Henry Charlton Beck refered to this place as the Pasedena Terra Cotta factory, but I have it on good authority that he its real name is the Brooksbrae Brick Factory. Whatever its actual name, the factory burned down in the early 1900’s, and lately has been tagged with the usual graffiti. If you visit you’ll find two underground tunnels, with one tunnel having two levels. The tunnels are cramped (I had to crawl on my hands and knees) and are nothing at all of interest. It’s just a short tunnel about 65 feet long. There are more pictures here.
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Posted by Ronald on September 3, 2013 at 11:52 AM
I’ve seen bricks in that area marked “P.T.C.Co” which I have pictures of which would
lead me to believe the true name of that site is the Pasadena Terra Cotta Company.
Posted by Afro Tim on January 25, 2010 at 5:28 PM
I lived in Whiting for about 15 years and never knew about this place till the other day. A few friends of mine knew about it. The cart tracks are still present on top of the curved tunnel in front of the entrance to the large single level tunnel. What I want to know is what the bent tunnel was for. I think the straight ones were furnaces, but it’s hard to even tell. Also, anyone know what those 4 parallel walls behind everything are for?
Posted by sassharkster on May 11, 2009 at 6:35 PM
We just went to these for a class trip! It was pretty fun, we went through the tunnels, two at a time. The bad part was, we didn’t bring any flashlights… so it was pitch black, at least the part where it cuts into two different parts, the upper one and the lower one. The place was crawling with graffiti and trash. It was kinda upsetting.
Posted by lostinjersey on May 12, 2009 at 8:38 AM
sounds like a fun class trip. those tunnel are really cramped!
Posted by John on April 29, 2009 at 8:28 PM
I used to crawl through those tunnels back in later 70’s. I recall three back then. There was the set in the picture (upper and lower tunnel), and another tunnel seperate (was longer and rougher). I think there was some minor tunnels around the furnaces too. There wasn’t any graffitti back then either. I recall there used to be the remnants of the cart track on top of the one structure you have pictured last. Great to see its still out there.
Posted by lostinjersey on May 1, 2009 at 10:39 AM
those tunnels were a pain in the back/knee to crawl thru. not tall enough to stand in or crouch in, and those floors were rough in the knees. yeesh. and the sad thing is they didn’t really go anywhere! oh well. still was fun.
Posted by background on the Pasadena Terra Cotta factory « Lostinjersey’s Weblog on April 19, 2009 at 8:51 AM
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