A tour guide to dark places, their people long vanished

By Emily Sweeney|The Boston Globe| November 7, 2010

Massachusetts — Jason Baker likes taking pictures of abandoned buildings, inside and out.

Armed with his trusty flashlight and camera, Baker recently visited the long-shuttered Lakeville State Hospital, where he captured haunting images of empty hallways and dilapidated examination rooms.

The 29-year-old calls himself an “urban ruins photographer,’’ and his passion for documenting decaying places has brought him into the darkened corridors of insane asylums, closed schools, and other deserted institutions.

Baker just published his third book, “Abandoned 2,’’ which features his photographs accompanied by a collection of short horror stories. He will be showing some of his work at Gallery X in New Bedford this month.

Baker, a Marlborough native who now lives in Malden…

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To view the photo gallery of abandoned buildings in Massachusetts, click here.

Massachusetts’ last wooden drawbridge faces uncertain future if not designated historic.

A Bridge to the Past

Editorial| Cape Cod Times | June 23, 2010

Chatham — The Mitchell River Bridge in Chatham is the last timber drawbridge of its kind- not just in Massachusetts, but in the entire country. The fact alone should be enough to support saving the wooden structure.

Ever since the original bridge was built in 1854 to connect Tom’s Neck with the main part of town, it has been an important historical link for the Community.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation wants to replace the wooden bridge with a wider wood-mimicking steel and concrete structure with a macadam surface. The DOT has allocated funds to build a spac that is supposed to last for most of the rest of this century.

Opponents of the redesign believe…

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