Court closed

Lillimur Court house

Lillimur between Kaniva and the South Australian border, was settled in 1877, the township was proclaimed in 1883, it boasted 3 hotels, 2 blacksmiths & wheelwrights, 2 saddlers, coffee tavern & bakery, Mechanics Institute, State school with 100 children, a Commercial Bank, police station, post & telegraph office, West Wimmera House - a general store, and a chemist-dentist.

(It seems the ivy is all that keeps the rear of the building standing)

The Court of Petty Sessions first met on 6th June 1884 in the Mechanics Institute.

 The courthouse was built in October 1887, in June 1892 the Attorney-General closed the court permanently due to insufficient transactions.

In 1913 the Post Master General transferred its ‘semi-official’ post office to the Court House building, rather than construct a new building, it closed some time after 1980. Lillimur now has a population below 100 residents.

The Post Office & Hall (built in 1928 since demolished) in the 1960s

Abandoned locally

Checking out all these grand abandonments around the world, set me to wondering are there many abandoned buildings in this area.
I've found a few which may not match the elaborate ones I've chosen previously, but still have interesting stories or features.
To begin with a couple of country stores.

Gymbowen store
Gymbowen is a locality between Horsham and Goroke.


William Henry Knight (1856-1938) bought the general store in Gymbowen in 1885. In 1890 he built the Gymbowen Hotel, to serve the clientele of the Natimuk to Goroke railway line construction.

The rear portion of the Hotel (dining room, bathroom & maid’s room) was the original Knight home, moved about a one mile on land selected in 1876. In 1893 a Post Office was incorporated.


Wheaton's Pioneer Store
Situated at Miram, a locality off the highway between Nhill and Kaniva.

The Miram General Store was built in 1888 by George Coles – the famous G.J. Coles of retail fame – it was firstly operated by Coles and Scouler from1888 to 1892. In 1903 it was purchased by Phillip Wheaton and the Wheaton family operated the Store/Post Office until its closure a few years ago. During this time the store was a cornucopia: supplying fresh milk, cream & butter from their diary herd, meat from their beef herd, eggs from their poultry farm, town electricity and water supply, van delivery of goods, postal services – anything.

Though abandoned the store still has goods on the shelves and equipment on the benches.

P.D. from Unshelved

Abandonments all over the world

So you think all these abandoned buildings are centuries or decades old, then how about Paolo Alto in California During the dot-com bubble, Sun Microsystems experienced incredible growth and rapidly expanded in all areas including personnel, infrastructure and office space. Sun has since had ups and downs and has streamlined their operations and few people think twice about the amazing remnant abandonments they have left behind, save for a few intrepid urban explorers.


Along with other things, the adventurers found, rows of servers and even working light fixtures.
Thankfully our Sun box is still working,
we haven't trashed our computers.

More Paolo Alto info and pics at
http://weburbanist.com/

Tyneham is Dorsets' most famous lost village. In November 1943 notice was given to the villagers that they would be required to leave within 28 days as the area was needed for training, believing that one day they would be able to return, this was never to happen, the village is still part of the M.O.D. ranges and access is only allowed at certain times of the year, when they are not firing.

See other Tyneham buildings

The Castle Of Mesen, Lede, Belgium.

Built and destroyed many times, what remains from this building dates mainly from the beginning of the 17th century, the castle has a lot of outbuildings like stables and an orangery.
After 1796, the castle was used as a gin distillery, a sugar refinery, a potash refinery and a tobacco factory took place in the caves of the castle. Still a lot of machines remain there. In 1897 the castle was sold to a religious order that built the impressive neo-gothic chapel. After the First World War an institution bought the complex and established a school for the local children. From 1970 the castle has belonged to the Ministry of Defence who abandoned the complex, they found the cost for restoration so high that it refused to list the castle as a historical monument. This info & more hi-tech photos of the castle

A classic abandonment

Essex Mountain Sanatorium opened 1907. Initially a Tuberculosis facility consisting of 20 buildings, it covered 200 acres on top of Second Mountain in Verona, New Jersey.

The eradication of T.B. meant the end of a need for the sanatorium. By the 1970s its vacant wards were used to care for the overflow of mental patients from the nearby Overbrook psychiatric hospital.

In 1977, the last patient was released and the sanatorium officially closed its doors and ceased all operations. On December 1, 1982 the county locked the gates to the hilltop property and abandoned the complex, then in August 1993, the main complex of the sanatorium was demolished and the final buildings in 2002.

Beds, patient files and hospital equipment were left still in place in the wards in 1977, sparking mystery and rumour about the sudden abandonment. Since 1982 accounts of strange occurrences added to its notoriety.

Lots more at http://www.mountainsanatorium.net/

Music to grow to

Animoto have released/allowed downloads of videos you've created rather than the previous linking to their site, so here is my Music to grow to embedded

Music to grow to