February 10, 2004
Do not enter
Chas. E. Brauer Co., Inc. Established 1880, (F. K. Woodson Co.), Tobacco Row
Courtyard/alleyway behind old tobacco products factory at South 21st and East Cary Streets
The man is invariably drawn to open doors of derelict buildings. For some reason, he didn't go in here. Was the threat of tetanus obvious to him for once? This whole yard was spooky. A trashed automobile rested against one wall and one of the alleyways leading in was blocked by a rusty, six foot tall safe with a gaping hole blasted in the back. Dangling from the hole was a relatively undamaged telephone of a much more recent vintage than the safe. The man expressed a desire to get away from there without leaving any fingerprints on the safe, and then he tried the handle.
Normally I'm not much of a fan of graffiti. It's mostly assholes with paint, damaging other people's property—creating ugliness and destroying something nice (graffiti assholes ruined one of my favorite ghost signs). But this is good alley art.
I don't doubt that these old factories will be converted to apartments soon, like most of the others on Tobacco Row. The transformation has been amazing to watch.
198 words | February 10, 2004 10:39 PM | Shutterbug