uncover all in transylvania county.
this time you made it - p - next time take care..
leatherface waits in the wings..
great tools ,the place is all patina like in "alien".. all so still ,suddenly the creepy creature erupting out of some wacky machinery..
didnt you hear the far away sound of a honda generator?
dont go there alone .. promise.
Brilliant reporting from the field!
ReplyDeleteThe shelves with all the rod looking things are Morse-tapered drills of various sizes.
Judging by their size, this guy was drilling some pretty big holes...most likely with a huge radial drill.
Your old salty machinist, Okemah.
Impressive. I'd love to see it in person.
ReplyDeletePart of me wishes you had done a little breaking & entering to get better shots (or one step farther and "acquire" some goods). But at the same time, I completely admire and respect your restraint and (I assume) better judgment.
I wonder what your county laws are regarding abandoned buildings. You might be able to buy the property outright...sounds like a great kickstarter project!
http://www.amazon.com/Transylvania-County-NC-Images-America/dp/0738517623
ReplyDeletePg 119 there is a picture of the guys who worked at Sids. Pretty cool.
Maybe the lady was the owner and if you'd been friendly and struck up a conversation she'd have opened it up for you. Next time, maybe.
ReplyDeleteHere's a clue for getting on the good side of rural people: don't refer to them as yokels. Deliverance is just a movie, people. Even Deepest Arkansas is safer than your typical municipal parking garage.
Wow - I'm impressed. When I first looked at those pics, I had assumed that they came from inside. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHaving worked as a newspaper photographer where I covered rural/farming territory, I can tell you there's often a concern you're "from the bank" when you're an unrecognized person who shows up and starts taking pictures.
ReplyDeleteExercise caution, play it friendly and polite (introduce yourself if possible), then get out.
(That said, however, shoot like crazy until someone notices, and you'll come away with great shots like this...)
So you'd kill to get in there? Why not start with that old lady..
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I can smell the barnwood and tetanus from here. Thanks for posting these.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty sweet looking. I'd love to ride out there one day in one of my old cars and snap a pic or two with Sid's as the backdrop. If I shot you my email, would you mind giving me more info on the location? I'm in Charlotte, btw.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has been working/going in there recently. The are some newer containers on the shelf with the reamers and drills. Looks like one of Sid's ancestors still dabbles in machine work.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad's shop looks similar and he is in there everyday. He only recently replaced the rotted out wooden door with a nice overhead door so now it looks a little more modern.
ReplyDeleteWell anonymous... being a yokel myself most of my life, I'm allowed to call a yokel a yokel, a hillbilly a hillbilly and i've lived in a few places that made the guys in Deliverance look near civilized... unfortunately I am not exaggerating.
ReplyDeleteOh, many of us remember Sid Barnett's Machine Shop in operation.
ReplyDeleteI just came upon this building last week on the way to oskar blues and am finally looking at the one picture I took while driving past. Googled it and found your great photos - the photos of the interior and your background story on taking them - a dream!
ReplyDeleteThis was my dads uncle's shop. They scraped all the machines about a year ago. My dad has a lot of memories in the shop
ReplyDelete