Exploring an Abandoned Silk Mill - Time Capsule of American Industry!

[Music] in today's episode we're in Western Maryland to explore an American industrial Relic unlike anything else in the country this is the Lona coning silk Mill opened in 1907 by the clots throwing company the mill was highly successful in its early years and at one point employed over 300 people from the surrounding area eventually though it couldn't compete with larger more modern facilities it shut its doors for good in 1957 leaving virtually everything inside to sit undisturbed for over six decades the preservation of this time capsule is to the credit of a caretaker by the name of herb Crawford who unfortunately passed away in 2019 shortly after the mill began to fall into disrepair at an increasing rate seeing more traffic from explorers but also vandals and thieves after learning of the Mill's perilous situ a we set off to document it before it was too late however as we'll soon discover a new owner has stepped in to ensure the mill is protected for future generations to enjoy we'll have more information about the Mill's current situation at the end of the video for now join us as we explore one of the most incredible and intact industrial sites in America [Music] [Music] the sponsor of this portion of today's video nordvpn protects your online privacy by making sure your internet traffic is encrypted before it even leaves your device encryption is important when connecting to any public networks like hotels airports or coffee shops as you never know who is managing or who else is connected man- inthe middle attacks happen when you connect to a malicious Wi-Fi network and they capture any information you've entered like banking details or passwords anyone can be vulnerable and nordvpn helps make sure your traffic is secure with nordvpn it's also possible to get around region restrictions and browse the web as if you were physically in another country this allows you to use streaming services that only have certain content other regions or in video games where you can play in different regions lobbies and with their Ultra fast connection there's no need to sacrifice speed for better security you can protect all of your devices as one account supports six simultaneous connections and it works with all major operating systems this is great so you can protect your phone and your laptop I have a handful of network devices and thanks to nordvpn they can all be secure at the same time right now you can get a 2-year plan at a huge discount plus four additional months for free it's risk-free with nord's 30-day moneyback guarantee go to nordvpn.com proper people or click the link in the description below mountains of spools in here this place looks like it's going to be really good already like a total time capsule what are these on the ceiling looks like electrical boxes for something probably equipment above it yeah holy I can't believe there's still power on in here oh wow and each row of these were on a belt system you could see the the pulleys on the ceiling yeah this is incredible there's a truck right outside hey is that is that red truck the same one that pulled up before red truck is the one that's droing off the oh yeah he just parked there okay but they're doing maybe a like side of the work clearing brush away yeah but why are they clearing brush away from this building it seems weird shortly after we entered the building some workers showed up outside with a bobcat and began working we didn't yet know that it had been purchased by a new owner so at first we thought maybe they were just doing Road clearing 34 there's so many I don't know what these things were I actually saw in the other room there was a rotary switch so this one has been replaced but there used to be a rotary belt driven this is definitely what I'd call a time capsule and bearings rolling on the floor yeah it's always surreal to see a place this decayed with the lights still on wow some old [Applause] newspapers it's a local newspaper from 1962 that's so what is this washing to oh wow oh definitely wooden dude these papers say 51 on them these have been hanging here since 1951 flyer wires this looks like a little workshop even these uh polishing wheels are belt driven everything is belt driven an oldo logo how old are those papers you want to own that I want a picture of that doesn't even look that old but look at the guy it's like a 30s this looks old back [Applause] here something in chire I don't think they're inside I don't I don't hear it anymore but above us here this is outside I think oh yeah the M roof yeah oh we got a boiler here they're working what are they doing I don't know the guy's shuffling his stuff in the Bild but nothing in the building oh okay this is really sick oh yeah the camera oh he's that looks pretty new what's up there's a camera where right there what's down that's there's nothing looking this way but we've probably already been on one they rigged this place up with these cameras look out here that's another camera no it's not that's old that's old look out there we've probably already been on camera wow and the continue this way they go that way they go this way there's wires going that way too yeah the wires go that way too probably from out the windows over there same thing with these let's go to the top floor I don't know it's really