Contrary to popular local belief, the factory was not actually a duck factory, but rather was used by the American Heart Association as a storage space.

Westinghouse would come to have many notable engineers working for his company including William Stanley, Nikola Tesla and more

The Victoreen Instrument Company was responsible for providing 95% of the instruments used in the Bikini Atoll atomic tests after World War II. These are the tests that helped shape the story for Bikini Bottom (the bottom of the sea at the Bikini Atoll test site)

The company, originally known as the Industrial Fibre Company, had an annual output of about 12,500,000 pounds of rayon. This output was 1,000,000 pounds greater than another rayon plant in Covington. This synthetic fiber, created from a wood product called viscose, was heralded as “synthetic silk” in early Cleveland Press articles.

Richman Brothers was the first United States industrial organization to offer two weeks paid vacation for all employees. They were also the first to institute paid maternity leave, set a 36-hour work week, and offer corporate stock options. Employees felt comfortable at Richman Brothers, like they were truly part of a family. The company would even offer no interest loans to employees in need through the Richman Brothers Foundation. Such progressive ideas led to the federal government basing many workplace regulation laws we still see today off of Richman standards.

The liquid acid waste resulting from these processes was dumped directly into the Grand River until June of the year 1952. At this time, discharge was redirected across the Grand River into a waste pond, which was owned by the Diamond Alkali Company.

I’ve explored numerous industrial facilities across the country, but have never set foot inside something of such immense size and industrial grandeur left to rot.

The fire burned on as streets filled with smoke. An apocalyptic aura was drawn over the neighborhood as smoke billowed from broken walls.

So today marks the 50th birthday of the famous UNIROYAL tire in Allen Park, Michigan. While many are busy, celebrating such a momentous occasion, I can’t help but shake some images from my head. Things that I have seen inside a former UNIROYAL factory will never quite fade from my memories. Don’t get me wrong, the company is amazing as a whole, but you will always have that one bad apple – sometimes a few.

For a small amount of time, a line called the New Georgia Railroad ran a supper train ride out to Stone Mountain. Though the supper train ran shortly during the mid 1990s, most rest of the area had already been left untouched and forgotten for some years.