Highway 3 - November 2007.

Built St. Louis
East St. Louis

National City, Illinois
Lonely Illinois Highway 3 is the main northward route out of East St. Louis. It is lined by abandoned industrial sites, active rail yards, abandoned gas stations, resurgent vegetation, and a collection of small towns.

National City Stockyards - August 2001.

First among these is National City -- but it's barely a town at all. In truth it's simply the incorporated form of the East St. Louis stock yards, once one of the biggest employers in the area. The yards closed many years ago, and these enigmatic concrete ruins are all that remain. The National City Stockyards were among the largest in the nation, handling thousands of heads of cattle and other livestock daily in their heyday. Today, National City is a ghost town.

The stockyards are bracketed by the spectacular ruins of two abandoned meat packing complexes -- Hunter to the south, Armour to the north.

Armour meat packing plant - August 2001.

The Armour meat packing complex is one of the most spectacular wrecks in the entire region. Long ago, the plant offered guided tours of its slaughterhouse and processing lines to curious visitors. Today only rotting structure and rusted machinery remains.

I've never ventured inside, but the buildings are a mecca for urban explorers. Interior images are can be seen at UrbanAdventure.org. The interior of the building is as ruinous and awesome as an ancient temple.

Hunter, Armor, and the stockyards are more extensively featured on the Industrial City tour.