Exploring the ABANDONED Strathmore Paper Mill #2 (Russell, MA)
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- čas přidán 16. 07. 2024
- J-MASS INSTAGRAM: @jmassofficial
Off the banks of the Westfield River in the rural, mountainous town of Russell, Massachusetts, sits the dormant ruins of a once thriving paper mill, at one time renowned for its high-quality paper products. This is the Strathmore Paper Mill #2, the second of three paper mills constructed in the area by the namesake Strathmore Paper Company. This mill was built in 1913, with the area chosen due to Russell's rich history in the logging industry. For many decades, the Strathmore Paper Company operated these three mills in a designated company town known as Woronoco, with many of its workers and employees residing in the town full time. By 1994, however, Strathmore Paper Mill #2 would officially close down. Since then, the mill has changed hands several times, with plans to renovate it into a new space for housing and offices; however, all of these plans have fallen through, and as a result, the mill has sat completely abandoned and vacant for decades, succumbing to the elements.
Strathmore Paper Mill #2 was an abandoned site I had been keen on exploring for years now, so I was excited to finally check it out in person! One of the biggest takeaways from exploring this mill was noticing the severe fire damage it has endured; this mill, along with #1 and #3, have been ravaged by numerous fires over the years. In fact, Strathmore Paper Mill #3 has been entirely destroyed by fires, while #2 is partially in ruins. Still, there was quite a bit to see in this massive abandoned mill, with many artifacts and remnants from its operations left behind, including industrial equipment and machinery. Unlike many other abandoned mills I have explored on the channel, Strathmore Paper Mill #2 was surprisingly full of things to see! Aside from the mill itself, I was also able to explore a nearby power plant and utility building, which also included the iconic Strathmore Paper Company smokestack, which towers over the rugged, mountainous valley and the village of Woronoco. Despite how much I enjoyed exploring this paper mill and experiencing its rich history firsthand, I would NOT recommend other urban explorers come here, as it poses many safety hazards; this is a risky place to explore, so simply enjoy my video from the comfort of your own home! If you guys liked this video, make sure to stay tuned for more exploration videos all across New England!
For more information about Strathmore Paper Mill #2, check out Tom's article on GoXplr, which goes into great historical detail. GoXplr is a fantastic resource for urbex and traveling New England!
www.goxplr.com/places/strathm...
00:00 "J-MASS Explores New England" Intro
00:20 Introduction to the Strathmore Paper Mill #2
02:56 Loading Dock and First Warehouse
09:28 Second Warehouse
15:41 Upper Levels
27:17 Outside the Loading Dock
28:27 Utility Room and Upper Level (Again)
32:17 Smokestack and Power Plant
35:55 Outro
Good morning from Cape Cod 🦈 very cool exploration. Keep up the good work and be safe ✌️🇺🇲
Visited about 7 years ago. I found it very interesting and exciting because I once worked for a fine paper distributor who sold products from Strathmore, Hammerhill, and International Papermills.
If you ever want to explore the Texan mill also in Russell my son can show you around he goes there all the time
Fascinating video, J-MASS! It’s amazing how much stuff has been left behind. Cleaning it up would take years, very costly and dangerous. I’m always worried for your safety as you poke around these places. Unstable floors, collapsing ceilings, bees nests, rats and skunks, drug zombies and squatters, the potential hazards are endless. The spider factor alone is enough for me - probably okay in the winter on that score. Just be careful! I’m sure you are.
Places like these are definitely inherently risky and admittedly a bit dangerous-I do try to be as cautious as possible when exploring! Thanks for checking in!
Those 2 tanks @29:00 in the video you asked about appears to be the Digesters. It is used to make raw wood material into liquid pulp. One of the first processes on the paper machine. Worked at many papermills in New England 1980's-90's "Union Pipefitter" on maintenance shut-downs and built 2 new paper machine mills #2 & #3 machines at the S.D.Warren Scott's Paper Mill in Hinckley, Maine. Now it's called the Sappi Mill - Somerset as they bought out Scott's. Most papermills I worked at all over New England are shut-down and closed. Just relics of the past.
Thank you for the thoughtful answer! Very interesting information; I assumed it had to do with the paper-making process, but I wasn’t sure entirely.
