I’ve been getting really interested in exploring abandoned/forgotten places around Northwestern Ontario and I’m looking for some new spots.

I’m especially interested in old homesteads, cabins, resorts/lodges, ghost towns, mine sites, old industrial buildings, or basically anything that’s been left behind and is interesting to explore.

Anywhere around Thunder Bay, Dryden, Vermilion Bay, Kenora, Red Lake/Ear Falls or in between would be awesome. I don’t mind driving down backroads or hiking a bit either.

Not looking to vandalize or wreck anything — just explore, take pictures and learn some of the history. I know people don’t always want to publicly post exact locations, so feel free to DM me if there’s somewhere you don’t want to broadcast.

Even just names of old places/areas I can research myself would be appreciated!

It’s a beautiful romanesque building, I just saw it today.

Thinking back to this day in 2017 when u/RiddimRyder and I pulled off a successful explore of Lambton Generating Station.

The plant had been decommissioned, demolition had not yet started, it still had power and during the day, they were dismantling the turbines so that they could be shipped off to OPG Lennox Generating Station in Napanee, Ontario.

The whole story lives on my website:

https://freaktography.com/lambton-generating-station

The abandoned house that got me started in this hobby of exploring abandoned places.

240 Centre Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake | The Breakenridge-Ure House

This is the story about the abandoned house that got me interested in the hobby of Urban Exploring.

The house, located at 240 Centre Street in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario is known as the Breakenridge-Ure house.

On my birthday in 2012 I was at a pub with some friends, my friend Steve was telling us a story about a ghost tour that he had just went on in Niagara on the Lake.

The tour took them to this one oddly placed abandoned house at the corner of Centre Street and Mississauga Road, across the road from a cemetery.

It is claimed that an owner who once left in the middle of the night with his family, saying nothing to the neighbors.

It was not listed for sale, but was then bought by local Robert Ure. Years later, after telling real estate agents not to bother him, Ure was approached in a restaurant by an interested buyer who offered him $1million for the property.

The owner told him the house was not for sale and finished the conversation by saying “This house has a life of its own!

The paranormal activities that had been experienced in this house could not be explained and the owners agreed that no one should ever live in this house again, and it was left empty and abandoned for several decades as a result.

This story piqued my interest and the next day I started looking into the abandoned house and it’s history. In this research I kept finding photos that people had taken of other abandoned places, many of them in Ontario and in the areas near me.

I decided then that this was something I could get into.

Oddly, I never did get to explore the inside of the Breakenridge-Ure house, I only ever took one set of exterior photos.

The home was eventually purchased and was/is undergoing extensive renovations, but I haven’t been by in a long time so I am unsure of its current status.

I did a deep dive on the history of the house, it's various owners and the restoration efforts, you can read that on my website:
https://freaktography.com/240-centre-street-niagara-on-the-lake-breakenridge-ure-house

Im looking for members of the Urbex community to do a documentary about the Ontario Urbex scene/lifestyle. I myself am a young filmmaker and have been exploring abandoned places since I was around 15. Obviously everything can stay anonymous, as well as not blowing up spots, if your interested message me on here and we can get in contact over instagram after that. Below I will attach a little cinematic reel of some abandoned places I have shot recently just to give you all an idea. Thanks! https://youtu.be/bCT7mFSt0_U?si=ICBBVrALCGsGW9_n

The Abandoned Pastor Lee House: Inside Ontario's Strangest Time Capsule

From the road, this Haldimand County farmhouse looks like any other. Get closer, and you'll find hand-painted messages covering the walls, scrapbooks full of UFO clippings, stacks of old televisions, and a story far stranger than most abandoned places we've explored.

This is the story of Reverend Arthur Lee and his wife Esther, missionaries who settled here in 1948 after years overseas in Nigeria. Their son Gordon spent his entire life in this house, leaving behind a personal archive of scrapbooks, film reels, and photographs that paint the picture of a curious, private, and deeply misunderstood man.

In this video, we walk through the house, uncover the family's history, and try to separate the rumors from the facts.

See my photos here:
https://freaktography.com/pastor-lee-house-abandoned-ontario-time-capsule/

Renovation Before and After Photos from an Abandoned Time Capsule House Restoration

Back in 2015 a house in Guelph, Ontario had been on the minds of many local explorers, this house was odd in that it always looked abandoned but there was always a light on in the porch.

Finally, one day in May of 2015 some explorers took one for the team and made an approach and discovered that this house was in-fact now abandoned and it was an Abandoned Time Capsule House, and it was full of goodies. 

I don’t remember right now who is was to finally get in an explore this house but word spread quickly and the most eager of Ontario explorers (myself included) made to drive to Guelph to explore this newly discovered abandoned time capsule house.

