Starting with history itself, then onto urban exploration. I like things that have out lived their usefulness, or their popularity might be more of how I feel about them. An appreciation for neglect of some kind.

I also like keeping things on Blogger blogs. I don't believe they are going to have a sudden, great comeback. Though I would like to see it happen. Blogger blogs are good for keeping things you don't want to lose. I have all kinds of sub-topics and niche ideas tucked away on Blogger blogs.

I think it is an inability to let go, or give up.

Ontario Road Map  - Road map collector. Site by Neal.

The King's Highway - The history of Ontario's King's highways. Site by Cameron Bevers.

Ontario Highways - Site by Christopher J. Bessert, Cartographer, GIS Specialist, Highway Historian.

The Ontario Highwayman - Site by Chris Beach.

The King's Highway Ends Site - Old site by Earl Andrew Washburn.

Ontario Road and Highways - Yahoo group (active).

Asphalt Planet - Ontario, Quebec and US road history and photographs. Site by Scott Steeves.

Historic Roads - Dedicated to the identification, preservation and management of historic roads. Site by Paul Daniel Marriott & Associates. Washington, DC.

Historic Bridges - North American bridges.  (Ontario link). Site by Nathan Holth.

misc.transport.roads - Google Groups.

Have you found a lost road and photographed it?

They aren't that tough to come across. Read local history to find where routes were changed. Not every road grew into a bigger road, some were bypassed and forgotten. Those are the old roads to look for, or to start with. As you find old roads you will soon find other old and forgotten roads. Bridges too.

What about dead ends, do they count as a lost road or not?

Meanwhile, the links above will get you started with your own research and exploring.

Information for Highway Explorers

I found some US highway history.  Likely the information will be similar for Ontario and Canadian highways and roads but... that will be another post. So far I found a lot of Canadian (and Ontario specific) resources but I haven't done the research yet.

Prior to the Federal Interstate Highway system, the United States was criss-crossed by roads built by for profit groups. During the 1920s many of these roads could barely be called roads as they were more mud, dirt and ditches than road. But, as Henry Ford continued to churn out automobiles, more and more of these state highways popped up across the landscape. Most of these roads followed old trails or Transcontinental Trails like the Oregon and Santa Fe. One of the first transcontinental highways was the Lincoln Highway from New York to San Francisco. It was a rock road and privately financed; Henry Ford wanted nothing to do with it because he thought roads and highways should be funded by the government. As the 1920s progress other groups formed to build and promote their own highways. By 1925, there were over 250 named highways, each with their own colored signs, names, and random sign placement. Without government oversight, many of these roads were re-routed into cities so that the clubs and groups that built them could profit from them.

In the midst of this chaos, the Federal government got involved in 1924 and started numbering all of these roads. Odd numbers ran North to South with the numbers increasing from East to West, and Even numbers run East to West with the numbers increasing from North to South. So, U.S. Route 1 runs along the Eastern Seaboard while U.S. Route 10 runs along the Canadian border.

When the Interstate Highways came along, the government decided to use the mirror image of the numbering system to avoid any confusion. Interstate 10 runs through the southern states while I-5 is in California. Thankfully, the government was wise enough to help avoid the classic "How could you get us lost?" fight between drivers and map readers. Where the two systems, the routes and the Interstates, meet in the middle of the country it was decided that there would be no Interstate 50 to avoid confusion with U.S. Route 50 which runs from Sacramento, CA to Ocean City, MD. This is the same for Interstate 60.

via -  9 Things You May Not Know About the U.S. Interstate Highways | From The Kitchen Cabinet

When the Interstate Highway Act was passed, most Americans thought it was a good idea. But when construction started and people, especially in urban areas, were displaced and communities cut in half, some started to revolt. In the 1960s, activists stopped construction on highways in New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, which resulted in several urban interstates becoming roads to nowhere.

The red, white, and blue shields used to designate interstate numbers are trademarked by the American Association of State Highway Officials. The original design for the shield was drawn by senior traffic engineer Richard Oliver of Texas and selected out of 100 entries in a national design competition in 1957.

A major concern during Eisenhower's presidency was what the country would do in the event of a nuclear attack. One of the justifications for the building of the interstate system was its ability to evacuate citizens of major cities if necessary.

via - 10 Things You Might Not Know About the U.S. Interstate System | Mental Floss

I prefer daytime adventures too. I like to see everything and I'm not looking around hoping to scare myself with ghosts.

Day time adventures are my personal favorite because I can take pictures and actually see the building in natural lighting.  Although the buildings are losing their old looks, they’re gaining new characteristics such as vines and erosion that give them a unique, beautiful look.  There’s a rich history to be accounted for once you really take a look at them.  Each place has a story to tell.

Source: Your Guide to Urban Exploration | EVERYTHING EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE

Urban exploration covers a lot of different types of exploring and people who explore. First, it's modern exploration. Not unlike explorers in history who go where few others have gone before, but we tend to focus on what was built and then neglected. The things people may see every day but don't get close for a good look.