This one has had 3 fires and the one across the river had one
I grew up near Strathmore in Turners falls, MA😎🤙
There’s thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment in them trailers that one trailer has has that huge wood planer and then serious grinders and and Sanders and in that beautiful beautiful Rip saw
Oh I’m sure! There was so much machinery and equipment in this mill, I bet a lot of it can still be salvaged and scrapped!
Pretty cool spot! There is really a ton of stuff left behind
Fr, I was surprised by how much was left behind!
I’m gonna be heading over here on Thursday, also gonna be visiting another mill in easthampton MA! This place looks amazing, can’t wait!
Awesome location; another great exploration 🔥🔥🔥
I've lived in this area my entire life bit never had the nerve to explore this after it closed. Great video showing this piece of western Massachusetts urbex site.
Thanks! This really is a unique sample of all the rich history western Massachusetts has to offer!
So this one closed down very very suddenly so sudden the workers came to work and it was closed
Literally just went there this Friday. Went around 11PM place was mad scary. Didn’t explore a lot once we got there but place looked amazing
Fr, it’s huge! And surprisingly a lot of machinery and equipment left behind!
Love that place.
Agreed, it’s fantastic! Loved exploring it!
Dude those trailers weren’t abandoned there I explored both facilities in that area that one and the one on the other side of the river
So those trailers where in the fences in area by the train tracks
Thanks for the video so I don't have to go there and trip over all that debris.
It makes me a little concerned that there are holes and stuff where if someone falls in there they can’t even get back up again I don’t know why I always worry about that
It's possible that a faith like that is attempted to be prevented by a giant fence that is completely locked on all sides of the building with no trespassing signs everywhere. But I suppose if someone is dedicated enough they can get into anything 😊
10:21 there’s a piece of paper hung up with a bitmoji on it
The two big round things in the ground, basically are all like kilns. They throw material in there to Burn and then whatever they want melts or whatever they’re doing in there for like a mold or something that they’re gonna make or manufacture they’re burning pits.
Thank you so much for clarifying this! I wasn’t entirely sure what they were used for, but that sounds right in line with their operations!
Yo J-Mass I got harassed by a family of squatters when I went this summer. They wanted to hit me wit a maglite. You got the luck of the J-Mass for real dawg. You see them goats in the cage? We're talking real backwoods buggery. Prolly lubed that maglite now that I think of it. Not safe there by any means, thank you for doing the Lords work. Bless
Jeez dude, that’s crazy! Wild stuff! Somehow I’ve been lucky for the 10 years I’ve been urbexing and never come across any squatters lmfao… gotta be careful out there! Thanks for tuning in dude!
Is it safe to assume that you don't know that it's not abandoned it's simply closed?
Because this place does have an owner and they do call the police when you trespass... sometimes you can get lucky enough to get your car towed from there as well.
If that’s true, I was unaware! Many websites and forum posts online designate this site as an abandoned and vacant property, something which I had presumed was the case for over a year now. In fact, when I went, I faced no issues or resistance. But thank you for bringing this up and informing me!
@@j-mass I'm glad your car didn't get towed nor did you get arrested, however I'm not sure what you mean by resistance since the entire thing has a fence around it and it is locked.
Ps. Even though I can't be there 24 hours a day 7 days a week I do regularly call the police and the tow truck to remove trespassers who refused to leave on their own.
@@MrGrisha84 I frequently visit and never have any issues before and after the fire.. you must live in armpit of Russell in the village down by strathmore.. I feel bad you live in such a dump and are more worried about our people trespassing on land you don’t own!!
Love the industrial archelogy videos you make, but may I suggest you slow down your camera moves. Pan much slower. Hold the camera on things longer. The constant fast panning makes me seasick!
I completely understand-that is something I want to improve upon over time! Thank you for the comment!
Bud that’s not abandon 💀
You need to read more and provide more information...ever hear of a library? Why not bring informed locals?
I’d definitely love to work alongside some historical societies for future videos; they’d be able to provide me with some great information! Unfortunately, in the case of this specific mill, there is just not a lot of information about it known.
No longer abandoned, got chased out by the owners of the property and they threatened to call police in December.
Ugh, that is a shame-sorry to hear that!
@@j-masswait but how did you go there???