Former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant Housing Complex
USA /
Illinois /
Wilmington /
World
/ USA
/ Illinois
/ Wilmington
World / United States / Illinois
house, interesting place
Heck. I dunno.
...
The truth? I lived near this place for most of my childhood. It was always a mystery; dozens and dozens of buildings, laid out in a what looked like half-military complex and half-suburban neighborhood.
Apparently they made munitions in there at one time or another. The stored them in these things called "igloos"-great domed storehouses buried under tons of dirt. From every cardinal direction, enormous powerlines came into the compound and met at some unseen nexus. The place certainly made me wonder.
Got up the nerve, when I was in high school, to drive out there with a couple friends. That afternoon, and in every memory of the place since, it came down to this: looking through the chain-link fence in that dense, summer heat, the most unsettling thing about the whole scenario was the rusted playground equipment we could just make out, up on a hill some 600 feet from where we were standing. There were small houses nearby; their windows were all black, and the doors (most of which hung open) were gaping, just as dark. The sun was nearing the horizon and the unavoidable immensity of the place, along with the frighteningly palpable sense of dereliction, broke over us in waves.
A few months later we all scattered, college and whatever. Been awhile since I'd thought about it. Funny to come across it here, one in the morning and some eight years later.
There it is.
...
The truth? I lived near this place for most of my childhood. It was always a mystery; dozens and dozens of buildings, laid out in a what looked like half-military complex and half-suburban neighborhood.
Apparently they made munitions in there at one time or another. The stored them in these things called "igloos"-great domed storehouses buried under tons of dirt. From every cardinal direction, enormous powerlines came into the compound and met at some unseen nexus. The place certainly made me wonder.
Got up the nerve, when I was in high school, to drive out there with a couple friends. That afternoon, and in every memory of the place since, it came down to this: looking through the chain-link fence in that dense, summer heat, the most unsettling thing about the whole scenario was the rusted playground equipment we could just make out, up on a hill some 600 feet from where we were standing. There were small houses nearby; their windows were all black, and the doors (most of which hung open) were gaping, just as dark. The sun was nearing the horizon and the unavoidable immensity of the place, along with the frighteningly palpable sense of dereliction, broke over us in waves.
A few months later we all scattered, college and whatever. Been awhile since I'd thought about it. Funny to come across it here, one in the morning and some eight years later.
There it is.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joliet_Army_Ammunition_Plant
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 41°20'20"N 88°6'27"W
- Manor Motel 15 km
- 2401 Jackson Branch Drive 18 km
- Fruland Funeral Home 27 km
- Custer Township 10 km
- Wilton Township 10 km
- Channahon Township 12 km
- Manhattan Township 14 km
- Rockville Township, Kankakee County, IL 16 km
- Peotone Township 21 km
- Green Garden Township 23 km
- Manteno Township, Kankakee County, Illinois 24 km
- Grundy County, Illinois 27 km
- Frankfort Township 28 km
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