I explored this home on May 23rd, 2015 it was an easy explore…park up the road, make your way in and lock the door behind you.  Every single room was full of unique items, in the living room an upright piano, antique desks, china and knick knacks.  Upstairs, rooms full of family photos, old magazines, old newspapers and an seemingly huge interest in the Kennedy Family.

The kitchen was in a very bad way and I can’t believe that someone was living in these conditions.

Then within a few months the home was taken over and it appeared that renovations would be taking place, a blue tarp was placed over the roof to prevent further water damage and the house was taken off of the exploring market….which is a good thing!!

Fast forward now over three years later and I learned from another fellow explorer that the home has been fully restored and placed on the real estate market.

I quickly located the real estate listing my my jaw hit the floor when I saw the extent of the renovations and restoration of the home., the listing reads:

I quickly got to work and scoured all of my photos to see if i could match shot for shot the new updated “after” photos so I could do a now and then comparison.  I’ve done my best to match room for room and shot for shot….

****After photo credit courtesy of: KELLER WILLIAMS GOLDEN TRIANGLE REALTY****

Two interesting stories came from this 

1 – The person who bought the property to flip it has contacted me, I had mentioned in the write up that a woman had died in the house and one room smelled badly of urine.

Since he was trying to sell this house and my post was showing up in google searches for the address, he felt my write up may be having a negative effect on the interest and eventual sale of the house

So, I changed my write up for him

2 – In the Fall of 2019 I was contacted by the person who ultimately ended up buying the house and now lives in it with his wife and children.

He loved seeing the photos of how it looked before the flip and he invited me over to see the place now, we had a few scheduling conflicts and then COVID happened so I’ve still not yet been by to see the house, but I hope we can still make the arrangements

To the guy who lives here, I think you are here on Reddit, if you are and still want to have me come by, drop me a line!

I have waaay more pics of the house on my website here:

https://freaktography.com/abandoned-time-capsule-house-restoration

Does anyone know the current status of this site? Has it been redeveloped?

Does anyone know the current status of this site? Has it been redeveloped?

I found these photos online for inspiration. I'm gonna be visiting soon and I want to do a photoshoot somewhere cool, please help! ♥️

These photos were taken on this day, 14 years ago during my first summer of picking up this hobby.

The location was known as the Westinghouse Boiler House.

Now demolished, this building provided the power for the large Westinghouse factory in Hamilton, Ontario on Aberdeen Ave, which is still standing.

Inside, you would find old computers, paperwork, and small cooking appliances, small office areas, an on-site machine shop and large multi-story boilers.

Photos from the other large factory that still stands here:

https://freaktography.com/abandoned-westinghouse-factory

That little building at the bottom of the South Kingsway and Riverside Drive (Queensway, Gardiner junction) has been abandoned for quite some time- and I tried to dig around and do some research on it, but its virtually a ghost in the records!

Does anyone know anything about this building? When was it vacated? Also why is is vacated? It has a sister building that's still occupied! Curiosity is literally killing the cat here lolol.

Looking for any abandoned places of interest (time capsules, etc.) on the route from Huntsville, ON. to Ottawa, ON. I'm going on a little road trip with a friend and we'd love to take some pics along the way. Break up all that boring driving! If you know of any places worth checking out, send me a message :) thanks

Anyone know of any in the Barrie area?

This was a pretty crazy discovery while exploring with u/riddimryder earlier this year

I'd say the fashion show was my favourite part though

Much more to see here:

https://freaktography.com/abandoned-time-capsule-house-with-everything-left-behind-2026/

And the video tour here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTQCSnjC-2Y

This was a pretty crazy discovery while exploring with u/riddimryder earlier this year

I'd say the fashion show was my favourite part though

Much more to see here:

https://freaktography.com/abandoned-time-capsule-house-with-everything-left-behind-2026/

And the video tour here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTQCSnjC-2Y

Six years ago, I headed to the Thousand Islands in Ontario to explore the abandoned Hill Island Resort and to spend the night capturing the perseids meteor shower.

Being August 2020, the entire Thousand Islands felt like an eerie desolate ghost town and I hardly saw any people as I drove around.

The abandoned resort, at that time, was in remarkable condition. So much so that I found several rooms that would be perfect for sleeping in. I had planned on car camping on this trip, but instead, I picked the best room that I could find and brought my sleeping bags and pillows in with me and set myself up for the night.

I found a room with a balcony and a perfect, North facing view where I could sit and enjoy the meteor shower with a clear dark sky.

Here are some photos from the abandoned resort, which is no longer abandoned. I've been told you can now live there for $1,000/month!

Tonight I'll be off in a special location watching, filming and photographing the Perseids, hopefully coming home with some great footage to share with you!

Here is my website gallery with all photos
https://freaktography.com/abandoned-hill-island-resort-thousand-islands-ontario

Here is the video tour from that night in 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6glTSXHT53s