Abandoned Zoo

When you think of sightseeing in Los Angeles, 100-year-old ruins might not be at the top of the list, but these ruins should be! This was one of the first places I took my daughter on our recent trip. It turns out she is interested in abandoned places too, so we had a lot of fun exploring the Old Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park.

The “No Graffitti” sign is apparently ignored but, oddly enough, there is no graffiti on the sign.

The zoo opened in 1912 with just 15 animals, and it was expanded by the WPA in the 1930’s. It was built on the former site of Colonel Griffith J. Griffith’s ostrich farm attraction, which was very popular in the 1880’s. There was even a narrow gauge Ostrich Farm Railway built to carry visitors from downtown Los Angeles to the site on Griffith’s Rancho Los Feliz (and past the housing lots he was selling from his rancho during the housing boom at that time.)

In the late 1950’s the public became concerned about the adequacy of the housing for the animals in the small zoo, and the city made plans for a new zoo. The old zoo closed in 1966 with the opening of the new zoo a couple miles away. I wonder if my parents took me to this zoo before it was closed. I’d like to think so, but I would have been too young to remember. All my zoo memories are from the San Diego Zoo and school field trips to the current LA Zoo (and also Marineland whose ruins are now gone).

In what I consider a stroke of a genius, the city removed some of the bars in the old zoo, added picnic tables, and left the structures for public exploration. Fifty-one years later people are still enjoying the site! And it has been used in numerous films and TV shows.

 

Hiking trails lead off from the old zoo

There is a beautiful view from the upper part of the old zoo

 Check out Oddity Odysseys’ episode about the ruins here. 

Bell Buckle and the RC-MoonPie Festival

What better time to check out historic Bell Buckle, Tennessee than during the RC-MoonPie Festival? I made my first visit to this tiny town yesterday, the third Saturday in June, during the annual festival.

Bell Buckle was named after a nearby creek, but the origin of the creek's name is only legend.

This is the 23^rd year for the festival and the 100^th birthday of the Chattanooga Bakery company which still makes the “original marshmallow sandwich.” It all began in 1917 when a coal miner asked the bakery’s traveling salesman for a snack “as big as the moon” that could also fit in a lunchbox. (Find out more about the history of the MoonPie here. Unfortunately, the bakery does not currently offer tours of their production facility in Chattanooga.) So, why does Bell Buckle hold a festival for a pastry made in Chattanooga, an hour and a half away? Because they asked!

All sorts of MoonPies for sale at Bluebird Antiques & Ice Cream Parlor

The festival includes a craft fair, lots of food stands, a parade, a stage with live music, contests, and the cutting of the world’s largest MoonPie – and it was quite packed! (We parked in a field right across the street from the action for $10. Later we saw more distant parking for $5. There’s no fee to enter the festival.)

Waiting for the next round of entertainment

Turn-of-the-Century soda bar at Bluebird Antiques 

More of the impressive Bluebird Antiques store

RC Cola and MoonPies became a Southern tradition during the Depression because they provided an inexpensive but filling meal. Growing up in California I didn’t know about MoonPies, but I do have fond memories of RC Cola, which was a favorite of my dad’s. We kids got to return his bottles and keep the deposit money. I confess that the first time I tried a MoonPie was just a few years ago on the Delta Queen in Chattnooga (they were set on the pillows instead of mints) and, even though I have a major sweet tooth, I didn’t like it. Apparently, I just don’t like graham crackers in any form (not s’mores either).

Bell Buckle was incorporated in 1856 after the new Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad brought prosperity to the area. In 1886 it also became home to the Webb School – a private college prep boarding school which still operates today and is the oldest continuously operating boarding school in the South. (It has also produced more Rhodes Scholars than any other secondary school in the U.S.) 

Bell Buckle thrived during the Railroad Age but was devastated by the Depression. By the 1960’s most of the downtown was deserted, but there was new interest in the historic homes and buildings and it, once again, began to prosper – this time as a historic town full of quaint shops, churches, antique malls, B&B's, and restored homes.

A lot of people were waiting to get into this restaurant. 

Livery Stable Antique Mall - the building was built in 1899

We didn't get to see the giant MoonPie. I assume they were keeping it somewhere cool until cutting time, and we headed off to do more exploring before then. 

Hazel Cemetery, established 1888, just outside of town

Interesting towns nearby include Wartrace, Shelbyville, Lynchburg, and Fayetteville. 

The Great Pumpkin Explosion

Monolithic domes – cool. Urban exploration – cool. An exploded, abandoned dome – super cool!

The “Great Pumpkin” is the remains of the Wheeler Grain Company's granary located next to the Elk River, west of Athens, Alabama. It was designed by Dr. Arnold Wilson, a civil engineering professor at Brigham Young University and a pioneer in the monolithic dome industry. The concrete Wheeler dome was built in 1982 with a diameter of 150 ft, a height of 75 ft, and 20 ft dug out below ground level. It could hold one million bushels of grain.

"Before" photo from http://www.monolithic.org/blogs/presidents-sphere/the-west-texas-explosion-an-avoidable-tragedy/photos

In 1988 a fire started (apparently from methane, produced from the grain, not being properly eliminated) and the grain inside the dome burned for several months. It contained 300,000 bushels at the time. The owners knew it might explode and were looking for ways to stop the fire. They had already tried injecting a semi-truck load of carbon dioxide into the dome but that was unsuccessful. They were evaluating where to cut additional holes in the dome when it exploded during the night, waking people four miles away. The top blew off, leaving a 100-ft diameter opening. 

"After" photo from http://www.monolithic.org/blogs/presidents-sphere/the-west-texas-explosion-an-avoidable-tragedy/photos

This event actually demonstrated the structural integrity of domes for containing explosions – the strong lower walls held, allowing the top to act as a relief valve and direct the explosion vertically. The release of pressure then tends to drag the debris back down into the dome. Hardly any concrete landed outside the dome; no lives were lost and there was no other property damaged. The company that built it offered to put the top back on the dome but apparently the owners no longer needed the storage.

The outside of the dome is covered in insulation.

Looking inside the dome