abandoned places #47 & 2026 Miscellany #3

Miles Park Presbyterian Church Newburgh built 1869-1872 lasted until coronavirus-19 hit in March 2020.  Cleveland annexed the village in 1873. Across the street was Miles Park Methodist originally, it was abandoned and burned down two years ago. The Methodist church became a Pentecostalist, and the Presbyterian became a Baptist church, such goes the devolution of churches in cities when they undergo urban decay.  Often Baptist churches do not use the title, and that is not tied to socio-economic status.

Portion of the remaining 19th C? glass. The only marking were intertwined Ss on the two balcony windows. that were behind an amber window. There was really no hints any of the glass was ecclesial. The same glass could have been in any secular setting. Some of the glass did have the names of donors.

Lorain Carnegie Bridge four, double faced, art deco sandstone pylon sculptures. The figures are collectively the Guardians of Traffic. On the corner where Carnegie begins there is an American League baseball park. For the last few years, the team has been the Guardians.

On the west side of the bridge, there is a neighborhood of houses under the pylons. Here it was easy to get up close and personal with a camera.

Just a little further up Carnegie is this advertisement for Palantir, which is unknown to most people. Palantir makes software for surveillance for government agencies, and corporations.  It is spyware.  The chairman of the corporation is Peter Thiel, a German born evangelical queer, who is anti-democracy, and chief sponsor of his former employee, JD Vance.  He has, or is giving currently, secret lectures in Rome about Anti-Christ & Armageddon.  Thiel thinks geniuses like him [sic] should rule. 

photographs of abandoned places #46

Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Plant 1

The building went up in 1910. Some Akronites want to save the clock tower at least. It is not operating now. Akron had, at one time, four major rubber tire makers. Goodyear & Firestone were the largest. Firestone made all the tires for Ford; Harvey and Henry were friends. I do not when the last tire was made in Akron.

One time a lighted Firestone sign was on the framework. December 2020, it was removed.

Akron has given a date of 21 November for the property to find a developer. Fence posts are up, and rolls of fencing lay in the drive. The City of Akron has owned the property for ten years, and they are keen to demolish.

Once the grounds were kept up in landscaping.

Now some of the windows have been busted out.

Some vandalism has had objects scattered.

Time? is it running out? where does it go? 

2025 Miscellany #2 — signs of spring

zebra swallowtail 30 March Vinton Co.

Are you talking to me? [Tim Misny]

abandoned factory, classic lettering

A new guardian expanding his presence of humour.

Japanese cherry trees Brookside Park Cleveland

The morning sun melted off a little overnight snow.

 

revist of abandoned places #42

 Miles Park Methodist Newburgh Cleveland Good Friday morning

The fire was yesterday morning, and almost everything but the brick walls were consumed.

The building was condemned. The demolition vehicles were there late afternoon.

The work crew was there at 8 o'clock in the morning.

I posted fotos a little over a year ago [click].

 Miles Park Methodist 1872 - 1969, then Baptist, then Pentecostal, then abandoned

photographs of abandoned places #45

Akron Baptist Temple

This decayed quickly. The main building was built from 1947 to 1949. Eventually there were seven or eight buildings on twenty-nine acres, and extensive parking spaces. I was never on campus. We were on Manchester Road earlier on the 11th of the month, and i said i want to photograph the front. We kept on driving. A few days ago, i saw on teevee, Akron's new mayor, Shammas Malik had the property fenced off, and began demolition formally on the 19th.

[24 March 2024]

The thing that really caught my attention was the quote from Matthew, "Upon this rock i will build my church". The full verse is "And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter is in Greek 'rock'. The presentation changed the meaning; apparently Bible literalists are very selective (not unlike constitutional originalists). With that shortened verse, i would have thought that the name of the church was Saint Peter's. Yes, i saw great incongruity; but then again...Baptists. Then there is the empty scroll, it used to read: Dr. Dallas F. Billington Founder & Pastor. It is very common among Baptist and Pentecostal churches to have this kind of citation on the building. The facade is also quite tall, and there used to be on top flashing neon letters, Akron Baptist Temple; not unlike the Firestone, and Goodyear signs in Akron.

This Independent Baptist Fundamentalist Megachurch (the three adjectives can be any order) was run by three generations of Billingtons, starting in 1934 to 2007. Dallas F. Billington left Paducah Kentucky to work in a tire factory in Akron. He was a Baptist preacher with ambition and energy, who was willing to use extensive, and then for the time, novel promotional techniques (stunts, gimmicks). The membership for many years were white southerners, and those from Appalachia, and their children. Growth, called evangelism, was paramount.

