Spreepark: Disney World of Socialism

An abandoned amusement park hides along a river in the Treptower forest of East Berlin. Known today as Spreepark, it was originally the Kulturpark when built by socialist East Germany in 1969. Declining attendance and tight government controls contributed to the park’s demise, which created financial insolvency and forced Spreepark to permanently close in 2001. In the meantime, attempts by the city to auction the property have failed. A contractual guarantee protects the park from developers until 2061, but little is protecting Spreepark from nature and vandals.

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The Conservatory Under a Lake

Sometimes Interesting

Previously Sometimes Interesting featured the story of a twenty-first century swindler and the spoils of his deception. In this post we examine a nineteenth-century offender who similarly executed outlandish ideas for his homestead. Our subject is Whitaker Wright, an enterprising salesman who made, then lost, then made again millions defrauding mining investors in two continents. His thirst for bravado drove lavish spending on his estate, Witley Park, in the South of England. Witley Park was eventually lost to a fire in 1952. Fortunately, the estate’s most fascinating piece – the conservatory under a lake – survived.

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Spoils of US Fidelis

Sometimes Interesting

This house in Middle America fits the definition of excess (unless you consider having a bowling alley and an eight-car garage necessary). It’s builder’s use of the finest materials rang up an eventual construction bill of $27 million – in a neighborhood with a median home price of $234,600. What makes this home stand out isn’t the forty-thousand square feet, hidden rooms, or any of its many spiral staircases. More interesting is the story of who built the home, and how construction was funded.

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The Oldest Airplane Factory in the World

Sometimes Interesting

On the west side of Dayton, Ohio, a group of old white buildings topped with arched parapets sits in a cleared lot just off U.S. 35. For nearly 85 years these buildings produced everything from firearms to auto parts. But what makes them special was their function during the thirteen years prior, as the first airplane factory in the United States. Originally erected by flight pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1910 and ’11, the buildings helped shape the dawn of the aviation era. For nearly 100 years these factories produced parts that kept America in the skies, in the war, and on the road. But with no tenant today, the buildings’ future is less certain. If a push from the National Aviation Heritage Area and its partners is successful, the oldest airplane factory in the world just might be preserved for future generations.

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Pre-Earthquake: San Francisco in 1906

Sometimes Interesting

Thanks to the creative ideas of four early filmmakers, later generations have the chance to see San Francisco in early 1906, before the now famous Earthquake decimated the city.

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Orewinners and Deadmen: Lead Mining in Swaledale

Sometimes Interesting

Guest Post Series

Photos & Words by Guy Carpenter

Swaledale at the start of the 21st century is known mostly for its beautiful countryside: A long and deep glacial valley running from Keld at the western end, to Richmond at the eastern end, where the valley opens up into the Vale of York. Rugged and wild, with barren uplands of peat moorland where the hardy Swaledale sheep roam and graze, giving way lower down the hillsides to the slightly more fertile soils around the river Swale’s path through the valley. The famous and popular coast to coast walk passes through Swaledale, and the Tour de France had a stage running through it (and over its hills) in 2014.

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Specter of St. Peter’s Seminary

Sometimes Interesting

St. Peter’s Seminary is an abandoned Roman Catholic education facility near Cardross, Scotland. Built near the banks of the Clyde River and located just a half-hour outside of Glasgow, it was intended to be Scotland’s National Seminary. The radical shape was penned by a now-legendary Scottish design firm, and paid homage to one of architecture’s greats. While the building won multiple design awards, it failed to reverberate within the ranks of the church in transition. The architecture was striking, but so was the building maintenance. Combined with escalating operating costs and a decline in enrollment, St. Peter’s closed just fourteen years after opening – and it has been abandoned ever since.

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Ghosts of the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Railroad

Sometimes Interesting

Northern Minnesota’s economy has been powered by locomotives for over one hundred and thirty years. The ensuing boom after the nineteenth-century discovery of iron in the Mesabi and Vermilion Ranges ushered in a period of growth and prosperity for the operators of the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Railroad. However the rail operator’s fortunes turned sour by the end of the mid-twentieth century, when ore extraction costs began to eclipse the commodity’s retail prices. Communities along the western shoreline of Lake Superior were devastated as port activity dwindled. Jobs were cut and rail depots – like the one in Two Harbors, Minnesota – shuttered. For fifty years the depot and roundhouse in Two Harbors sat abandoned, reminding of an era driven by coal and iron. The site was eventually razed, but not before photographers Dan & Cynthia Traun were able to visit and capture the buildings as they appeared in their final days.

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