Michigander in Mass

I've pointed folks in the past to some good "railfan" sites, including one that I helped with some maps. I love this kind of urban exploration. I grew up in a much more suburban setting--Northville (and Plymouth) Michigan.

Northville has been known for many different things over the years, including:

1. The Water
   
2. The Water Wheel
   
3. The Maybury Sanatorium
   
4. "The Northville Tunnels" (i.e., The Wayne County Training School for Feeble-Minded Children)
   
5. "Northville State" (i.e., the Northville Psychiatric Hospital)
   

Many of these sites made for some good (sub)urban exploration--especially the Training School's tunnels and abandoned buildings. Rule number one for keeping kids out of abandoned buildings and tunnels: don't build a youth league soccer field inside the grounds of an old abandoned mental institution.

I climbed down into one of the tunnels--near where we used to play soccer. Some fool left them open. I walked a short distance, but didn't have a flashlight and didn't want to get killed. But I came back a month or so later to do some more exploring. All the tunnels were sealed off, but some of the buildings were open. I just remember reading reports from kids that were just scattered around the buildings, like somebody left in a hurry, you know? It was really weird getting a peek into people's lives through the eyes of these counselors' reports.

The web site has some sample reports. Thanks to Harley for the link to the "Northville Tunnels."