It’s an overcast, late winter’s day and we were exploring some of Eastern North Carolina’s back roads in search of old tobacco barns and abandoned farmsteads to photograph. This part of North Carolina, between I-95 and the coast, is struggling economically, though it once thrived. Agriculture,especially cotton and tobacco, dominated. But not now. Today, as far as the eye can see, the fields are fallow. Spring planting is still weeks away.
Small towns at many of the crossroads dot the countryside. Often sprouting up along stagecoach routes before the Civil War.
Princeton, NC, pop 1200, is one such town. Typical of many others we passed: a few banks, a hardware store, grocery, drug stores, a funeral home, and several churches. You get the picture.
But one building caught my eye. A large wooden warehouse structure. Obviously abandoned for many years. I thought it may have been a cotton warehouse back in the day, or a tobacco warehouse. Or, quite possibly both, at one time or the other. Or neither.
Abandoned buildings are photographically interesting to me. Especially this one. Added on to several times over the years, it seems to cover almost a block. But, it’s the beautiful patina from what is left of the bold turquoise paint, that once adorned the structure, that makes it so unique. Some of the pigment stubbornly adheres to the old Carolina red brick, and even less so, manages to cling to the weathered pine boards that side most of the warehouse.
I wonder what’s inside her walls. What stories she must have. Please click here for more posts on abandoned places.
