Brian and a friend of his went to Frick's Lock a few weeks ago. I opted out; I offer these photos without captions, as I wasn't there.
What I do know about Frick's Lock is that it's about 250 years old, and its heyday was long behind when PECO bought the homes in the 1970s. Supposedly, Frick's was an unsafe place to live with the Limerick power plant right across the river. There was talk of restoring the town into a historic site, but with (very) recent vandalism, Frick's Lock could end up like Demon's Alley -- completely demolished.
ForgottenPA's Fan Box
Monday, September 10, 2007
Frick's Lock
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
UrbEx Sites We Like
Other Good Stuff
About ForgottenPA
Tags
- abandoned (10)
- ghost town (3)
- centralia (2)
- historical (2)
- industrial (2)
- railroad (2)
- abandoned pa turnpike (1)
- blackwell (1)
- coal breaker (1)
- concrete city (1)
- fricks lock (1)
- galeton (1)
- iron (1)
- linfield (1)
- linfield industrial park (1)
- mine fire (1)
- mining (1)
- night (1)
- not abandoned (1)
- pine creek valley (1)
- pizza world (1)
- restaurant (1)
- roads (1)
- tioga county (1)
Archive
28 comments:
I have always been interested it exploring Fricks Lock, but I have heard that you could get fined for tresspassing on Exelon property? Do you know if this is true?
Those pictures are also pretty cool. Interesting.
Hey dsfan4life, yes, getting caught at Frick's Lock can earn you a fine. Two things though -- you can ask the local police for permission to visit and photograph, and when the guys visited, they ran into several groups of people there.
If you're not vandalizing, and you don't look suspicious, you should be OK. Or, if you get permission, you can go there without worry. I'd recommend the latter.
yeah you can get fined for tresspassing the whole place is filled with know tresspassing signs and cops hangout arround there
hey i was just there the past two nights ... ive been there numerous times b4, i love historical stuff ... have any of you been to pennhurst? thats where the real fines come in
pvflutie624
Wow. These pictures bring back memories. I lived in the white house with the collapsed gazebo in the front yards as a kid. That hose is the old lock keepers house. The photos don't show it, but there is a lot of stone work that used to line parts of the canal in the back yard. My brother and I played in the attic. You have a photo of that room too. It is the sloped roof celing with blue paint on it. I lived there about 1974-1975. I was really young and remember being told that we couldn't live there long, because of the construction. The horizon behind the house was always glowing orange and night, but I never knew why. Now I understand it must have been the sodium vapor lights from the construction at Limerick.
Wow.
Mr Mustachio, thanks so much for posting. We do feel sorry for having tramped through your childhood home -- it's one thing when you're in an old factory, but a person's home is another matter entirely. I hope the pictures and the story have given you a little closure on your former home.
These are great. I don't live too far from there and didn't know about it. Does anybody know why the town was abandoned but properties on the other side of the river near the plant were not? When we moved to North Coventry last year, I was curious about the plant so I drove over to take a look and there are houses right across the street near the entrance to the plant that have people living in them.
I would also be interested in how the locks worked when they were operational if anyone knows. Interesting stuff!
I went to fricks lock last night. We couldn't find it though is it that road with the no outlet sign going towards the company looking place? If so we were just about there. We did get to go down and see the bridge that was out the end of sanatoga rd.
Anon, it's Fricks Lock Road.
Police are now actively patrolling the area and citing all unauthorized people with trespassing. Vandalism is getting worse since someone burned down the Lock Tender's House in February 2008. Exelon has been trying to clean out debris and board up the buildings, but vandals keep coming back and doing even more damage to the buildings.
Anon, that is truly awful. We were entertaining the idea of going back, but that's out of the question now.
yha dicks if u try to get in there u will get cought, cuz me and a couple friends were up there a couple weeks ago and this cop came pullin in and we were lookin in the big white bar, we werent even doing anything... the cop was a dick, they pat u down and everything... u should go during the night-time, under the cover of darkness... be swift young ninjas...good luck
I recently retired from the Army and took a job with the NSA in Philly. I moved to Limerick and the commute that used to bother me no longer does as it is peaceful here...better than Iraq :) Anyway, I bought several books about the area and found out about this place in a book called "Weird Pennsylvania". I went out looking for it today and found it. I took 422 to W. Linfield Road. Make a right onto 724 (WB) and take it to Sanatoga Rd. where you will make a right. Follow Sanatoga until it intersects with Fricks Lock Road. There is a warehouse on your immediate right that has a road running between it and a field of lined up freight trailers. At the end of that road is a gate that says 24 hour camera surveillance. I am a huge history buff and an amateur photographer and would love to take pictures of this place strictly from the outside. I noticed that al ebaster said you can get a permit from the local police...is that the Limerick PD or a different one? Thanks for writing something about this place...it seems like it could be interesting. If anyone is reading this that feels the need to vandalize..."Don't F&*K up historical places!" It really isn't cool and there are better things to do with your time that are a lot more fulfilling and less destructive. If you want to be destructive, join the Army and you can fire off some really cool weapons...I know from 20 years of experience and several tours to Iraq.
I just went back there yesterday for the first time in about 2 years. A young couple was there checking it out too. I was shocked to find it LOADED with "No Trespassing" signs, as it never had any of these before. I completely disregarded them and went in anyway. There's no surveillance cameras like the signs say, but I'm sure that there is patrolling once in a while. I was fortunate enough to not run into any guards or anything. Sadly, the barn is all boarded up real tight. There was some weird stuff in there. Dozens of jars filled with crabs and formaldehyde from the 80's. Test slides. It was like there were strange experiments going on in there.
