The Ghosts of Industry

I rode my bike to church this morning, and after mass I rode the Jones Falls Trail. The Jones Falls Valley is a spooky place. It is cool and shady with a beautiful river flowing through, but among the trees are the abandoned hulks of old mills from the 19th century. Train tracks appear and disappear in the overgrowth; occasionally there is even a train on the track:

This place was obviously a huge industrial zone long ago:

I thought this curved, wooden section of this old factory looked cool:

Many factories in the 19th century had spires. I wonder why:

Abandoned factories have a lure to them. They make me want to climb over the fence and explore. I resisted the urge ... for now.