Chattanooga: Inside the Historic Abandoned Wheland Foundry

[@Notmy00000]

👍👍👍

[@StephaniePearson-j7h]

How did you get ahold of the person who owns it?

[@Keithdotson]

We were allowed in by the police officer who was guarding it and he escorted us

[@emmamorgan7171]

What a great opportunity to record a part of history, soon so many will never even realise, existed.

[@Keithdotson]

Thank you! So true! In a few years it’ll be mostly forgotten

[@charliejg]

Some amazing industrial history! It reminds me so much of the Bethlehem Steel site here in the Lehigh Valley. Some of it has been preserved, but there are large structures that are still just sitting that are fenced off and off limits. BTW, love the excitement in your voice talking about this site!! Some fantastic images here too. That light was perfect. Thanks for taking us along!!

[@Keithdotson]

Yeah as I said I’ve been seeing this place for years! Amazed that the Fuji was able to manage a clean shot in the bowels of the building. I had no idea Chattanooga had so many such mills until I researched this one

[@charliejg]

@@Keithdotson The GFX images are so nice. Beautiful detail. Were you shooting in the Acros film simulation?

[@toine1915]

Hi, Keith and Teena. How lucky you were to be able to visit this place and make a documentary about it. And you have managed to present a beautiful video. You with your blessed photography skills and Teena with her sublime video work have done a great job. These are the videos that I watch multiple times and enjoy. This is where the power of black-and-white photography comes into its own. Together you have become a royal couple who can make a great documentary out of almost anything. I really enjoyed this documentary, my dear friends. Your historical commentary, Keith, certainly also has great added value. This is another piece of craftsmanship in the field of photography and videography. Many photographers will be jealous of the fact that you have been given access to this beautiful building. Thank you for this wonderful documentary. Antoine.

[@Keithdotson]

Antoine your kind comments are most appreciated! Teena and I both look forward to hearing from you each week. Her first question is what did Antoine say? Thanks for watching and commenting

[@georgecarpenter4126]

Keith - what a great opportunity you had there. And a big shoutout to the LEO, not only for allowing you access to the site but also recognizing the importance of documenting a site that will soon be gone for ever. Continued best wishes and good luck in getting more chances like this in the future. Stay safe !

[@Keithdotson]

Thanks George! Yeah he was very cool about it and he invited us to come inside rather than us asking!

[@jamesbass9797]

I actually visited this business back in the early 1990's with a friend of mine who at the time was driving a tractor trailer. I rode along with him on a trip he made where he picked up his freight there at the foundry and delivered it to GM in Michigan. I don't remember what city it was in MI though. Crying ass shame this company was pilfered by corporate greed. Every piece of industrial equipment in that facility has been removed and most likely delivered to china. The people responsible for doing it should all be arrested and prosecuted for economic treason against the United States Of America. Then put in front of a firing squad. They have seriously compromised the security of the nation by their actions, and they should be held fully accountable for their treasonous actions. How many lives did they ruin by doing this? Countless thousands to be sure. This behavior has gone on all over America. There is no punishment harsh enough for those responsible. Keith, thank you for visiting the foundry and documenting it on video. It brought back some memories for me.

[@Keithdotson]

Back when we still made things in this country. Thanks for your passion

[@jamesbass9797]

@@Keithdotson -- Exactly and your welcome.

[@VINTERIUM..EXPLORIUM.1]

Nice Work & Video 👍

[@Keithdotson]

Hey thank you!

[@brandisgrier5065]

There is good news for it. They are revamping it into an apartment and and there will be a baseball field next to it..

[@Keithdotson]

Oh that’s excellent news!

[@larrycondra8121]

I worked at Wheland Foundry (owned then by North American Royalties) initially as a mail clerk, and then I was promoted to the position of the assistant paymaster after the then Paymaster got caught stealing from the petty cash account of his department. I was there for about a three year period: 1975 - Dec. 1977. In those days, it was a bustling place. I believe almost 1200 hundred men worked there.. In those days, it was a 24/7 operation. Back then Wheland's customers were the big Detroit auto makers such as Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, etc.. In the 70s, Wheland made steel wheel hubs for them and shipped 10, 000s of them each month via trains back to Detroit. Few realized just what a sea change was happening in the America auto industry. The growing foreign Japanese, low-cost but high quality, low gas mileage import cars by Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi would - by the early 80s - plummet the big Detroit auto-makers domination of the US car market.. And as Detroit's car business shrank, it reduced the need for Wheland's wheel hubs. The mid-70s were probably it's peak years before it's slow decline set in and it's closing in 2003. As I noted, I had office type jobs but the men, and it was all "men", who worked in the foundry were paid above average wages with benefits (due to the Union), but it was nevertheless a dirty, nasty and dangerous work environment. Hazardous chemicals were all in the air - microscopic metal particle pollution was always floating around - and you could see them flicker if the sun light hit them just right; plus all the toxic odors from the manufacturing process. At the time, there was so little awareness of the dangers of pollution, no one thought anything about it. People who did the actual hard work did have some safety equipment, but looking back, safety issues were not a top priority. I have no doubt that many of the men who worked there for decades, and were able to qualify for a retirement pension, probably did not live very long to enjoy it due to all the damage their bodies and lungs received via absorbing all the toxins . One little illustration of "safety" concerns by the bosses: I remember one fellow fell off from a high ramp that had no guard rail on it. He died a terrible death. OSHA was on it's way to investigate his work related death and so the bosses at Wheland had a guard rail quickly built so they wouldn't be fined by the government for a work place hazard. Even working in the paymaster's office, which was a ways from the actual, highly toxic, production area, our desks would be covered every morning when we opened our office with a thin layer of soot that had somehow seeped through the base of our locked office door. Fortunately, I did not stay there long. I had dropped out of college, and seeing that I was already at a career dead-end, I decided to return to complete my college degree and so I left. But otherwise, I have good memories of working there with my co-workers. When I turned in my resignation letter to my boss, a top accountant, he tried to persuade me to reconsider. He pointed to what a fine career path I was on and what opportunities awaited me if I would stay, but I was bored to tears with my position; sitting in a windowless office all day; having to sort through piles and piles of punch cards which verified when someone started work and when they left, was too stressful. and draining. There were no computers to help us track things; it was all paper and eye-balling data, and adding things up with a calculator machine that had a paper ribbon; very primitive compared to today's high tech work tools. The unhealthy work environment was not at the time even a consideration for me. But looking back, I'm glad I did not stay or else I probably would have come down with some disease due to all the pollution everyone, every hour of the day, was being exposed to. I am now 70 years old and doing well health-wise; in hindsight, I credit leaving Wheland as a prime reason for my good health fortune. Actually, I'm glad Wheland is gone. As noted, it was bad for the workers and let's also remember, Wheland was also one of the main polluters of the air in the greater Chattanooga area for all of its history. But in its time, it made its owners very wealthy and left the workers and the environment holding the proverbial bag of negatives.

[@Keithdotson]

Thanks very much for the insider perspective ! You raise all great points! It’s easy to glamorize these places in hindsight but they undoubtedly could be filthy and unsafe workplaces

[@philipculbertson55]

Wow, what an incredible opportunity. I shoot old buildings pretty often but I have no idea how I’d even begin there. That could be a year long project all by itself. Thanks for taking us along. One thing I considered was that those kind of places and the people who built them made this country the power it is. I’m not sure in todays world it could be done again. Truly an interesting video Keith.

[@Keithdotson]

It was overwhelming trying to figure out to tackle it, all under the watchful eye of my escort! I’m not totally satisfied with what I got but I did what I could! And you are right about that last statement! Agree 100-percent