This is the third installment of a photographic series called dead delta, which examines the shuttered, decaying, and derelict structures in Delta Junction, Alaska where I live.
the auto shop
As you pass the old Clearwater Auto Center on Jack Warren Road it might not be obvious at first glance that the shop has been shuttered for decades. Except for a little rust, the metal exterior seems to be in good shape. However, the faded sign and the vegetation growing in front of the garage betray the property’s disuse. Out back is a junkyard full of dead vehicles, trailers, metal scrap, and tires. The cars and trucks seem almost artfully arranged, and the trees that have grown around them (or, in some cases, through them) help distinguish them as individual curiosities. Some of the vehicle models are long since extinct, and most of them appear to be from the 1960s or 1970s. A couple old Alaska license plates ironically display the state motto “North to the Future”. While most of the shop entrances are still chained or locked, one of the back doors has fallen off. Inside, it appears as if the shop was abandoned overnight. Shelves are still stocked with parts, notes are still pinned to a bulletin board, the office desk is full of records, a calendar still hangs on the wall…
As far as I can tell the shop closed in the early 1990s. The property is one big environmental hazard and liability so I doubt anyone would want to buy it, and it will probably continue to deteriorate for decades to come. Take a stroll through the junkyard and shop via the images below.