They obviously have taken an effort to stop people from going there, but just about every building except the barn has been cracked open again. Also, there's a lot more vandalism than there was 2 years ago.
these 'historical' sites are being vandalized because of easy to find information and location webpages such as this. :) keep it secret...
check out my pics.
i went up there four nights ago and this cop came out of no where and i thought it was a ghost so i knocked that nigger out and i was out like a trout. check ya later.
you guys wrote that
I went here a couple days ago with a few buddies. We got caught by the cops and we were all cited. the officer said that they cite everyone caught there no matter what. it was a pretty cool place but not really worth the risk considering we had to break into most of the buildings and saw nothing really interesting. the cop said that after the fire there is no exceptiong to the trespassing enforecement
At the end of that road before you turn onto Rt. 724 at the 'point' of the property is an old abandoned swimming pool club. That would be a cool set of pictures. It was abondoned in the early 1980's (I think?) and has been left to overgrow ever scine, do not think they tore it down.
The Swim Club is still standing as of today.
Hey everybody i was up yesterday (Sunday May 3, 2009) with some friends. It was an amazing place to see. I was scared because they do have signs saying that there are 24-Hour cameras in use and that there are security guards walking around as well. This was one of the best places to see, but i wish i would have had a better camera. I belive that soon ill be headed back and try to find some cops to ask them if i could go on the proporty and take a few more pictures with a better camera.
We ventured into a house with a window open and had a great time exploring it. We all got scared once we walked to the very end of the land at the power wires because we saw a person walking around. We were not sure who it was but we took our time and enjoyed the walk back.
Also no cops were in sight. I'm not sure if it was cause we were there during a sunday or if we just got lucky, but im glad no fines were recieved by any of us.
*We did not break into any houses or buildings, we just entered one that was already opened.*
Just curious... How much are you guys being fined when you do get fined? Sometimes it is the price you pay for that shot that is worth it ...
I lived on Fricks Locks Road between the swim club and the abandoned end from 1973-1983. As a child I did not know what was going on down there, but Overnight Transportation use to be in those warehouse bldgs you see as you turn in the "dead end" part. When I got older, around 10, my neighbor and I use to go exploring down there. The transportation was a rented warehouse (no longer running the 18 wheelers that use to fly down our road and give my mom a heartattack if I was anywhere near the front yard), by KW Transportation, the first bldg. you come to on the right was a operating labratory. None of the houses or barns were boarded up at that time and we would go in and out as we pleased. The houses were filled with belongings. Pans were on stove tops with burnt/melted food and utensils left in them. Childrens toys and clothing were left strewn everywhere. It was if they grabbed what they could and ran. There were many times we would go in and I would run out panting as I felt as if I was being choked or could not get enough air. One of the houses was a multi family house. It had numerous kitchens throughout it. I would love to get my hands on some historic photos of Fricks Locks. It dead ends into a area that is popular for dirt bikes and 3 wheelers, but if you go through that you will come out to the dead end part of Anderson Road.
I was actually up there today. It took awhile to find but we eventually found it. we followed the fricks lock road but didnt pay attention to the guarded part the first itme so we thought it wasnt the place. my friend has stopped at a gas station to ask directions. they told us we shouldnt go there because there was no tresspassing signs and things. we eventually found it and we went in anyway so i could take some pictures. unfortunately i didnt get to go in the houses although it would have been nice. i walked the trail and took pictures of all the houses. its kind of creepy because everything was just left there. we did see a cop on the way back but he was pretty far back and i dont know if he noticed us because he didnt come after us when we left. i dont think ill be going back there again because id rather not push my luck.
I was there this weekend, only as far as the gate. I have e-mailed Excelon to ask their permission to enter, as it's there property, but I suspect they'll say no. Can't hurt to ask. The truth is that while I do like taking photos of abandoned places I don't care to trespass. There are lots of local abandoned places I can photograph that aren't posted or closed to visitors. Not sure where the swim club mentioned is on the road, but most of the businesses on the road are empty and looking for occupants. It's an interesting site, though.
My husband grew up right by the Village. We used to walk through it to go fishing down at the river several years ago or so. The warehouse that is there is still up and running. The police department you would ask is East Coventry police. I doubt that they would let you in. Its not their property to give permission. You have to be careful running around there at night because there are wells all around the property that you could fall into. Ten years ago the main road you go into, if you go straight down instead of following the right curve there used to be a creepy trailer looking house that someone stayed in. Well we think they did. We would see a light on at night once in a while and a shadow in it every now and then. Its ashame that vandals has to ruin it for everyone. What do they get out of destroying something that interesting. If you go to wiki.com and put in Fricks Lock it gives you a brief history of the place and there are links with other photos and an old map.
I used to ride horses all around there. There were trails along the railroad tracks which took you to the basin near the old bridge and then you road up further to behind fricks locks which brought you up around the junk yard. I think the lock house was owned by the family that owned on=one of the industries.
Use to swim at the swim club owned by Dr Zimmerman....that whole area can tell stories...murder etc
today we went up to fricks lock and we were greeted by a cop at the gate...i pulled out my camera and asked if it was ok to go in and take a few pictures. He without hesitation said absolutely not. He told me that the only way to be aloud in there is to get permission from PECO in the form of a written document
Post a Comment