Exploration Adventure in Elizabeth City

~I recently relocated to Elizabeth City, NC to start a new job at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). It's been a learning experience so far, but I am enjoying it. After getting most of my things unpacked and set up over the past week, I found myself with some free time on a Sunday afternoon, and decided to explore a bit.

The Transportation. The mountain bike tires came in very handy on dirt and gravel roads and trails.

What a beautiful day! Sun, clouds, and some wind. About as perfect weather as one could imagine for cycling. But not for recycling, as Waste Management unfortunately doesn't offer that in my apartment complex. 

I live on the very edge of Elizabeth City, and endless fields surround the area. Aside from whatever they grow here, there are also solar and wind farms. I counted 90 wind turbines merrily spinning away in the distance.

I spotted this mysterious structure down an overgrown road into the woods. Looks ominous, doesn't it? I decided to take a closer look.

Clearly, this building been abandoned for quite some time, and lacks a roof. Although at least it has "Good Vibes."

The interior. Some sort of old pumping station? There are several fenced-in city wells in the area, presumably for agriculture. Perhaps this is an older one. Unlike its modern brethren, this one knows to "Never Conform."

I'm obviously not the first person to investigate what's left of this structure.

After looking around the old building, I decided to keep going down the old road into the forest, which soon narrowed to an overgrown trail. I was rewarded by the discovery of this hidden lake:

There was a lot of wildlife in and near the pond. I spotted some sort of animal, maybe a beaver or an otter, swimming near the other side.

Nearby, there was another, larger lake. On the other side of the thin line of trees at the back is a large agricultural field.

A marshy island in the middle of the lake. I'm sure all sorts of critters live there.

Past the lakes and towards the farm fields, I came across a large concrete square. At first, I didn't know what it was. There were no utility hookups or other signs that there was once a building here. Later, I found out what it was for...

Not far from the concrete was an abandoned firing range. The concrete was most likely the parking lot for this facility back when it was operating. How intriguing! I decided to look around inside the range.

The firing range is overgrown and falling apart. Here's a heap of old bicycles. Why are they here? Perhaps this area was once used as a dump. Or were the bicycles used for target practice? Seems like an odd choice of targets.

The firing range is enclosed by a fence, and contains three structures. Near the entrance is a trailer. A tree was growing right in front of the door, but I managed to get around it and take a look inside. It's crammed with junk: old chairs, tables, boxes, bags, and filing cabinets.

I found a notebook branded with the crest of the College of the Albermarle, the local community college. This appears to be someone's economics notes. Looks like they've got the basics of the field down. The printed article dates from 2002, but I didn't look through the notebook enough to determine how old it was or to whom it belonged.

Towards the back of the trailer. By this point, I was wondering what organization operated the firing range, why it had been abandoned, and for how long. Can you spot any clues in this picture?

The helmet from the previous picture. Between this helmet and the bags on the floor in the previous picture, I concluded that the firing range was used by the police and/or county sheriff's department. I also found a tattered orange reflective vest marked 'POLICE'. But why has this place been abandoned, and left in such a mess? And how long has it been like this?  How mysterious!

The actual firing range. The hill in the back is artificial, with a pond behind it. The entire range is enclosed by a fence and has old floodlights around the perimeter and inside.

A small wooden building just behind the firing range, with benches to rest on.

View of the firing range from the benches. Notice how overgrown the entrance is. I had to push through the plants to get up here.

Inside the wooden hut.

An old target. Whoever shot at this one had good marksmanship.

Someone abandoned these perfectly good tools. If I didn't already have an excellent set, I might have taken these. There were also some old shotgun shells (which I left alone), a pair of shovels, and boxes of chalk.

There were also a bunch of bowling pins in the hut. Were these used as target practice, too?

The third and final building I explored was another trailer, and was in the worst condition of the three structures. Notice the holes in the floor. My foot went partway through the floor when I tried to go inside, so I elected not to explore the interior and limited myself to taking pictures from the entrances. Judging from the chalkboard (perhaps where the chalk from the wooden hut was used), this was a classroom. Perhaps it was used for firearms education?

A box full of drug prevention booklets in the classroom trailer.

Old filing cabinets and other furniture, rusted and decaying in the classroom.

View from the back entrance of the classroom. Strangely, there was some childish artwork on the walls. If this was used by police, then who put the artwork there? Bored cops? Was this classroom used for educating children, too? Or did the art come built in to the trailer? The mystery deepens!

Later, I tried to find out more about the firing range, but information has thus far proved to be frustratingly elusive. I was able to find a county financial report from FY 2016-2017 that mentions it and gives the correct location, but suggest that it was a commercial property (the land is now owned by the Elizabeth City Water Works), and that it was completed within the past year from when the report was issued. But it's clearly been disused for quite some time. Judging by the growth of the plants around the buildings, and assuming that it was completed around 2016, it must have been abandoned not long after that. I will continue to research this facility and see what else I can uncover.

Taken from the back of the facility, outside the fence. There's a pond inside, and on the right you can see the artificial hill that was made for the firing range.

Going into the forest from near the firing range. There were some small, old fire extinguishers tossed carelessly aside nearby.

So close to the apartments, and yet so far! These brambles were impenetrable. I had no choice but to retrace my steps back into the woods, to return the way I'd come.

Returning to the dirt road north of the forest (Wellfield Road), I went by this auto salvage yard. The sign was weather-worn and nearly illegible, but reads Morris Auto Yard. I didn't see anyone inside, but the buildings look like they're in good condition, and the gate was closed when I rode by again later, so I assume it's still active.

Another facility next to the salvage yard, containing row after row of plastic tents. Some sort of plant nursery? There were also a lot of construction materials. Later, a tried to find out online what this business was, but was only able to find out the name of the landowner.

I was able to find out a lot of information about who owns what and what the land is used for on this handy interactive Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map operated by the county. For example, I found that the forest, the lakes, and the firing range are all part of the Elizabeth City Water Works. That makes sense, considering the old pumping station, and the still-active wells along the edge of the forest.

Continuing down Wellfield Road, I encountered a large field (still part of the Water Works), which contained multiple tall radio towers. A little further down the road is a logistics post for the fire department, which houses a mobile command post van.

There are several farms on Wellfield Road. I spotted these donkeys (or burros, perhaps) happily munching away.

I turned onto a different road and ended up in a commercial area with small office buildings. This giant novelty deck chair was outside a commercial real estate office. I needed a break after all this biking and hiking around, and so...

Ah, some relaxation! Exactly what I needed!

Near the office park, I found this bike trail. What luck! I followed it along the front of the offices and parallel to the Halstead Ext road for a mile or so, until I reached... 

...well ok then. That was anticlimactic.

The sun was getting low, so I decided to call it a day. It took around 35 minutes to return from here, going the long way back up Wellfield Road and around the forest. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to walk or bike from the apartment complex to Elizabeth City. There's a big shopping center nearby that I can get to, but beyond that there's only the main road which is not bike-friendly. Rest assured, though, I'll find other places to explore in the area, and will report on them in the future.