Stairwell Tower at Laurens Mill

[kokopelle]

The remains of the Lauren Mills in Laurens SC is a fascinating location. I toured the site and took 115 pictures. Portions of them will be posted in separate blogs.

Research showed that the mill is featured in a Urban Exploration Resource (UER) web page. In 2004 the mill was undergoing demolition. This great set of pictures shows that state of the building at that time. Though largely removed, the remains of the building are interesting because they both pull back the structure of the building and show a thoroughly deconstructed vision of a once great building.



The two towers in the left picture are all that is left of the original four towers. The picture on the right is an antique picture of the mill. The towers at the left of the postcard are those still present today. The one in the back of the building is the tower I explored with my camera. This tower was constructed with a stairwell and elevator. The elevator is an addition not present in the postcard. The top of the tower was some kind of storeroom with the shelved bins still present.

'Stairwell Tower' in foreground	This is the doorway seen at the base of the foreground tower in the first picture	Inside face of tower.  The elevator openings and doorways are visible
Bottom of Stairway Tower	Exit is blocked!  Entrance is gained through double-door opening at street side	2nd floor elevator opening
1st floor elevator opening	Above view of base of Stairwell Tower	Looking across 2nd floor opening at remains of building
Looking up at Stairwell Tower.	The climb begins into the Stairwell Tower	Looking down into interior of site
Sign in stairwell	Looking down at a decent drop	Going up the stairwell
Bottom of wooden stairs going into topmost room	Door leading to topmost room	Shelves at base of wooden stairs
Looking down the wooden stairs	Storage shelves in the topmost room of the Stairwell Tower	Detail of roof/ceiled windows at top of tower
Looking out the final window at the top of the tower	So high in the air, looking at the other remaining tower	Taken from top of tower, five stories up, looking back towards the remains of the mill walls

Comments

[wulfwalker.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy some of the framing that you do, and the contrast between urban (man) and overgrowth (nature). Great job! I would like to see this place myself.

[wander.livejournal.com]

Nice work. I would have had to go in too. There are places I haunt regularly just looking for my chance to go in and find something like this.

W