I’ve been doing what you might call urbex-light for awhile around the Winston Salem area. There are a lot of abandoned factories and industrial buildings, and contrary to what some say on Reddit not all of them have been renovated into hipster bars.

What I mean by urbex-light, though, is that while I frequent the buildings I know about I mainly get photos only of the outside. If I had some urbex buddies to tag long I would go inside, but these aren’t the kind of places I would go in alone for safety reasons.

(On that note, if you’re in the area and are into urbex, drop me a line and let’s connect!)

How I Found This Particular Area

I spotted an area near Waughtown Street while driving on the 52 headed south. It was across the highway from Salem Steel, though since I was driving I didn’t have time to see street names. But I made a mental note of it.

Later on when I was back home I checked it out on Google Maps and narrowed it down to where Main Street meets Waughtown Street, as a start.

An Abandoned Building and Nearby Brick Storage Area

I won’t share exactly where this is so it doesn’t get spoiled by too many visitors (as is common in urbex) but this was the first place I found in this radius search and it immediately caught my eye.

And then, peaking through the window, I got a few interior shots.

From there, I ventured roughly 25 yards to a nearby brick building that was in rough shape.

As you can see, half the roof is missing on this building and plenty of graffiti. The room is pretty empty other than plants taking over gaps in the concrete floor

There is what seems to be a mechanic type shop nearby, but no one seemed to notice or mind me walking around this particular area.

I’ll be posting more on the site about urbex locations and experiences.

I got some other photos of this area and of some spots in Statesville over that same weekend, for starters. Check back.

Hope this was useful for fellow urbexers. I’ve gotten some good ideas from others on Reddit etc., so I thought it’d be a good way to pay it forward to share my own experiences here.

Brian Watkins

I’ve been shooting photos since I was a kid, starting with an old Polaroid instant camera and then swiping my mom’s first Kodak digital camera. (Ah, the 1MP start.) A few years back I decided to get serious about the craft, and got myself a Sony A7IV to get out and practice on a regular basis. This site is my outlet for sharing spots I’ve been and other things I’ve learned.

Much of my work is hobby photography — street photos, abandoned buildings and places, and nature scenery. But I’ve also done professional work shooting events and remodeling progress (before and after) photos.