{"id":2399,"date":"2013-01-27T17:33:50","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T01:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jett.in\/?p=2399"},"modified":"2013-01-27T17:33:50","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T01:33:50","slug":"instawalk-abandoned-st-marys-college-aka-hell-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/2013\/01\/instawalk-abandoned-st-marys-college-aka-hell-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Instawalk: Abandoned St. Mary’s College, aka “Hell House”"},"content":{"rendered":"

backstory<\/h3>\n

after having my fill of Wilmington<\/a> i was at a loss for what to do the rest of the day, so i decided to just drive the extra 70 miles or so to Baltimore for lunch and whatever else. i ended up at Thames Street Oyster House<\/a>, a highly-rated-on-yelp restaurant in one of my favorite sections of Bawlmer, Fell’s Point<\/a>, where i splurged on a great seafood-overload meal of oysters, quahog chowder, and a lobster roll with a side of cassoulet. (it helped that i was working so late last night that i didn’t eat dinner, so my appetite was ginormous.)<\/p>\n

after lunch, i was considering a driving tour of The Wire locations<\/a> but decided against it because it would best be done with a navigator and i was solo today. so, left with no other ideas since i was just in Baltimore less than a year ago<\/a> and didn’t need to do anything touristy, i googled “abandoned baltimore” (since i have a love of all things<\/a> abandoned<\/a>) and found a great page<\/a> that listed several options.<\/p>\n

i decided on the ones near Ellicott City<\/a> (which, by the way, looks super-quaint). the Patapsco Female Institute was closed<\/a>, but alas uninteresting since it was semi-rehabbed and not run-down (it’s operated by the park district now for events and such, in addition to being a park), so i had high hopes for St. Mary’s College (“Hell House”). while the buildings are largely not there anymore, it didn’t disappoint.<\/p>\n

sure, i would have loved to explore an actual crumbling edifice or two, but the buildings were finally demolished last decade. what i got, though — a nice solitary hike in the snow-covered woods and some old ruins — was just fine and exactly what i needed after a crazy workweek.<\/p>\n

location<\/h3>\n

this was the hardest part. i finally ended up finding it on yelp, which gave me the address, but GPS took me a bit past the actual location. so here it is on a map with some more info on getting there:<\/p>\n

[googlemaps https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Saint+Mary’s+Monastery+Ruins,+Ilchester+Road,+Ellicott+City,+MD&aq=0&oq=saint+mary’s+monast&sll=39.250301,-76.765863&sspn=0.003552,0.008256&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=Saint+Mary’s+Monastery+Ruins,&hnear=Ilchester+Rd,+Ellicott+City,+Maryland+21043&ll=39.251423,-76.76553&spn=0.003988,0.006866&z=17&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=640&h=480]<\/p>\n

there is parking along the curve on River Road as well as right at the base of the hill by the railroad tracks. from what i can tell (but do NOT quote me on this), the only No Trespassing signs were on railroad property (tracks and bridge), so the ruins should be fair game. i really wanted to walk on the tracks over the bridge to the Ilchester Tunnel<\/a> but alas, was a good boy. note, though, that an old article about the history of the college<\/a> states that there are (were?) No Trespassing signs, i really did look for them, but didn’t see any. the wikipedia article on Ilchester<\/a> states that at least part of the land was indeed incorporated into the surrounding state park. <\/p>\n

the pictures<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

The first, long staircase. An off-duty firefighter was running up and down them for exercise. While there were hikers\/walkers on the other side of the river and noisy teens nearby at times, he was the only person I actually saw<\/i> on\/near the ruins, and only here.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"upload\"<\/a>

Twisted steel<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Hole<\/a>

A hole in the ground (scroll down for more on this hole)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"upload\"<\/a>

More stairs<\/p><\/div>\n

\"#nofilter\"<\/a>

What the area looks like<\/p><\/div>\n

\"If<\/a>

I think<\/i> this is the “decaying shrine” from the cemetery mentioned in the “Spooky Baltimore” article I linked to above, but I’m not sure. Note the Dharma Initiative logo someone spray painted.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"upload\"<\/a>

Through one of the windows<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Just<\/a>

It was just me and hills<\/p><\/div>\n

\"This<\/a>

I probably should have been more observant, but it wasn’t until I was heading down the hill that I noticed the hole in the ground from before was actually the top of a building, not just a maw opening to a simple foundation. Descend into the rubble and voil\u00e0, two rooms.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Inside<\/a>

Inside the far room are the remains of mattresses and hooligan detritus<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mattress\"<\/a>

Mattress springs<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Exiting the bunker. vine.co\/v\/bJbFUbDrdQj<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) January 27, 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(tap to load the video)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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