cool though as we found out later the workers outside were not Road workers but part of the the new owner's crew who were cleaning up the recently acquired property they were still in the process of setting up the security cameras hence why we made it inside unnoticed so take this as a warning that it would be very unwise to sneak in today especially when there are now opportunities to enter the building with permission that will cover at the end so we got one wire going to the top floor going to see what's up with that this floor is really messed up there's still power on up here just follow the wire wow look at the ceiling in here that's pretty nuts where's the wire go to the right it goes out the window oh it's a dish and it's down these things probably don't work it goes to uh a point too like connection which obviously that's not connecting to anything now they could be still setting this up yeah so I don't think it's communicating with anything no yeah I think we be already cut yeah there's so many CS there's still threads on these calendar from 1957 wow it's pretty wild that the lights are still on here when the ceiling looks like [Music] [Music] that this beautifully intricate Machinery was all part of a process known as silk throwing unprocessed silk would arrive here all the way from Japan and China and then be washed wound and twisted together to form a stronger yarn finished spools would then leave the factory to be used in textile mills elsewhere during World War I the supply of silk from Japan was interrupted leading to the widespread adoption of a synthetic fiber known as rayon the clot smill adapted to produce rayon but couldn't compete with much larger and newer factories that were constructed during and after the war this led to the Mills eventual closure in 1957 [Music] got a few spools still on the holders these machines might have been responsible for spooling the thread maybe like literally just putting the thread onto the school yeah cuz would these fit here yeah that would fit there check out the temporary supports they put up right in the middle they didn't work well I guess they partially worked the middle bit right there it looks like it's about to come down these things look like weapons to like Medieval Times stuff guessing the thread would wrap around where these are I don't know that's what I'm picturing yeah [Music] that's a really old looking water fountain frigid air brand made only by General Motors o these are where all the spiky things are this looks crazy you can see more examples of the belt drive stuff up here yep every single thing in here is belt drive yeah there's probably a massive motor in the basement somewhere it was probably a steam engine because I already saw a boiler in here [Applause] probably the floor is a little soft up here [Music] [Music] the belt drives are all still intact here which is obviously driven by a Bel yeah go on the floor oh wow school days it's probably someone's teacher or principal or something one of the oldest I seen wow Monro Doctrine Boston Tea Party this is like what they'd be spoiling in here maybe feels like hair it's creepy got some of the finished spools over here are you tired of seeing spools yet cuz there's a whole lot more where this came from so that wheelbarrow right there that was like not in that spot before it was kind of out in the middle of the open somewhere oh person coming person on fire you want to walk inside no I don't know where they're going yet you see anything it's up ahead of his b oh no he's had the wheelbarrow right below us he right right below us way he right below us so they shut off the excavator but they're still working shuffling stuff so you to be a lot more quiet now what's up pretty good okay where do these wires go over here what where do these wires go it goes outside oh they're looking outside one C there and the other go through the wall at the end but they're all looking outside there are two that go probably outside there oh God we probably got see but I maybe they probably don't have a notification but this room is safe here okay because all wires go through the wall yeah there's newer lights in this room not sure why there were fluorescence in the floor above us as well yeah they just weren't turned on these were motor driven electric motors it looks like I don't really want to go through this door but it's a little bit SAU right now there probably some cool offices that might be original [Music] at this point we were ready to leave but the building was pretty much surrounded by workers on all sides we decided to just walk out and hopefully talk our way out of the situation fortunately for us the new owner was a friendly guy and was pretty understanding he's aone a coning local so for him seeing after the preservation of the mill is personal it's been about 2 years since we filmed this episode and now the mill is accepting private bookings for a fee you can inquire at silk m.org and all proceeds will go directly towards the preservation of the building [Music] [Music]

Channel: The Proper People

Views: 265,713

Keywords: abandoned, urban, exploration, urbex, exploring, haunted, proper, people, theproperpeople, abandoned places, industrial, silk mill, klotz silk mill, time capsule, history

Id: A-Tk6XidV90

Length: 23min 2sec (1382 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 20 2024