Let me preface this by saying I really don't like Philadelphia. New York City? Love it. Detroit? Like my second home. Pittsburgh? Amazing. But Philadelphia I just don't like, I have never ever gelled with the city. I've never felt completely safe, or at home, there like I have done in NYC, Detroit, Pittsburgh etc. It's weird because it's a fantastic city for exploring in, however a lot of the best stuff is in some seriously sketchy neighbourhoods that make the bad parts of Detroit seem positively harmonious.
Budd Co. was a former industrial giant in Philadelphia. The enormous factory was built in stages from 1917 and began life stamping and shotwelding stainless steel car parts for General Motors, Ford, Buick and Dodge. Later it became a forerunner in the production of stainless steel rail cars, becoming a major player in that industry up until the 1980s, as well as producing parts for airframes, space vehicles and missiles. During the 1980s parts of the business began to be sold off and the workforce gradually shrunk, and in 2003 the plant in Philadelphia closed for good.
There are few words to describe the enormity of this place. It is probably in the top three largest single locations I have ever explored - the five massive abandoned buildings connected by skybridges come in totalling around an eyewatering 1.8 million square feet across over 25 acres of land in the centre of Philadelphia. Many years ago, around the late 2000s, it still contained a large amount of machinery however the site has changed hands numerous times and now it is a stripped out shell, but a no less gargantuan one. It's seen as somewhat of a 'urbex party' destination in Philly due to it's massive size and large open spaces and my friends over there have been to numerous rowdy get-togethers there over the years, it's easy to see why.
Despite it's reputation as a tourbus party stop it's the sheer size which drew me here and my friend was more than happy to show me around, this really was a last minute stop as after this explore we had to drive back up to NYC so I could get on a plane home later that evening, which was a little nailbiting making sure my timings were spot on. Even though it's so empty, I love the industrial architecture of the 1900s-1930s in the States and this one featured some crazy reflections in large lakes of water inside as well.
Thanks for looking
Budd Co. was a former industrial giant in Philadelphia. The enormous factory was built in stages from 1917 and began life stamping and shotwelding stainless steel car parts for General Motors, Ford, Buick and Dodge. Later it became a forerunner in the production of stainless steel rail cars, becoming a major player in that industry up until the 1980s, as well as producing parts for airframes, space vehicles and missiles. During the 1980s parts of the business began to be sold off and the workforce gradually shrunk, and in 2003 the plant in Philadelphia closed for good.
There are few words to describe the enormity of this place. It is probably in the top three largest single locations I have ever explored - the five massive abandoned buildings connected by skybridges come in totalling around an eyewatering 1.8 million square feet across over 25 acres of land in the centre of Philadelphia. Many years ago, around the late 2000s, it still contained a large amount of machinery however the site has changed hands numerous times and now it is a stripped out shell, but a no less gargantuan one. It's seen as somewhat of a 'urbex party' destination in Philly due to it's massive size and large open spaces and my friends over there have been to numerous rowdy get-togethers there over the years, it's easy to see why.
Despite it's reputation as a tourbus party stop it's the sheer size which drew me here and my friend was more than happy to show me around, this really was a last minute stop as after this explore we had to drive back up to NYC so I could get on a plane home later that evening, which was a little nailbiting making sure my timings were spot on. Even though it's so empty, I love the industrial architecture of the 1900s-1930s in the States and this one featured some crazy reflections in large lakes of water inside as well.
Thanks for looking
