Los Alamos, NM: The Black Hole
The Black Hole of Los Alamos is something similar, where tons of junks gets sucked into some 5 acres of land, and seemingly never leaves.
It started in the 1950s when Edward Grothus, then a machinist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, began selling 600 pairs surplus khaki shorts that he salvaged from the Army during WWII Manhattan Project. From there on, he acquired machines, parts, and other equipment from the nuclear laboratory and establised "The Los Alamos Sales Company", which went on to become known as "The Black Hole".
Today, the Black Hole is about 5 acres of land housing a giant storage facility containing millions (probably billions) pieces of equipment salvaged from the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory, famous for having developed the Atom Bomb.
Much of the stuff is largely computer equipment, old typewriters, voltage meters, and other strange electronic pieces. You'd have to get a room at a nearby motel for a week just so you could come back day after day to see all the stuff.
Grothus died about 10 years ago, and the property fell into the hands of his wife. But she died soon after, and then it fell into the hands of his children, who currently own the property. They have a manager on hand who runs the Black Hole, but according to him, the Black Hole will close up this summer. Apparently, the land is worth far more than the Black Hole.
The people who tend to shop at the Black Hole are folks looking to decorate their homes.
If you want some really cool space age junk to decorate with, better get to the Black Hole in the next few months before it's sucked out of existence.
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| Inside the warehouse of Black Hole, Los Alamos, NM |
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| Several wall clocks laid on the property |
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| Sash at the Black Hole |
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| Odd equipment for sale, cheap, no refunds |
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| Asphalt Annie says "hello"! |
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| Old IBM Typewriter for sale. |
Nice!
ReplyDeleteI am massively bummed to learn they're closing down this summer. Oddity & eccentricity of that magnitude needs to be preserved. And I'm just not likely to get back there again before they close.
I'd never heard of the Black Hole before now but I could easily spend a day or two in a place like that. I'd also want to be riding because the limited storage space would reduce the number of 'collectibles' I'd want to take home.
ReplyDeleteI'm certain my nephew Zack (electronics wizard and lover of all buttons, dials and gadgets) would become a feral child in this place. Once he walked into the indoor 1-acre warehouse, with all of it cubby holes, nooks and closets of happiness, we would never see that 10-year-old again. We would have to just leave cheeseburgers around the shop at closing and he would come out to eat them in the dark. . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a place it is!!
Sash