Forgotten in time: Inside the juvenile detention centre that has been abandoned for decades

By Hannah Stevens @hannahshewans

THESE WORN pool tables hint at happier times in an abandoned juvenile detention centre, where few have stepped foot since the 1970s

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Johnny Joo hopes his pictures can act as a time capsule for abandoned buildings

Photographer Johnny Joo has spent the last ten years exploring forgotten places to preserve their stories for future generations.

In this photoset Joo delves into the long forgotten halls of Stonewall Jackson Development Centre.

The centre was once a juvenile correctional facility in Cabarrus County, North Carolina where young males were locked up for delinquency.

The Stonewall Jackson Development Centre has been abandoned since the 1970s

While inmates were given an academic education and taught a trade, the institution faced criticism in later years for overcrowding and prisoner violence.

Russell Smith, an activist against prison violence, alleged that he was attacked and raped when imprisoned at the facility in the 1960s from age 13 to 15.

Photographer Johnny Woo has spent the last 10 years taking pictures of abandoned places

And after World War II the centre performed sterilisations by vasectomy on six teenage boys, authorised by the state Eugenics Board as part of statewide efforts to limit “feeblemindedness”.

Joo’s haunting photos show yawning empty spaces, long forgotten furniture, a mangled piano and overgrown gardens.

These mausoleums of a forgotten time may be sad for some, but Johnny sees their abandonment differently.

The Stonewall Jackson Development Centre was home to juvenile delinquents

He said: “It’s more scary than it is sad, simply seeing that people can so easily forget about something and toss our history away.

“If we keep getting rid of what we once had, how will our future generations ever remember a time that once was?”

The 26-year-old photographer said he got addicted to shooting abandoned places when he realised that many of these historic time capsules were being left to rot.

The centre faced criticism over its treatment of imprisoned teens

The adventurer said: “The more dirty attics, broken hospital hallways and rain soaked classrooms I climbed through, the more I came to appreciate the history these places held; the stories they could tell.

“I strongly felt that these forgotten places were something that needed to be documented and saved in at least one way.

The 26-year-old photographer was keen to document the building

“One day, maybe we’ll look back and realise how many things have been unnecessarily replaced due to greed, selfishness, forgetfulness or otherwise.”

Now Johnny aims to share these forgotten pieces of history with as many people as possible.

Many of the things left in the centre have been left untouched for decades

Having published one book of his adventures last year, the photographer will continue publishing in print and on his blog http://www.architecturalafterlife.com

After receiving messages of support from disabled fans living vicariously through him, Joo began to produce 360° video packages of the deserted buildings he captured.