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@trekzq

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through the seasons by @trekzq

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4 days ago

dust, broken glass and peeling paint

write up ->

My first thought entering this absolutely beautiful building was a question. “How on earth does a municipal courthouse go abandoned and is subsequently left to rot”? The answer is surprisingly and disappointingly simple: it was part of a relocation domino effect and it became obsolete. The building at this point was over a century old and maintenance costs were rising. The history of the St. Louis municipal court (and the courthouse) is honestly pretty interesting and historically significant in U.S. history.

To write a proper history write-up, we need to start from the beginning… well, not necessarily the beginning, but like a little before. Originally the municipal court wasn’t even the municipal court, as it had not existed yet. Prior to 1876, the county and the city were a unified body and ran their circuit court through the old courthouse (called the St. Louis County Court) on east fourth street, where the Dred Scott and Virginia Minor cases were famously tried. This changed when St. Louis’s “Great Divorce” of 1876 happened. Longish story short, the city wanted to declare itself independent from the county in part because the rural sectors nearby had the majority vote in the county government and that taxes were going to infrastructure like bridges and roads over a much needed sewer system, hence those from the city felt underrepresented. The “Home rule” from the passed 1875 Missouri Constitution pretty much completely allowed the city of St. Louis to detach itself from the county only after it wins the popular vote, which was actually very heavily contested. This legal schism made the old courthouse city property, thus being the first technical headquarters of the municipal court. The growing city soon managed to outgrow its court building and moved into the Four Courts building in 1871 just before moving into the Municipal Courts building in 1911.

Yeah… I bet you didn’t know any of that, except if you like live in Missouri and took your formative state history and US history class… Anyways, let’s take a step back and explain the construction and intention behind this property. So in 1904, the city of St by @trekzq

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9 days ago

ngl can’t wait for main slime dete to drop the actual good pics so here’s some behind the scenes pics.

Legend has it that one man attempted this over 5 times and never got in. Probably due to the arduous journey over the floodwall. by @trekzq

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14 days ago

real ones know it’s a repost

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write up on other slides

In these images, are the leftover and partially demolished ruins of the CPI or “Consolidated Papers, Inc. Paper Manufacturing Facility”. This company was the lead innovation toward the production of coated paper, which is best known for being used in magazines and the like.

Anyways, the roots of this facility goes back all the way to the late 1800s. Before this, the town of Wisconsin Rapids was built on what used to be called the Grand Rapids of the Wisconsin River. The settlers here in the early 1800s used the rapids and the islands in the river to build the water power for a mill, machine shop, a sawmill, and later the pulp and paper co. This paved the way for the CWPC (Consolidated Water Power Company) to be created with the purpose of consolidating the six companies that used the power from the rapids. After tons of disputes of which I can’t find much information on, probably mostly conflicting with the consolidation or use of water power… the last living original owners, Nels Johnson and J.D. Witter renamed the company to the CWPPC (Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company), after which they both died within two years. Witter’s son in law took over as president after their deaths and oversaw the 2,000ft dam being completed in March 1904, and then the mill became operational a month later. The mill started their paper production two months later.

Most of the rest of the history of this building and company at this point is about its expansion, in location and responsibility. Its coolest era happened in 1935 though, when CWPPC was the first to mass produce coated paper at a high speed using the Consolidated Massey coater. Quickly Life magazine became CWPPC’s biggest client due to its inexpensive and quick coated paper making. During WWII, the company even developed strong enough plastics and wood byproducts to use in airplanes! This plastics division became the Consoweld Corporation in 1954 and later acquired CWPPC. The merger expanded their product line to paperboard containers and cartons.

Pretty much the most notable thing I have to say about the history at this point is that they mainly focu by @trekzq

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19 days ago

memories captured in prints on my wall by @trekzq

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24 days ago

Willing and wishing are very different

I wish to finish this system because it’s fun but wishing isn’t enough, I must will it. by @trekzq

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a month ago

some rips off da cam

If you see yourself- holler!

I suppose when taking a candid it’s pretty hard for most subjects to stay still in a dimly lit room

watch office space taken in Midwest by @trekzq

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3 months ago

rinkaz on drainz

our group adventures into the drains have far far more photos but I just wanted this post up like a page in a scrapbook by @trekzq

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3 months ago

finally pulled these off my old sd by @trekzq

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3 months ago

oh my sweet summer child, where have we gone wrong… we have truly lost the plot; literally and proverbially by @trekzq

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4 months ago

hollowed house of hallow

Originally a movie theater that emerged in 1927, it boasts a Spanish courtyard theme with 1,360 seats. The theater, evidenced by its enlarged stage and compatibility with pull-away curtains, is fully equipped for vaudeville showings which are live back-to-back acts which can range from comedians to musicians or acrobats.

Fox theaters took the property over in 1938 but within 16 years, business ran stagnant and Fox sold the property to a church for $110,000. After $70,000 of renovations, the former theater was repurposed as an evangelistic temple. In 2015 the property was vacated by the church and the once great hall began to decay from heavy weathering.

Since the church moved out, the property has endured heavy decay from significant weathering and vandals graffitiing as well as trashing the place. It’s unfortunate how a place with such amazing architecture influenced so heavily by Spanish air side courtyards can fall into such disrepair. To renovate would be quite an endeavor.

Another cool thing is that the theater is asymmetrical! Look closely at the balconies on either side of the theater; this is a design with french doors that have matte glass panes of which the frames were filled with fabric that adjoined the organ chambers where the pipes of a kilgen theater organ were installed.

Little secret caption here, this was my first time really shooting with my ace pro so my exposure might’ve been a little wacky. This was the state of the property in the summer of 2025, needless to say it’s quite rough.

Unfortunately since this has been in draft form for quite a while, the compression is absolutely godawful— not even an intentional pun. by @trekzq

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4 months ago

the little things by @trekzq

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4 months ago