Leaving the Delaware’s store house behind we found ourselves standing along one leg of an unique “Y” intersection, that connects Delaware Road with an unnamed road that connects up with the highway. For all intents and purposes this is Delaware’s industrial core, where the mine’s collection of support buildings were constructed. Along with the warehouse, powder house, and store house we’ve previously explored, this area surrounding this intersection is also home to the mine’s main office, superintendent’s house, and captains house. Down the street, closer to the highway, sat the mine’s machine, blacksmith, and carpenter shops. As we made our way through the Delaware’s abandoned industrial corridor our sites were set next on another foundation wall visible across the road and seen in the photo above. This would belong to what was once the Delaware’s mine office.

The Delaware’s mine office was originally a one and a half story gable roofed building 50 feet long by 20 feet wide, with a one story addition attached to its east wall. The building not only housed the mine’s main office (as well as the Conglomerate’s), but also the neighboring town’s post office. Today only the building’s foundation remains, a rather obtuse set of walls thanks to the steep topography of the lot on which it once sat. The image above is of the foundation to the office’s one-story addition.

Another view, this time looking down what would have been the building’s front facade. In the distance you can make out that “Y” intersection, on the other side of which stands the warehouse and store house explored earlier in the week.

This photo gives a better look at just how extreme the topography is on which the office sits. Just behind me this wall sits only about a foot above the ground, while down at its most southern end there’s a good six foot drop from the top of the wall. I guess they didn’t believe in creating a nice level site for building back then.

Continue our trek eastward we pass through a small grassy field before coming across yet another foundation wall. This is another rather robust structure, but once again its due mainly to the steep pitch of the ground here. This particular building was once the superintendents house, built originally for the Delaware but later used by the Conglomerate.

We made our way up the hill passing by the building’s south-west corner. I could take photos of these walls all day and still be amazed by them.

Once we got back up to the top of the hill the building’s foundation shrinks significantly. Here near the building’s front facade that foundation is only half a foot above the ground. And apparantly the house had indoor plumbing, if that pipe sticking up from the foundation has anything to say about it.

Stepping back we take a little wider look at the ruins as they remain, which sit in an irregularly shaped “L”. It was then, looking over the ruins that lay before me that I first caught a glimpse of it. It was half hidden behind a stone wall far at the building’s back, but its rust iron color and submarine shape made my heart skip a beat. If my impressions were correct, this would be the first time I’ve seen such a thing intact and still sitting in its original position. If that was the case, it would definitely be one of the coolest things I’ve ever come across during the last four years of explorations…

To Be Continued…