Sublunar Photography

The old Military Hospital in Memphis traces its history back to 1798 when President John Adams established the first Marine Hospital Service as a precursor to the U.S. Public Health Service. Its mission was to provide medical services for injured riverboat workers. The first hospital was destroyed when the river changed course and the new hospital opened in this location as its replacement in 1884. The 1884 hospital was soon obsolete and the rise in demand for medical care necessitated its replacement which was completed in 1936 at the cost of 1 million dollars. The hospital would expand its services to include a variety of Armed Forces personnel and their families along with other government employees. The hospital was once situated in a busy neighborhood, but a new interstate was constructed directly through the core of downtown, cutting it off from the rest of the neighborhood and the struggling hospital eventually closed in the mid 1960's. The Federal Government owned the majority of the property and used it for a variety of purposes continuing its service to Military personnel until 2004.

UPDATE: The Memphis Marine Hospital has been renovated and now it's a large apartment complex.

This is part 7 of 7 from a recent road trip.

The Nuclear Power Plant is owned by a large and powerful organization that would prefer everyone just forget it exists-and that they spent 2 billion dollars to build an abandoned concrete jungle that they never used.

This location happens to be well guarded and well secured by tall barbed wire fences. Last time I was here, it was practically a ghost town, but this time we encountered some of the most intense exploring I've done in a while. We parked the car far away and took our time burying it under shrubbery to conceal it. We then hiked through the woods in a circuitous route so as to utilize the cover as much as possible. But as we got closer, we were more and more exposed. Trucks were circling. I don't recall how many times we had to duck to stay out of sight. We would sit at every clearing to determine the nearest cluster of trees that would provide us the most cover. Then one by one we ran, crouched, to each spot where we laid in the grass to stay out of sight until we regrouped and planned the next route. If anyone spotted us, it was game over. To explore a location like this is to risk everything just for a chance to see inside. And when you see people actively guarding a location, it gives you a certain amount of respect for the situation and for those doing their best to keep us out. But as long as there's a way inside, there will be those who methodically find a way inside. The unlucky or careless ones will get snatched up and made an example of. This keeps the guards busy and content that they are successfully performing their jobs. Those of us who, in spite of the obvious risks, make it inside and back out will know the rewards that come with a successful adventure. I look at it like a sporting event; It's our team versus the security guards and they have home field advantage. After the contest, mental high fives and "good game"s for the guys trying to keep us out. No hard feelings, they're just doing their jobs and we're just doing ours. This time, though, we enjoyed luck and the benefits of cautious preparation.

This is part 6 of 7 from a recent road trip.

See our previous trip here.

UPDATE: Check out my short video of this place here.