Second, urban exploration is not about salvage or vandalism. Take only photographs and leave only footsteps - that's the rule. Trespassing is part of it, but most of us have our own rules about how far we go. I will take as many photos as I can from the street when I can't get closer. But, if access is available I will walk around the building and try to photograph it from all sides. Within reason. I don't want to take too many risks and as a BBW woman I do watch where I step and avoid close encounters with wild animals too.

I very rarely enter a building. For me this is breaking and entering and not respecting the property of others. If someone were to complain about my being on the property and taking photographs they would have a lot more reason to complain if I were inside versus just walking around in the grass, rubble and abandoned gardens.

Of course, I mainly photograph abandoned farm houses in Ontario. So, there are not many people around when I am there. The few times someone has approached me it was out of curiosity (most often). I would usually get some history of the place from these people and they were happy to tell me all that they know once they knew I was there to document it and not doing anything to cause harm.

So that's an introduction to this site and myself. You can read more about me on my other sites.

One other thing, the name of this site, Wrecky Rat Bird, comes from my nephew Zack. When he was a little boy we talked to him about the old abandoned places and he began calling them "wrecky rat bird" because they were wrecks with rats and birds living in them. I still call them all wrecky rat bird sometimes, so the name stuck even though the nephew is almost 19 now.

When you don't live in the city you can call yourself a rural explorer.

Chances are you already know the first place you want to explore. There's something that catches your eye on the way home from work every day, each time you drive to visit your Mother, when you go on the backroad into the next town... There's a place out there which you'd like to stop and get a look at, if only you dared. Let's not say you need to find the time. The time is there. It's not easy to stop the car, get out with your camera and make that first step into being an urban explorer.

Or, a rural explorer, as I see it. I don't live in the city. I've lived in the city, in a small city and a range of towns around Ontario. I started exploring abandoned farm houses with my Mother and my Aunt, before I ever knew other people were doing the same thing. I didn't go looking for antiques, old hardware or anything like that. I wasn't hoping to see a ghost or wanting to get creeped out. I wanted to see a relic from the past, the old woodwork, the way the bricks had weathered and whatever mysteries might be lost, forgotten and buried under dust, debris and wild plants. The best thing I found myself was an old iron key. I still have it in my jewelry box.

The first time I explored on my own was years later. Right after I got my first digital camera. No co-incidence there. The digital camera is a wonder for anyone into exploring. Now you can take all the photos you want and not think twice about the cost of getting them developed or how many rolls of film you had packed into your purse.

The photo in this introduction is the very first house I explored, alone. Just my digital camera and me. That was the year 2006.

Don't Pass up a Great Chance to Explore

Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration I bought this book just after the author died. Not from falling off a building or any kind of exploring accident. I met his wife when I bought the book, at a zine fair in downtown Toronto, Ontario. I still have Access All Areas, even though I have not visited all the places he did. Mostly because I live farther north now. The book is a guide to taking a chance, some risks and visiting places mostly unknown, unseen or where you may not be welcome. I hope people continue to buy Access All Areas for all the same reasons I did years ago.

Photo taken in 2007. This house is now gone. Burned down by vandals, then demolished.

The Real Dangers of Urban Exploration

You may expect the top danger for explorers to be people. It's not!

I've been exploring, often alone, and the biggest danger I've found is from wild animals. Not that I have been attacked by wolves, raccoons, rabid squirrels... no. I've been threatened by birds and attacked by bees. I've had toads and frogs scare the pee out of me - I still think I stepped on one poor toad when I was walking through very long grass and couldn't see where my feet were stepping.

Birds can be territorial and may dive bomb you. The only solution is to tolerate it or hide. I've yet to have one actually strike me. But, the closest to do so were blackbirds (those smaller versions of crows) and hummingbirds. Don't laugh!

Bees are pretty self explanatory. Rule number 1: don't step in between the flight path of two beehives. Just don't do it. If you really must, duck down low and make sure your hair is covered. There is nothing like having a bee lost in your long, curly hair - near enough to your ear so you know you're in danger of being stung and you're not really keen on finding it with your fingers.

People will sometimes ask you what you are doing. In all but one case I have never had any trouble at all with people. They are curious. If they know something about the history of the house/ building/ location they will usually tell you about it. Volunteering all kinds of historical information. Which is great. I do like to hear it. Sometimes people want to talk more than I want to keep listening, but I do appreciate their time, their interest in the place I'm looking at and... the fact that I'm a woman and they are likely telling me all this because I don't seem like someone who would be getting into trouble, or making trouble.

Only once, I had a woman who was suspicious. But, it turned out she was the owner of the house I was photographing - it was a ruin but not abandoned. In that case I liked it for the ruined look. But, there are cases where you will find out (later hopefully) that the abandoned house you're photographing isn't actually abandoned after all. It's kind of funny, later.

Getting back to animals... watch for animal holes. You might hurt your leg if you step into one. It is a good idea not to go alone just in case you do get hurt and need help. I do not explore inside the houses, hardly ever actually. I will go inside if I'm with a group, or at least one other person. Safety in numbers, when it comes to injury or... getting caught as a trespasser.

