Looking for this house

Urban exploration in Missouri
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lokiracer
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Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

http://imgur.com/a/CLEU0

He talks about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/ ... =frontpage

A couple takeaways:
  • Realistic story? Canoe party groups made a house that close to the water too risky. But that story doesn't explain kitchen supplies sitting for what looks like decades.
  • There was a prison nearby.
  • It's near Rolla.
  • Near Rolla MO in the Ozarks
He mentions a bed and breakfast in Steelville.

I know the kid's name and did some tax assessor searches in Phelps county and didn't find any properties on a floatable river.

My uncle has lived in Rolla almost all his life and he doesn't know of any old prisons on floatable rivers. Licking has a prison currently, and the Big Piney runs by there.

I've spent hundreds of hours in the woods around Rolla and have never come across this property.

Ideas?
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SubLunar
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RE: Looking for this house

Post by SubLunar »

I've found some really awesome stuff just by google map surfing along rivers and looking for structures overlooking them. Not kidding, I can think of 3 really, really good locations I've come across just by doing this. So I recommend doing that, especially if you have an idea where approximately it might be located. Bing maps and google earth can often give you imagery from the fall when leaves are dead.
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lokiracer
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

I've traveled along all three major floating rivers in the Rolla area. Spent the last 4 or 5 hours trying to locate this place via online maps.
the_p0ssum
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by the_p0ssum »

Interesting (and fun) endeavor, but like looking for a needle in a haystack. Looks like the OP deleted all his responses so your notes are the only additional clues.

I did some brief scouting via Bing on the Big Piney west of Licking. There are a surprising number of what look like old river cabins, though none had multiple structures like the on in question. Interestingly, looks like a nice old barn right here. If I was closer to the area this would be on my list.
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by Snoopy »

I've flipped through the photos and I've noticed some things that might aid the search.

1. The house sits on a pretty sandy banked river.

2. The opening of the river is very wide, so that rules out smaller rivers.

3. Directly across the river from the house, there is a wide open field with a thin line of trees

4. The house faces the South-West. The pictures were taken in the morning so thats my best guess. (edit>)The river also appears to be running east and west.
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RE: Looking for this house

Post by Snoopy »

Did some more digging and came across a Scribol article which quoted the OP of the reddit post saying the house was "tucked away on a long road". On top of that, the article also says that the OP waited 4 years to post the pictures. If this holds true, there might not be a house anymore.

I also went back and read the Google Snapshot of the reddit page before the OP deleted his posts and he described his families property as being one of the several dumps dating back 100 years. He says there was 3 barns on the property.
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RE: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

OP deleted his comment history after I mentioned his real name and tax assessor records.

I'd take everything he posted with a grain of salt. He says it was downstream from a no longer use prison, near Rolla. Nobody I've spoken with knows of a prison in the area that is no longer used other than a 2 room prison in Steelville.

I really want this to be it, but I don't think it is: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9816885 ... a=!3m1!1e3
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

the_p0ssum wrote:Interesting (and fun) endeavor, but like looking for a needle in a haystack. Looks like the OP deleted all his responses so your notes are the only additional clues.

I did some brief scouting via Bing on the Big Piney west of Licking. There are a surprising number of what look like old river cabins, though none had multiple structures like the on in question. Interestingly, looks like a nice old barn right here. If I was closer to the area this would be on my list.
I'll be down that way this weekend. I'll take some photos of that structure.
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Re: RE: Looking for this house

Post by the_p0ssum »

lokiracer wrote:I really want this to be it, but I don't think it is: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.9816885 ... a=!3m1!1e3
I'd have to agree. The Google Earth pic attached here shows a different house layout, dormers on the roof, and a less wooded terrain. It also seems much higher up from the water line. Still looks like something cool to explore though.
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PANIC! on the Titanic
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by PANIC! on the Titanic »

Well I'm late to this thread...

I read through the reddit thread as it appeared before he deleted everything. I saw no mention of a prison though. Old dump sites and logging roads are everywhere, so that's useless. The stream looks more like Little Piney to me. Gasconade and Big Piney are way too big by the time they get close to Rolla, so my guess would be on the bank of either Little Piney or Mill Creek. I know of one remaining abandoned house along Mill Creek with a 1950s TV inside, but it didn't look like this place. Also since he said 'across the river' and Mill Creek has 'Creek' right there in it's name I'd nix that one two.

So yeah, I dunno. I'd check along Little Piney above Newburg. Probably if it was along Paddy Creek or something he'd have said Licking, not Rolla, and using that assumption I'd also rule out Dry Fork cuz St James is a notable city as well.

If I had hours to kill I'd bust out old 50's topo maps (freely available online) and find houses (black squares) next to Little Piney with 3 hollow squares on the other side (the barns on this guy's property) between Newburg and Edgar Springs and see what Google Earth has to say about em today.
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

the_p0ssum wrote:Interesting (and fun) endeavor, but like looking for a needle in a haystack. Looks like the OP deleted all his responses so your notes are the only additional clues.

I did some brief scouting via Bing on the Big Piney west of Licking. There are a surprising number of what look like old river cabins, though none had multiple structures like the on in question. Interestingly, looks like a nice old barn right here. If I was closer to the area this would be on my list.
After looking at this again, I've actually been down here. A little south of the barn, it's fenced off and very clearly marked no trespassing. I didn't both going any farther because I was running behind schedule and needed to beat feet.
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by the_p0ssum »

lokiracer wrote:
the_p0ssum wrote:I did some brief scouting via Bing on the Big Piney west of Licking. There are a surprising number of what look like old river cabins, though none had multiple structures like the on in question. Interestingly, looks like a nice old barn right here. If I was closer to the area this would be on my list.
After looking at this again, I've actually been down here. A little south of the barn, it's fenced off and very clearly marked no trespassing. I didn't both going any farther because I was running behind schedule and needed to beat feet.
Given it's proximity to the water, floating in sounds like the way to go. And the more you consider it's location, I wonder if it's not an old mill?

Added on edit: According to TX County GIS, that's part of a 117ac parcel owned by The Doe Run Company.
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

I take no credit in having found the house: https://unrestrictedtravel.com/lonely-camp/

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Re: Looking for this house

Post by Snoopy »

Sweet! Was the painting still there?
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Re: Looking for this house

Post by lokiracer »

tylernol wrote:Sweet! Was the painting still there?
No it was not. I asked the redditor if he took it and he won't respond.
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