old gate by Lake Springfield

Urban exploration in Springfield, Missouri
shadow_fox
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old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by shadow_fox »

Does anyone know what is behind the columned gate off the road near Lake Springfield as you are heading to the bridge by the power plant? I've always wanted to explore it, but I forget its existence until it is covered in overgrowth with snakes, spiders, and ticks. There is a driveway with two pillars, and an old metal gate.
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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

I'm not sure I know exactly what property you mean. I approach Springfield Lake from the west. Do you come in from the south? There is a house owned by a doctor to the south with two pillars by the driveway with a gate in between, but it is his only property, so I assume it's not abandoned. Can you be more precise about where it is?
Last edited by RedRook on Fri May 29, 2015 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by jammer_smith »

Are you talking about the gate that is like tucked off in the ditch as you round the corner before the Lake Springfield park turn-in?

I've gone back there. It is a long driveway back to a house that no longer exists. The ground is level and you can kinda tell where a house once sat, but not any more. If you keep walking a little further you end up in the back yard of some big subdivision homes.
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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

It also depends on what you mean by pillars. Are we talking about brick pillars or aluminum pillars holding a farm style gate. If you're talking about that gate by the power lines, there is nothing up there, just power lines.
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by seekingcerulean »

Did you ever go back there? If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's a cool little walk. The asphalt has caved in in places. I wound up behind someone's house, that look occupied, but I didn't bother checking.

Pretty sweet atmosphere though, really secluded. I ran out of gas on Kissick Ave, because I'm a bright man, and saw the gate off to the right. Spent some time wandering around while my rescue gas came. According to Google Maps, the road ends up at Cedar Meadows lane.
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by Jesta »

By looking at the map I'd assume its an old driveway to the house to the west. Probably relocated or started using the current one they have now because it would be a bad blind spot.

As for the area I doubt there was anything there before only because the property looks pretty intact on the GIS.

Cedar Meadows is shown to own that whole area from there to National. Which if I have my facts straight that's a Johnny Morris owned property.

No idea what the end goal will be, could be sold to a developer or a new Bass Pro project or some sort.
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Re: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by Nicotti »

Isn't there old aerials for Springfield online some place? I forget. I know there are paper copies in the map library at MSU.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

I'm still not 100% sure which stick out of the ground things they are referring to as columns holding up a metal gate, since there are a lot of objects that match that description in the area.

Now the main metal gate between columns leading to the power line access is at that new road, and it appears to be nothing more than a way to get up on that ridge, and they likely don't want just any yahoo trying to off-road to the point of falling off a cliff.

The ditch pavement everyone is describing appears in 2003. You don't have to go back that far to find the site completely undeveloped in any way, 1996. Back then the gated maintenance access for the power lines cut a lot further west. It looks like in 2003 they started building culdesacs up on that hill with no houses yet, and at that time, you can clearly see what looks like the attempt to have a community path leading to Springfield Lake. It never seems associated with any one particular house as there were no houses at the time. My guess is they saw the lake as the selling point for the new small neighborhood, so they wanted an easy way for residents to get there without having to walk down a road without a sidewalk. Now they have city maintained sidewalks getting them almost all the way there, so this path likely was forgotten when it comes to upkeep.
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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

I'm reasonably sure construction on the roads up that ridge started earlier. I remember running down houseless roads in '98. It took them a long time to develop that area.
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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

Well, I went down into what looked like a path today from the aerial photos. It's not a path. It's simply pavement for runoff. There's a crawl only tunnel under the road. It came out over water today, but it doesn't look like an every day wet type place. It's pretty easy to just climb up the bluff and step over to dry land. It looks like people camp out on the rocks over there, but no one was there today. I saw zero gate.

Earlier on the thread it sounds like someone went down the unpaved runoff ditch to the same pipe. I saw the unpaved ditch, but I didn't think to go down it. Next time I'm there, I'll take a stroll. I'm apparently a 15 minute run from Springfield Lake these days so its an even shorter distance than Kreider. If the weather stays shorts and T-Shirt temps, I'll be back soon. It's really quite wonderful to have the brush so thin with the temperature so high.
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Re: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by Nicotti »

Pics or it didn't happen.
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

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RedRook
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RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RedRook »

I'll have to drive back out there for pics. I don't like running with things flopping around in my pockets or my hand. So far, it's one of the less interesting places around the lake. According to the city map, the biggest pipe you'll get to uphill is 36 inches, and you have to go through a 15 inch pipe to get there. The pipe under the road is a little bigger at 24 inches. And the features are a drainage ditch and camp out trash. With that little going on, it's more interesting sticking to the normal trails around the lake. I'll start a new thread with some pics elsewhere as well as here. The only thing that brought me to this precise location to begin with is this thread.
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Nicotti
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Re: RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by Nicotti »

RedRook wrote:I don't like running with things flopping around in my pockets or my hand.
Wear a jock strap then.
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Re: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RV driver »

I used to drive pizzas in the 90s out south. I know the place you're talking about. The gate used to be in good shape with a drive that went to an older "manor" house off to the west. The property was bought, the house razed, and the property plated for a new subdivision. I remember the house, though.
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Re: RE: old gate by Lake Springfield

Post by RV driver »

RedRook wrote:I'm not sure I know exactly what property you mean. I approach Springfield Lake from the west. Do you come in from the south? There is a house owned by a doctor to the south with two pillars by the driveway with a gate in between, but it is his only property, so I assume it's not abandoned. Can you be more precise about where it is?
No, that's Dr. Gaska's house. The one that's being talked about is north of the lake, across the dam. It's near the curve. The gate's hard to see in summer through the overgrowth.
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