On January 2nd Bruce, Kristin and I went to International Boiler Works in East Stroudsburg, PA to do some exploring since it was conveniently located along the way back to Rochester for me and was only about an hour from their home.
The entire factory is pretty bombed out and we could find no paperwork or any other sort of historically significant indicator to tell us when it was abandoned while we were there. Later internet sleuthing shows that the factory was built in the 1890s and closed in 1992. For a plant that closed in 1992 it is in pretty rough shape. The cold winter wind was tearing siding off the building in some sections and almost anything glass has been fragmented in to many pieces. There’s graffiti on nearly every surface and evidence of all kinds of group gatherings at IBW. It looks like a pretty popular hangout spot, not to mention a popular arena for airsoft and paintball. Bikers and skateboarders also seem to have had their way with the remains of IBW. Since closing, decay has been creeping in on the 60,000 square foot facility quickly, and the plants are slowly working to reclaim the six acre plot of land.
Access to IBW was extremely easy and structurally the existing stairs and upper levels you can reach without trouble are all still pretty sound. There is a lot of floorspace to explore here; we didn’t really have an appreciation for the size of the numerous buildings from the satellite images we viewed before visiting the location. Most of the buildings only show the ravages of time (and perhaps teenagers). There is also evidence of past fires in a couple buildings, a common theme among abandoned buildings. Devastating fires often push these businesses over the edge and shut them down.
I’m not certain what shut this plant down yet. The initial digging I’ve done has shown that the area is intensely interested in re-purposing the property for other industrial uses and talks about the cleanup of hazardous waste on the property. Every year they seem to develop new plans for the property but nothing has happened yet so it seems like the remains of IBW will be available to explorers for at least a few more years.
Working with photos from someplace like this really makes me wonder why I’m not working with B&W more often. The graffiti is so vibrant and in some cases the bricks or other materials are quite colorful as well and it plays hell with my color perception. I want to recreate the natural vibrance of everything you see at a place like this and it’s incredibly hard for me to tell if it’s right, too far saturated or the wrong color entirely.
For more information on International Boiler Works a little searching will bring up a number of things, including patents to their name and this article in the Pocono Record.
To see more photos from our trip to IBW you can check out my International Boiler Works set on Flickr.