Elmer Towns. The Ten Largest Sunday Schools. 1969., listed Akron Baptist Temple as #1 with c.7,000. For some reason this was considered the criterion to gauge largest megachurches in the US of A. I could discuss this much further here, but no. It is to be remembered, this is a Protestant phenomena, and the church can have several sites simultaneously. Also these type of establishments have the chief pastor as unaccountable; it is convenient to be 'independent' or 'non-denominational'. In the US they are usually Baptists, in the rest of the world usually Pentecostalist/Charismatic.

After a time, Akron's population stopped growing. Some things happened along the way, besides demographics. A new pastor in a megachurch with different programmes/methods/agenda/style can effect the congregation greatly. Firstly, a portion of the congregation might be in disagreement and leave, and new congregants might not make up the difference.

In 2018 the new chief pastor sold the church to a black megachurch pastor. Both congregations used the campus for a time, then Akron Baptist Temple moved elsewhere under a new name. By this time the third Billington had a separate Akron church of his own. The new Word Church ownership did some remodeling, but the new congregation preferred the previous Akron location (the main site is in a Cleveland suburb). In 2019 it was up for sale. Soon thereafter, scrappers, vandals, and the homeless have used the campus, and trashed a good deal of it. The neighbours, fire department, and the police find it a continuing nuisance. Realtors wanted it to be a strip mall, but prospective buyers want the area cleared before they spend a dime. Asbestos is rumoured, does that not survive in fire and brimstone? Another chapter of church and commerce in America.

Saw similar art deco tile fringe on other Akron buildings [click]

2324 Manchester

Looks more like an abandoned theatre.

2024 Miscellany #2

a Tessa LeBaron mural for a bike ministry, Cleveland west side

This gas station has been empty for maybe decades. It is currently being advertised for just under a million. It is not because once they were built to please the eye, it is because Cleveland Clinic is across the street, and is building on their lots.

detail

January 22nd, Canadian geese landing on Lake Erie shore, Lorain O. 

January 27th, the lagoon is aerated, the surface ice was waning.

February 9th, Cooper's Hawk, i think, Lake View Cemetery.

transitions

Bolton Avenue Presbyterian 1892-1923, became Antioch Baptist in 1934. For a time, Antioch had the largest black congregation in Cleveland. The largest faith group among black Clevelanders, and nationally, is Baptist. Antioch Baptist is involved with Cleveland Clinic, and is still culturally, and politically important in the city.

 This sign is partly neon, the cross on top replaced a star.

another church neon sign
 

At one time (1926-77) this was St. Archangel Michael Russian Orthodox Cleveland, it is now abandoned. In the brickwork is an Orthodox cross, the next occupant decided to put up a Latin cross up higher on a cupola with loudspeakers. When a church has a new congregation, there is often visual changes in style (often towards of reduced elegance, and when coupled with reduced maintenance, the resultant is entropic deterioration). Instead of an abandoned piano, there is an abandoned keyboard on the lowest step. Orthodox churches are free of musical instruments.

El Hasa Temple №28 Cleveland in the Desert of Ohio  

This was the parish hall. In 1955 a concert was held with Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, and others. There is a rumour, that someone filmed the event. No such film footage has been made public. A Shriners Lodge, in 1977, rented and later bought this building. By visual inspection, all of former St. Michael's is abandoned.

There is a church on Cedar with a flamboyant character in an almost pre-Christian Mesopotamian manner. It has twin towers, and this wonderful diagonal brick bond pattern in the center, between unsound stack bonds. This particular denomination is in several cities, and the chief church is in Washington DC, with many of the same elements. Cedar and Union have stretches that have several black churches. The ones on Cedar are more impressive in architecture. The ones on Union are more plentiful, nondescript, and dilapidated, and some may be derelict. Nearly all are some sort of Baptist, or some sort of Pentecostalist.

2024 Miscellany #1

 

Fullerton School Cat

Scranton Flats & five skyscrapers

Karma

downtown Cleveland

photographs of abandoned places #44

Parma High demo

Auditorium building of Parma High on January 1st 2024.

This was in the top hole above. The mouth had a pool of water.

There were several large and expensive vehicles on the property.

While we were there, a few pick up trucks came to take a look, and at least one husky.

Parma High demolition larghissimo, no piano yet.

names on a chalkboard