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Old Posted Oct 5, 2019, 5:17 AM
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Churches of The Rust Belt

I decided to post this in buildings and architecture instead of my city photos, since there aren't one specific city but a whole giant region of the US. Anyways...

For the past 7 years I have been systematically photographing every noteworthy and or mostly unknown historic churches of the Rust Belt and close to rust belt historic churches. Been to every town, nook/cranny, and city of the Rust-Belt from Baltimore to Detroit, Lansing, western Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, St. Louis, northern Kentucky, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, most of Illinois, Buffalo, Rochester, all of Pennsylvania photographing every last beautiful historic church of the region. Its taken tens of thousands of dollars and tons of time to do it. I am finally nearly finishing this journey; only have have a few most rust belt or those in close proximity to the rust belt churches to go. Here is the fruit of my labour. I am publishing a book on all of these churches and hope to enlighten Americans of the beauty of this countries and mainly regions church architecture and the importance of its preservation.

Most Americans are clueless of the boundless beauty that surrounds them when it comes to architecture. Everyone thinks you have to go to Europe to see beautiful and richly historic churches. This is clearly not the case. I am by no means religious, in fact I mostly despise religion. But, the architectural legacy and history that the buildings represent needs to be preserved. I have been documenting these treasures for the better part of a decade because most of the rust belts churches are closing and or will eventually close. The architecture and history will be lost forever, unless something is done to preserve them.

AF5_0021 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2988 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_9884 by photolitherland, on Flickr

47462051731_082f5093ec_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3617 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1267 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_6161 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2074 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3174 by photolitherland, on Flickr

38203591901_8e2b54779f_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5248 by photolitherland, on Flickr

43659948200_066179a684_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2827 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_9297 by photolitherland, on Flickr

39168428175_8653dbe49e_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_3248 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2086 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1305 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3002 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4437 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_2541 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5272 by photolitherland, on Flickr

40299035613_97bd8aaf93_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

44912640502_2be864c1b4_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_6961 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2725 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2583 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1851 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_6683 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4732 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_5408 by photolitherland, on Flickr

46874792985_ffaa087711_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4365 by photolitherland, on Flickr

31067357968_4cdd152afe_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

39795361753_c981e2cf82_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3771 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_0047 by photolitherland, on Flickr

30029480812_f5467461b0_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2844 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_6849 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1868 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2499 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4209 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5341 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3219 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5001 by photolitherland, on Flickr

32382677957_d97f275ff4_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2943 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4419 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3183 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4456 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_3536 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2008 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_2843 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_6512 by photolitherland, on Flickr

26614965578_56708296db_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

38203595661_f3d68e4c85_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5312 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2048 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4182 by photolitherland, on Flickr

38610832914_e4171ac5d1_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

40273261375_199c2f6f75_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2921 by photolitherland, on Flickr

POT_6799 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_7713 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_8850 by photolitherland, on Flickr

47754904182_548ef029bf_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

42629376864_c4969d424b_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_5426 by photolitherland, on Flickr

24808444197_de334eedcf_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_2331 by photolitherland, on Flickr

46264736064_5ddd402027_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

36848376126_0fa4340dc0_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3054 by photolitherland, on Flickr

24454931157_4b7b877ba9_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_3681 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3661 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3276 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3186 by photolitherland, on Flickr

43233263755_0e08affeaf_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

46882869145_62655097e3_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_7803 by photolitherland, on Flickr

30537112497_330e9b0b28_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_0210 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_8793 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2845-2 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_7635 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_6944 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_9599 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_9162 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2144 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_5794 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_6810 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_3222 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_4670 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_8740 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_2131 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_7816 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_0653 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_2058 by photolitherland, on Flickr

45477206451_5631517fe0_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3620 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1258 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3140 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4037 by photolitherland, on Flickr

40273271485_fe450e5019_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_4453 by photolitherland, on Flickr

40273275295_bf9c782ac9_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3203 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3237 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_7834 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_3649 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_7880 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1626 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_7718 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_6446 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_7816 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_5607 by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_8192 by photolitherland, on Flickr

43566425034_573d475271_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

42340095945_a23f156d2d_o by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_1722 by photolitherland, on Flickr
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Last edited by photoLith; Oct 5, 2019 at 5:32 AM.
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  #2  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2019, 7:49 AM
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Magnificent! Your book will be a treasure of fine images.
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  #3  
Old Posted Oct 5, 2019, 8:17 PM
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Great places and pictures!
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Old Posted Oct 7, 2019, 2:53 PM
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Wow. . . amazing photos. . . thanks for sharing. . .

