Noel Kerns
Blue for Boys
Inside the old, abandoned High School in Toyah, Texas.
Story continued from this image...
Alright, so having discovered the existence of another opening on the other side of the building, I quickly folded up my tripod and made for the basement exit. I hustled around to the east end of the old school building, and whadya know...there's a big steel door standing wide open, it's 4 x 8 plywood having been removed and lying down on the concrete steps down to this basement entrance. I made my way down the step and shined my streamlight inside...nothing very impressive here either; just a hallway with a couple doorways off either side. I stepped in, and examined to room to my right.
This room was completely empty except for a non-professionally made wooden table, about 3x6 feet, of about the size and height someone might lay down on. The rest of the room was basically fairly clean of debris...it began to look as though this building had remained sealed for several decades, and had only been breached very recently. There was no tagging to be seen anywhere, which was quite refreshing compared to most places like this that I visit. Whoever forced their way in at least had respect for the place...perhaps an urban explorer type, rather than drunk teenagers looking for a place to party.
One other thing I forgot to mention about this side...the ceiling here is normal height, not 5 feet like on the other half. Not sure how they worked that, but it was a relief to not have to walk around all bent over.
The second door on the right side of this hallway was actually just a second exit door for the room with the table, which was the largest room I'd seen here yet. So I wandered across the hallway to the lone door on that side, which was right next to the outside door through which I entered.
This room turned out to be the bath & shower room you see in the photo above. The blue paint was both rich and in surprisingly good condition, other than a few minor peels here and there. I looked at that shower head arrangement and thought about how cramped together 3 young men would be trying to simultaneously shower there. I didn't like that mental image so I switched it to three young women...there, that's better...
Anyway, I decided to snap this photo of it, and as I stepped back into the hallway to fire off the red strobe, I managed to get my $500 Marchon Airlock glasses hooked on my stretch knit cap, and because they were so cold, the arms snapped right off. Flyin' blind now!
OK, so the other thing in this hallway, at the very end on the left, is the stairway up to...what? I didn't know yet, but it was time to find out. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl in a 3-head shower as I made my way up the creaky, unstable wooden steps, covered with dust and rubble from years of deterioration, all highlighted quite coldly in the flat, bluish light from my LED flashlight.
Hmm...what's that sound coming from above?
To be continued...
Blue for Boys
Inside the old, abandoned High School in Toyah, Texas.
Story continued from this image...
Alright, so having discovered the existence of another opening on the other side of the building, I quickly folded up my tripod and made for the basement exit. I hustled around to the east end of the old school building, and whadya know...there's a big steel door standing wide open, it's 4 x 8 plywood having been removed and lying down on the concrete steps down to this basement entrance. I made my way down the step and shined my streamlight inside...nothing very impressive here either; just a hallway with a couple doorways off either side. I stepped in, and examined to room to my right.
This room was completely empty except for a non-professionally made wooden table, about 3x6 feet, of about the size and height someone might lay down on. The rest of the room was basically fairly clean of debris...it began to look as though this building had remained sealed for several decades, and had only been breached very recently. There was no tagging to be seen anywhere, which was quite refreshing compared to most places like this that I visit. Whoever forced their way in at least had respect for the place...perhaps an urban explorer type, rather than drunk teenagers looking for a place to party.
One other thing I forgot to mention about this side...the ceiling here is normal height, not 5 feet like on the other half. Not sure how they worked that, but it was a relief to not have to walk around all bent over.
The second door on the right side of this hallway was actually just a second exit door for the room with the table, which was the largest room I'd seen here yet. So I wandered across the hallway to the lone door on that side, which was right next to the outside door through which I entered.
This room turned out to be the bath & shower room you see in the photo above. The blue paint was both rich and in surprisingly good condition, other than a few minor peels here and there. I looked at that shower head arrangement and thought about how cramped together 3 young men would be trying to simultaneously shower there. I didn't like that mental image so I switched it to three young women...there, that's better...
Anyway, I decided to snap this photo of it, and as I stepped back into the hallway to fire off the red strobe, I managed to get my $500 Marchon Airlock glasses hooked on my stretch knit cap, and because they were so cold, the arms snapped right off. Flyin' blind now!
OK, so the other thing in this hallway, at the very end on the left, is the stairway up to...what? I didn't know yet, but it was time to find out. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl in a 3-head shower as I made my way up the creaky, unstable wooden steps, covered with dust and rubble from years of deterioration, all highlighted quite coldly in the flat, bluish light from my LED flashlight.
Hmm...what's that sound coming from above?
To be continued...