The Dark Side of Erie on a Sunny Day

This past Friday my roomates and I discovered parts of Erie that scared us, but also made us wonder what Erie looked like in the days of the industrial revolution. Most of the decay we witnessed was old factory buildings and automotive garages. Our first stop was on the corner of Parade and East 12th St., where we saw three dilapidated buildings. The first was a place that used to be called Truck Shed:

Tuck Shed, shed, some light on the what kind of decay we were about to experience in erie. Overgrown brown grass shrouding broken windows and boarded up doors. It was sad to see such a bright color red tarnished by the wear and tear of the decades of Erie winters. It was tempting to try and crawl through the broken window but lots of cop cars were continually driving by. In the peak of it's years I'm sure the truck shed was just another automotive garage amongst the many in Erie. And so we went on to the next building just across 12th street. The building didn't have a sign or anything to let us know what it was, just a For Sale sign.

The first of many broken down brick buildings we would see, the for sale building begged the question--what could you do to enhance this worn out building if you purchased it? The building was not near anything remotely appealing to the public so making it into a store would be difficult because many people might be afraid to go to that area of the city. We had some guy yell at us from his car while he was sitting at a red light. The location would probably discourage most people from using the building as a home too. And with the economy today it seems unlikely that anyone will be buying that building anytime soon. Next we went to the building next door which was a restaurant that looked to be closed or shut down, called Big City Tastebuds: Fine Soul Food.

This building really made me wonder wether it was legit or not. The signs seemed legit and there were no windows to look in but the broken windows on the upper floors and the couch and junk that was in the back made it seem like people had recently moved out of the building and shut down the restaurant. I guess I'll never know. Anyway, the next decaying building we came upon was on the courner of the Bayfront Connector and East 12th St. The roof of the building was the best example of the decay so I handed the camera to my roomate Kim to take the picture while we were at a red light. This building was the Erie Mill.

It was fairly evident that this building was not being used anymore. I wonder how much snow accumulated in there during the winter, especially this winter. Seeing buildings like this makes me sad because it seems like such a waste. Why is urban sprawl occurring when we should instead focus on revitalizing the inner urban areas. When the light turned green we were off, continuing down East 12th St. to the Holland Garage. Another automotive garage wasting away.

In this case it wasn't necessarily the garage that was decaying but the cars outside the garage. The garage, while it may have had lots of graffiti, didn't look as bad as the cars outside. Like the decaying buildings the decaying cars were also a sad site to see because of the rusting metal just sitting there with no purpose. Following the garage we drove back down 12th St. back the way we came until we arrived at the Hedlund Glass & Auto Seat Cover on the corner of Holland and East 12th St. This building caught my eye because of the chipping paint and bars on the windows.

Whenever I see bars on windows its like an automatic warning to leave but not this time. It was bright and sunny out and there were lots of cars on the road so we felt safe. Plus lots of cop cars were out and about as well. This building ended up being not that interesting except for the barred windows and chipping paint. It was basically a giant box of yellow brick and i can only imagine how gloomy it was inside. Next we continued down East 12th St. to Plum where we explored outside the Keystone Foundry.

The best part about this building was the empty, rusty oil drums by the shipping/receiving dock. They were decaying and deformed and their colors were dull but the combination made a hauntingly beautiful pattern. In addition to the drums, the sign for the Keystone was also interesting because it looked like something was glued to it briefly but then taken off again. The weirdest part about most of these places was even though some of them were still in use they all seemed abandoned; no one was going in or out which made us feel awkward. Next we drove around the block to Raspberry St. and saw a factory with the windows blown out but no where to park so another picture from the car would have to suffice.

Like the oil drums the broken windows created a great pattern as well. While i didn't get a close up look of the Sawpiano Co. the outside made me wonder what the building must have been used for when it was used. Now and empty building was there a lot of hustle and bustle around this building, did it blow smoke out the top, could you see people working diligently through the windows once? After passing this building we began to head down 12th St towards State St. and stopped in an empty parking lot that was basically an area of gravel with one other car parked. Behind the offices of Real Iron Company, at 645 W 12th St., was a part of the building that was almost completely demolished.

This building was the most interesting to photograph. It looked as if someone started taking it down but ended up just pounding three giant holes in the walls. It even looked like there was a wheel for spinning thread on the upper level. In the one picture of the inside of the building the wall looks like its throwing up bricks. Why was the demolition of this building never completed? Then next to this building was a brown building that looked like it was out of a horror movie. Part of the Erie Works Tool Co. this building was surrounded by barbed wire.

Of all the buildings we saw this was definitely the scariest of them all. When I look at the pictures I picture some evil person torturing people inside or Jason hiding out in there during the day to come out at night. Something about the rotting, dark brown wood. We got out of here when we saw some people walking towards us and were on our way again. Our next stop was at the Metropolitan which looked like it was once called the Daka Paper Co.

If the grime on the windows from this building were combined with the last building that would make the creepiest building i've ever seen. What causes grime like that to accumulate? Overall, this building was kind of boring so we quickly left and kept driving. Our next stop was the Erie Paint Co. on the corner of E 14th St. and State St.

The boarded up windows and feeling of abandonment was starting to get old at this point. I was starting to feel lonely and abandoned like the buildings I was photographing. Why must things fall by the wayside? Also on State St. we explored the back of the restaurant Calamari's.

While Calamari's is pretty well known restaurant in Erie there is considerable urban decay in the back. If I worked there I would be scared to leave at night because it's like a bad dark alley back there. Now it makes sense why action movies always take place in cities, because they offer the perfect set for fear, anxiety, and excitement. And in this particular alley another building intrigued us, the Sanner Office Supply building.

The best part of this building was definitely the rusty fire ladder. As the last building on our tour of downtown Erie we were getting cold and tired. Three hours driving and walking around Erie can be a pretty tiring experience but it was worth it to see the behind the scenes view of the city that i live in for three fourths of the year.