. . .
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Old Posted Oct 7, 2019, 5:08 PM
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These are fantastic Chris!
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Old Posted Oct 11, 2019, 6:46 AM
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Thanks Jmanc. Going to Utica, Syracuse etc next week to photograph some of the last churches of the rust belt I haven't gotten. I'm sure you know of some spots in Utica to get bomb pizza.
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Old Posted Oct 11, 2019, 6:43 PM
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Great photos! Thanks for documenting these buildings.
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Old Posted Oct 20, 2019, 2:10 AM
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Finally got up to central upstate NY this weekend, was just in Rochester, which is a total hell hole and got this photo of one of the most awesome churches I've seen, just north of downtown; St. Michaels Catholic Church. Going all the way through the Finger Lakes to take photos of all the small 1830's-40's Greek Revival Churches, some of the earliest Mormon stuff and then over to Sleepy Hollow to take photos of the oldest Dutch colonial 17th century church in the Hudson River Valley.

ACV_6059 by photolitherland, on Flickr
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Old Posted Oct 20, 2019, 9:06 PM
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Beautiful pictures. I wish I knew where each pic was taken though. I also agree about not caring about religion myself, but loving the architecture and history of the buildings. I think the same thing can be said about municipal architecture as well-so many fine old courthouses and other beautiful and historic municipal buildings gone or rotting away-and not just in the area you are targeting here. Such a shame.
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Old Posted Oct 26, 2019, 3:17 AM
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So, I finally made it to Upstate NY last week and recently got back. Got photos of most of the churches I wanted to; heres what I mapped out to take photos of; and the following photos are what I will include in my book.

Screen Shot 2019-10-25 at 11.15.37 PM by photolitherland, on Flickr

ACV_6094 by photolitherland, on Flickr
St. Mary's Catholic Church in Auburn, NY

ACV_6135 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Syracuse, NY

ACV_6252 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Sage Chapel, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

ACV_6217 by photolitherland, on Flickr
St. Peters Church, Rome, NY

ACV_6203 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Smallest Church in the World, Cross Island Chapel, Oneida, NY

ACV_6184 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Assumption Catholic Church, Syracuse
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Last edited by photoLith; Oct 26, 2019 at 3:46 AM.
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Old Posted Oct 26, 2019, 3:36 AM
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I assumed you got my PM? Get any good pizza in Utica?
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Old Posted Oct 26, 2019, 3:52 AM
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^
I drove through Utica briefly, didnt really photograph any of the churches as the one in Rome was the prettiest out of all the ones in that area. I did have some bomb pizza though in Utica and some not so bomb sushi, actually some of the worst sushi Ive ever had, in Rome. I also stayed at one of the most disgusting motels ever in Rome, was clearly a motel used for prostitution and drug sales, The Red Carpet Inn. Rome was a horrifyingly depressing place; nearly on par but for different depressing reasons as most of the towns Ive photographed in southern WV. Out of all the towns and cities I visited, I liked Syracuse the best. I've been to Buffalo many times, its pretty cool, but out of all three bigger Upstate cities; Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse; Id have to say that Syracuse had the nicest downtown with the most intact historic architecture and nicest places to eat. Rochesters downtown is a massive dump that was clearly mostly destroyed in the 60s and 70's; although Rochester did have some nice hoods on the southeastern side of downtown that seemed pretty upscale and nice.
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Old Posted Oct 26, 2019, 6:26 AM
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Rome is a pit. Lost Griffiss AFB in mid 90's a slew of other industries before and after. At least you saw Armory Sq in Syracuse. Great architecture there and the area has so much potential.
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Old Posted Oct 28, 2019, 1:22 AM
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Syracuse has a lot of great preserved architecture, and there is potential. Though I found the downtown to be pretty disjointed with a lot of surface lots and overall general vagrancy.
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