Muffin Man's House Pt. 2

Today I headed back to a couple old locations with a friend. First we went to the Muffin Man's House, which burnt down some time before 2007 and has been falling apart ever since.

Comparison shot from the summer and with a lesser camera

It seems the family had children, most likely a girl or a girl and a boy based on what trash and debris is found around the place

Ramtail Factory Under the Snow

This is my third time looking for the ruins of this old haunted factory, and this time I couldn't get in due to the snowy conditions. However, I did get a few shots of the nearby area with my new camera. It's pretty desolate this time of year.

Another edit

The main entrance to the trail that leads to the factory

The cemetery nearby

Little Triangle Guys

You may recall me seeing some frowning triangles spray-painted on to a couple abandoned sites, such as here or here. If you haven't seen them, this is what they usually look like:

While it's likely that some of these (such as the last one pictured) are imitators, Cleopatra has found the main man who does them, street artist mister.diablo. I highly recommend checking out his stuff.

Anyway, that clears up the mystery about who paints these and why there are so many around.

Snowy Socks

With the blizzard behind us, I got out to get a few pictures in the fresh snow. First I went to Elton's Drain and then to the Stuck-Up Bridge.

Comparison shot from two days ago

Just something I saw behind me that caught my attention

Nightmare bridge

From the summer (for comparison)

Roger Williams Park Mausoleum and Grave Hunting

After stopping at Elton's Drain, I ventured to this creepy derelict cemetery.

I've been looking for the grave of George B. Boyden, an influential Rhode Island property owner from the 19th century, after I saw his grave on a uer.ca forum post. One of the locations my search has brought me to is the Roger Williams Park Mausoleum, which sits on Oakland Cemetery. The Mausoleum was abandoned in the early 2000s (I think) with still 527 human remains left inside (though recent efforts have been made to extract some and bury them). You can find more information about this (as well as pictures of the interior) online.

I took a couple pictures of the cemetery, but I don't think it's the one I'm looking for. I'm headed to some places in Bristol and Providence next.

Couldn't make out all the words in this sign but the first one was "CONDEMNED"

The cemetery. Parts of it are very old and worn down.

Elton's Drain

Today I decided to dust off the old urbex gear and get out for the first time in months. I recently saw a location on Ryan Ademan's facebook page about this Rhode Island drain. He was kind enough to give me the location, and so I set off.

The drain was built by the WPA in 1941 out of mainly stone and bricks. It opens up into a large straight distance of drain easy to walk through to a smaller brick drain that I went a fair bit down, but it seems to go on for quite a while, curving slightly north. I might return soon for some better shots, especially in the snow.

The drain, exterior. They don't make storm drains like they used to.

This is what the drain flows out into--a mossy stone stream which carves through the woods.

From inside.

Almost Caught at the Abandoned Church

Be prepared for many words and not so many pictures today. . .

I jumped right back into exploring today by going to some walking trails in Portsmouth to warm up for finally getting down into the basement of the Mater Spei Church to take some pictures (see this post if you're unfamiliar with the church). With my waist-high rainboots, I set off alone, for all my friends were busy.

I entered without difficulty, cutting around the "No Trespassing" sign. As I walked up the road, I noticed that large portions of land had been mowed and marking sticks had been put up all around the church. It seems that, as I predicted, the construction in the area will soon reach the church itself, and it'll go down as the condos go up around it.

Anyway, I went inside through my favorite entrance and soon got up to the second floor just to make sure I had no company before I went down to the basement. Just as I was about to leave this floor, however, I heard voices below me from outside. I rushed over to see two men coming up the path. They wore black shirts, but I could not see them very well (I'm near-sighted and was not wearing glasses). It was obvious from the start that they were interested in finding me when they began to stare through the window from a distance and move around, trying to make out a figure. These were definitely not some middle schools boys just wandering around.

Seeing they had a certain air of authority, I quickly turned to make a decision--either go up the stairs and hide on the highest place on the roof (fairly difficult to access) or go all the way down and hide in the flooded basement.

I made my way to the basement and had my rainboots on soon enough, stepping around and hiding behind a metal box in a dark corner of the basement. The water wasn't so deep as it's been pretty dry lately, maybe only about 6 inches deep at its deepest. Nonetheless, it was murky and uninviting.

I sat there in the musty cold dark for a few minutes before I heard the footsteps and voices of two or more grown men. I also heard the distinct clicking of flashlights. I now believe that these men were police officers watching over the area because (1) they were very interested in making sure I was found; they came around just above me on the stairwell three times, saying things like "they're not here" or "did you see/hear?" Any ordinary person would not have cared enough to pursue me with such motivation; (2) they were equipped with flashlights, which I imagine even all construction workers wouldn't have on their person at any given time; (3) they sounded like two confident men in about their 30s, and I did not get the impression that they felt they were entering some place they didn't feel they were supposed to be, just by how loud and disruptive they were.

I waited there in the dark for over an hour as they continued to pass through, walking around several floors above me. Every time I heard their footsteps or voices nearby, I swayed with my pounding heartbeat. It was pretty scary for me being cornered at that point, having no real escape besides up into their hands. You'd be surprised the lengths police will go just to ensure their decaying pile of junk (soon to be demolished anyway) is not disturbed by a curious guy trying to take pictures.

Also, did I mention the building is said to be haunted by the ghosts of nuns? I'm not very superstitious, but this only compounded the situation, as I sat alone with no service, unable to use my flashlight, in a creaking old basement. The basement was by far the most unsettling place, but pictures will have to wait for another time.

After about an hour, I slowly crept up the stairs and throughout the (dark) first floor, not using a flashlight lest it be seen. Fortunately for me, I know this place very well and the police officers seemed to be completely on foreign ground. I knew of an exact spot on the lower floor where I could climb up to a window, sneak around the side, and go straight into the woods nearby where I would find a path (albeit a prickly and long one) that would bring me right to where my car was, far away from the church--and that's just what I did.

As I was leaving the church I kept it very low-key, only looking around my immediate area. As far as I could see over there, they had given up and no police officers were to be seen, but it was more likely that they would be on the opposite side of the building, where they had seen me. Either way, I had a very close call today. I hopped in my car and drove off before I even took off my massive rainboots.

Unfortunately, I only got two pictures of the prep work they're doing around the church, and none of the basement. Taking pictures would require lighting the scene, which I couldn't do for obvious reasons. I plan to go back another time in the blackness of night where I don't have to worry about being seen as easily, though this will certainly make the place more unsettling. For now, here are my pictures:

On the left here you can see a field in front of the church. The last time I was here, that was all tall grass and there were no markers around it.

"NGRID EL"--National Grid Electric, I assume. This was among the marking sticks by the church.