My dad and I only had two days to drive around and photograph a small part of the US where the lack of wealth and decay of businesses is apparent and talked about. We visited locations such as Youngstown, Oh, Weirton, West Virginia, Rankin, Pennsylvania and more. Many of these locations were heavily affected by the decline in the steel mills in the surrounding valleys.
This was the first location on the list. We drove an hour and a half to Youngstown, Ohio to go to this school board building. We could only laugh when we found it. It was not a good start, but we went into a spot across the street. A cop sat outside behind our car waiting for us to come out. She turned out to be very friendly and told us about the unused car retail shops on the opposite side of town. Those were some great spots.
This hospital had security and there was no way to get in. The outside was incredible.
The Weirton Mill in West Viriginia was not as abandoned as we hoped it would be.
Wheeling Pit Mill
We got too confident after our interaction with the friendly cops in Youngstown, Ohio. We stood in a feild by the Wheeling Pit Mill and couldn't decide if we wanted to check out the mill or the buildings first. A man in a pick up truck drove up to us and was very confused what to do with us. He threatened to report us so we left.
Carrie Furnace, Rankin PA
Before we headed to the airport, we went to the Old Overholt Whiskey mill.
