Lobby

And I forget just why I taste / Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile / I found it hard, it’s hard to find / Oh well, whatever, never mind (Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”)

A typical stretch of the assembly line.

This building was responsible for storing and drying the barrels. Compare right.

This used to be the main entrance of The Orpheum, before Orpheum Garage on Superior Street was converted into a new entrance.

Windows provided the 250-some workers with fresh air and light, and helped to keep flour dust from building up in the air, helping to prevent explosions. Today, machines control air flow better without windows, so they were bricked.

The small door leads to the offices, the large door leads to the shop. My back at this time is to the corrugated steel wall. At the time I wondered why there was just one steel wall, not knowing that 40 years before there was another spot for an engine here. This section of the roundhouse has become a sort of town dump–car seats, cans of paint and tires are piled into its corners.

“It must have been beautiful once.” “Yeah, especially in the winter.”

This building had the rusty remains of a few mattresses, likely used in the 1940s when this site was last occupied.

When I see this picture, I imagine that I am an ant exploring a mushroom farm.