These abandoned Rockford videos are my favorite thing on the internet, hands down. The fact that anyone dares enter these old abandoned buildings in Rockford takes so guts...You never know what you will find. If this place housed chemicals and paints and glues etc, don't you think the actual building would be pretty hazardous?

Built in 1929, the Testor Model Paint Factory in Rockford, Illinois is now yet another abandoned building. A  man by the name Axel Karlson, had been working on a glue substance known as "Karlsons Klister" (klister is Swedish for glue) for use in the repair of women's stockings but figured out that this product had other uses. In February 1929, Karlson convinced the manager of the Woolworth store in the Swedish district of Rockford to serve as office manager of his new business idea. Eventually, The Testor Chemical Company was founded, and a product line was expanded in 1936. The rest is glue and paint, and messy history.

Beach Radio logo
Get our free mobile app

According to this YouTube video the third floor of this building was, "used for surveillance by Rockford to bust the gang known as the Titanic Stones."

Who knows if that is actually true, but it makes for a pretty damn cool story. The places would make for some pretty cool "hideouts."

So the super odd part of this video is the photos that were found in it. At about the 8:30 mark, there's some unusual Polaroid photo's found....enjoy!

Explore More Lost and Abandoned from Across America

Tour an Abandonded Cemetery in Troy, New York

Take A Look Inside The Abandoned ShoppingTown Mall In Dewitt, NY

Onondaga County currently owns the ShoppingTown Mall located in Dewitt New York near the Syracuse area. As of today, the mall is abandoned. The future of the building will go to someone who has the best vision for it. Onondaga County has issued an official request for proposals (RFP) for ShoppingTown Mall. The property will be resold to the buyer with the best plan for revitalizing the vacant property.
Proposers will need to have a demonstrated history of producing "high quality projects," according to the statement. They will also need to produce financial information related to the project."
Jordan Harmon was able to tour the property and take plenty of photos recently with permission from Onondaga County:
The main purpose of this shoot was to document this historical structure before any alterations occur. I grew up with this mall, I can remember coming here as a kid. This was the place my family did our back to school shopping and the place where I’d blow my allowance at Fun Junction playing laser tag. To see it now is shocking to say the least. The former owner of the mall clearly made no effort to maintain it, let alone stop the hundreds of leaks in the roof.

More From Beach Radio