Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Urban exploration in St. Louis, Missouri
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UOmoderators
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Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by UOmoderators »

This message goes out to the adventurers and the history nerds as well as the on-again-off-again explorers.

Saint Louis is awesome. You might know this already. But you might not realize that it's also an awesome place to research and explore. The more you look around the more stuff you'll find. And the more research you do, the more you'll appreciate what's here.

Stop lurking and join. Do research. Explore the world around you.

If you've been sleeping up to this point, occasionally lurking or otherwise not getting out much.. well yes. You've definitely missed out on some stuff. But don't worry about that. New stuff comes and goes while the good stuff goes too quickly. It's time to get out there and get filthy. Get lost on a back road and burn a tank of gas seeing new places along the way. Be prepared to spend all day scouting and not getting inside anywhere. It'll just make the reward of finding something that much sweeter. Even if you don't go inside anywhere, just learning about and seeing new places is fun and rewarding. Share your adventures with us. I'm posting this now because it's that time of year again; fall is in the air. For many people, this is the best time to get out and explore.

Underground Ozarks is the best resource you'll find for interesting places in the midwest. These threads have inspired many adventurers and their adventures over the years. While it is open by nature to be accessible and a valuable resource for information on these topics, there is plenty we do that doesn't see the light of day. And while there's no set hierarchy or regular meetings, if you stick around a while and contribute, you'll get to know us eventually. Unless you're a douchebag.

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A few things to mention before you join: Fuck cliques, egos and pissing matches. Leave your drama at home. Let's all work together to keep the places both protected and explorable. We're not in a competition with each other. We're all on the same team as long as we can at least mostly agree on these points:
The 'rules' wrote:1. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

2. Don't blow up a location on social media or otherwise identify it publicly. If you want to share photos, give the place a generic name. "Lutheran Church" for example. Only share with people you trust to do the same. Google indexes words and property owners will notice photos of their property that much quicker when it's identified by name. There are a few exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb for all new locations. Oh and there are some locations that are not for public discussion and we will have them removed from the forums if they are posted. Don't get too butthurt about it if it happens to you.

3. Don't vandalize. Pissing off owners is bad for business. You may think "this place is abandoned, no-one's gonna care". But often you'd be wrong. Vandalism is the quickest way to get an entry point sealed up or otherwise increase security and/or perimeter defenses. Leave no trace of your visit and the place will stay open longer. This is fact. I've seen it happen over and over again. You are never the first, or last, person in a location so don't fuck it up for everyone else.

4. Find non-destructive ways in and close it back up on your way out when possible. We absolutely discourage B&E. I've been doing this for a long time and I've never needed to break anything. If you climb in through a window but would rather walk out the front door, lock it up behind you or just go back out the way you came. Leaving a place wide open is the quickest way to get it fucked up. We're in this because we appreciate and respect the locations, right? So treat them like you respect them.

5. Don't be a douchebag and don't get me busted. We're not impressed by your pseudo bad-assery when you almost get us arrested hurt or killed. We've all done crazy shit so save the theatrics for people who might give a shit. We don't.

6. Do be careful out there. Watch your back. Be distrustful of everyone else on the street. Bail on a location if it's not safe, if there's too much heat on it or if you're being followed. It's never worth getting hurt or busted, even if you drove a long time to get there.
Will we lynch you for breaking these "rules"? Probably not. But don't expect to be caught violating them and have anyone here trust you with anything in the future. As for these rules, I don't believe I'm alone in this mindset. If anyone disagrees, let me know. When you've explored for a while, these things eventually come up. I'm providing them here as a shortcut to learning them the hard way.

If you feel like this is a bunch of preachy bullshit, then by all means feel free to learn your own lessons but stay the fuck away from me while you do it.

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Sound good? Then join us. Contribute something, even if it's just a story you heard about some place or some exterior photos of something you drove by one day. And if you're a reasonable person who can hold their own on any given adventure, then maybe we can go exploring some time.

And to those who already joined but keep to yourselves: let's get together more often. We could accomplish more if our various groups weren't so fragmented. No need for leaders or followers, just do-ers. Let's do some shit.
*Legal disclaimer* wrote:*Legal disclaimer* You should never break the law or do anything unsafe. All of the content you see here is probably completely made up. This is the internet and we have photoshop after all. I advise you to stay safe in your home and enjoy this website from a safe distance. Do not try anything you see here yourself. Everything is dangerous. We are not liable for anyone else's stupidity, especially yours.
Anyone agree or disagree with any of this? Leave a comment.
archinstl
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RE: Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by archinstl »

I think you've pretty much covered it.
I only "explore" vicariously, but appreciate the effort of all who enable my curiosity.
Bravo!
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Nicotti
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Re: Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by Nicotti »

Not that anyone really does Draining (storm drain exploration) that much in this town, but
NEVER EVER GO DRAINING WHEN IT IS RAINING, HAS RAINED RECENTLY, OR IT IS EXPECTED TO RAIN.

I don't want to read about your death from drowning in the paper.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

“My dear fellow, who will let you?”
“That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
-Ayn Rand
ucitygal
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RE: Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by ucitygal »

What they said.
jammer_smith
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RE: Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by jammer_smith »

Pretty good basic manifesto on UE.

I have found in my years of doing this that no other hobby quite merges adventure and a love of history quite the same way. Two or three hours pouring over maps and old historic site listings, another two or three hours driving and scouting, per one hour of actual boots-in-mud exploring.

I think most people who stick with UE for a long time, who aren't just going through a phase ya know, end up being local history buffs and feeling kinda like wardens of these places, which is pretty cool.

I agree with your sentiment about B&E. I have never had to break into any place. Most old abandoned places have SOME way in without breaking anything. The only places I find that don't have any way in without breaking are the places that are so heavily trafficked and no frequently busted into that extreme measures have been taken to seal them up....here's looking at you Messiah Mill. And when I come across the very rare place I just absolutely cant get into without breaking, then I bow out and let that place be.
"To argue with a man who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead."-Thomas Paine
jammer_smith
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Re: Saint Louis Urban Exploration

Post by jammer_smith »

And to Niccoti's "no draining when it's raining" I would repeat the same advice except for caves.

I have been in two caves during/just after a heavy rain, and it is both terrifying and also pretty damn cool. One cave I was in when a really hard storm came on was a cave with a horizontal opening, or an opening that was in line with the tunnels. The cave started to flow like I was standing in a creek, and water was dripping and flowing and pouring in from every crack and crevice. That wasn't so scary cause I just walked out of the big opening.

The second cave I was in a similar situation was a cave that was entered via a chimney, a pit opening from above down into the roof of the cave system. And when the rain came on it was like it was raining underground. Dripping water everywhere, with the water in the bottom on the cave rising surprisingly quickly. It was a crawling cave, with almost no room any where to stand, so there I was crawling through the water, keeping my face and my flash light up, trying to make my way back to the little hole in the ceiling that was the only way out.

That was pretty sketchy, and if I hadn't been in that cave several times before and known right where the exit was, if I had needed to search for it or gotten disoriented, it could have been a lot worse ya know.

Don't cave when it's raining.
"To argue with a man who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead."-Thomas Paine
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