This has not happened to me. But, it is on my mind each time I stop and get out of the car at a location I want to explore. I feel I am keeping myself out of trouble by not entering the premises. If I just walk around outside taking my photos I'm not breaking into the property. Also, I just don't feel right about entering a home this way. Most often they are pretty gutted by other explorers or people looking for hardware and such to steal and sell as vintage. So, in theory, I feel I am not trespassing, or really missing much.

I was asked to leave one location by the security people. This was a time I was not alone so that was nice for me. I had already taken the photos I wanted too. I think they left me alone to wander around for awhile before they finally approached me. But, I'm sure they would have come on the run if I had been trying to do more than take outside photos.

If you do enter any abandoned, derelict or ruined building you must know you are at risk. You can not be 100% sure about anything in that building. Even a place which does not look badly derelict can have structural damage. Don't be an idiot about exploring inside. Wear decent footwear, bring a flashlight (even in daylight). Have someone with you or at least make sure your phone is charged and with you so you can call for help.

Taken outside of Barrie, Ontario. 2011.

Shipwreck on Lake Ontario, 2007.

How to Find Locations for Urban Exploring

I find places to explore by driving around and looking out the car window. These are the times it's important to have someone else driving the car. You can't navigate the car and have most of your attention focused on catching sight of weathered wood, boarded windows or a driveway overgrown with plants.

Urban Exploration Photography Tips

My new (new 2 years ago) digital camera has a great feature for urban and rural explorers, zoom. I've got 10x zoom. This makes a big difference in what I can get into a photo without having to be physically closer. You can't always get close up when there are fences, animals, and etc in the way.

Frame your photo and use the rule of thirds. I like to photograph a foreground of weeds/ wildflowers in front of a house. Sometimes I scoot down to the ground so the house appears to be on a hill. (It helps if it actually is on a bit of a rise). I like to get trees on the sides of my photos. It gives the photo a real, living edge. Then I take a photo where the house fills the frame.

Be creative, try different angles, try getting high (the roof of another building, a tree?) then get down low for a different view. Using a tripod is nice, if you have one. I did buy one but I have yet to actually take it with me.

I do have a camera strap. I always keep it on my wrist when I am using the camera. It is so easy to have some little thing trip you up and next thing you drop the camera. If you have that strap over your wrist, your camera has a much better survival rate.

Focus on details. There will be little details you miss, You will notice them once you upload the photos from your camera. As you get practice you start noticing details easier, while you are still on the site. Train your mind to look for small things, the trimmings, the cracks. There will be details which especially appeal to you of course.

Don't be stingy with your photos. Take extra. You can delete any you don't need later. Or, you might find one of your extras just happened to catch the light and the angle just right.

Try different times of day, different seasons too. Sunset adds a glow to your photos outside. Winter makes everything look mysterious and silent. You should explore night photography too, what works for taking photos in darkness. Bring a flashlight, shine it on a window and get a photo of the beam inside the house.

From 2009. Car and house in the background. Ruined by fire.

Another idea is to join Flickr. You can get a free account. Search for local groups with explorers who are already adding photos. Some of them will put directions and locations on the photos. Not everyone will. I tend to leave it ambiguous. I like to protect the places from vandals and people who just want to grab whatever they can sell. So, I am cautious about giving directions. But, that doesn't mean I hoard them all. If you can join the local group, get involved in a discussion, share any photos from old places you already have - you might find a place in the group. Try to attend when people plan an event - meeting at one site. It's a lot of fun plus you make real contacts and become someone they will share information with.

Flickr has a lot of local groups but it isn't the only source. Search online and see what you find.

Read local history. Read the news. See which buildings in your own town are historical and may be in danger of being demolished. Read about the history fo your area and see what has already been lost and what is still left.

Check real estate listings. Some places have been for sale for years, empty. Some of them are being sold due to fire or damage from something else. Some are being sold in order to be knocked down so the land can be farmed or have housing developments built over them.

On a busy road into the town, in 2008. A baby deer was also at the house when I began photographing.

UER Huge site for urban explorers. Having an active membership gives you some prestige and access to extra features. Membership is free, but donations are accepted.

Painting by Michelle Basic Hendry

Women Urban and Rural Explorers - I have met the women explorers on this list through my years of running the Flickr group: Ontario Rural Ruins. If you are a woman urban or rural explorer send me a note and I will check your links and photos and add you to the list.

Flickr: Female Urban Explorers "This group is a place for UE girls to get together to talk about our explores and experiences and a place to share our images. Let's celebrate the fact that we are female Urban Explorers....and proud of it!"

msDeKay Ontario urban and rural explorer. Lots of photos, not all locations in Ontario.

KateKnevil Ontario rural explorer. Not a lot of photos but very good photos.

Lee-Ann Licini Ontario rural and urban explorer. She also runs the Creepy Ontario group on Flickr.

The Navigator Ontario urban and rural explorer. I've actually met Carla, face to face once.

Michelle Ontario rural explorer and artist. Now moved away from Ontario and living in the US. Her paintings of rural ruins are available on her site.

Abandoned on a Lake, 2010

Take only photos; leave only footprints.