Amtrak accident in Mebane

As many of you probably have seen on the news, yesterday an Amtrak train derailed in Mebane NC, which is close to where I live.

Oddly enough, I was taking pictures in that very area just last Friday.

The derailing took place in the middle of town, at the intersection of 5th street and East Center St (highway 70). That's the intersection you can see in the center of the picture at left, near the top. The picture below is a closeup of that area of this picture.

I wasn't actually interested in the railroad intersection though. I just was using the tracks as an easy and picturesque way to walk from the tire dealership (where I was getting 4 new tires put on my car) to the intersection where the Amtrak train was derailed.


You see, there's a great old factory on the other side of Center Street from the railroad tracks. It was the White Furniture Company and it closed in 1993, taking over 200 jobs with it. You can see the factory on the right side of the picture above. The pictures further down in this post are ones I took that day of the old furniture factory.

They're auctioning off the land on which the factory sits and I wanted to take some pictures before the new buyer has a chance to tear down the old buildings. I don't think there's much chance they'll try to reclaim the place. It's just too far gone for that.

Between rotting floors, ivy invasively growing everywhere, entire full grown trees taking root in the middle of storage areas---it's a disaster for productive use. But a wonderful location for photography of urban decay that's actually attractive, not just gritty and repulsive.











Comments

tiff said…
Love the mill photos - it's important to capture for posterity what's sure to be doomed once the sale goes through.
srp said…
What kind of mill was it? The ivy and trees really soften the decay don't they.
Anonymous said…
It was a furniture factory. White's Furniture had been in Mebane since 1881... over 100 years!

Thanks for sharing these photos!
~A Mebane Girl :)
utenzi said…
I had just discovered the background of the factory a few minutes ago, Mebane Girl. I was looking at Bill Bamberger's book about the factory closing on Amazon. Thanks!
I love old places like that where nature seems to have overtaken them :)

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