A drive though with drone footage of the abandoned Savanna Illinois Army Depot. Also know as the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Very cool video. This brings back memories. I worked on this base as a firefighter for a couple of years just before they closed it. Some history: The base was originally designated as a proving ground for artillery manufactured at Rock Island around 1909. It later became an ordnance base, housing several ordnance units which were based out of the large rusty buildings. Their barracks were down the road. The Army Ordnance School as well as Army Ordnance Command were also located on this base. The "bomb factory" shown in the first part of the video was actually a storage building. Ordnance manufacture and assembly took place in 3 other parts of the base that each look like a series of buildings built on loading docks, with the structures connected by asbestos tunnels that held overhead conveyors. The giveaway is the blast shelters scattered throughout those areas, and the nearby structures that supposedly used to X-ray entire semi trucks at a time. Near the main gate, there used to be barracks that I am told were used to house POWs during the Korean war. There was a large power plant across from the main fire station when I was there (Westinghouse steam turbines), but it appears to be gone now. The machine shop looks like it is still there, as does the headquarters building. The "mounds" you referred to are called Igloos. This base has several hundred of them. They maintain a constant temp in the 50's year round and were used to store ordnance until 1999. The igloo doors weigh around 5 tons. Ordnance was also stored in large warehouses called Magazines. Yes, this base did manufacture all of the bombs for Doolittle's raid. They ran out of storage space during WW2 so many of the bombs were buried and dug up when needed. Strategically, the base was great. It was protected on 3 sides by the bluff, and the 4th by the river. Toward the end, the Navy was also operating a small facility on the base. For the amount of money to took to close it, they could have operated it for another 80 years. Unfortunately, the senator skipped the BRAC meeting that could have saved it. There is little that can be done with the land, both because of the UXO, and because of an endangered prairie grass that grows on the base. I hope this helps!
ambuancewitchdoc . My dad was stationed at the depot 1969 and/or 1970. This is some great information, my dad passed away in 2006 and never had the chance to take me through there and explain where he worked (as an MP) and what everything was. I drove through the place in 2011 with his best friend and he did explain a few of the things you mentioned here, but this was really good information. thank you!!!
I moved to this area (Fulton) in 76. I have heard a story about an explosion back in the 50's or 60's that actually cracked windows in Fulton 20 miles away. Any truth in this?
We drove in here for railroad work a few years ago...they have us some keys to get in their gates, and we were able to drive through the barracks and supply depot area. We explored at will, and never saw anyone. Thanks for the views of the rest of the depot!
My family and I lived there 83-84. Only about 5 families living on tthe base at the time. It was pretty cool because we had use of the bowling alley, gym and theater. We would just check out the keys from the fire department. It was a very secure base. I had to phone the guard shack to let them know when a friend was coming to visit and what vehicle they would be driving. Many times a guard would follow thenm al the way to my house to make sure they didn't wander around in classified areas.
my dad took me here as a kid it was only half operating at that time. brings back alot of memories man my old man taught me alot im so grateful to have had him as a dad. i really wish he was still around. miss you old man👍👍👍👍
I was stationed at the Savanna Army Depot from 1965 thru 1967 as a SP/4 assigned to the 823rd Ordnance Company (SW) (GS) working the the Shop Office as a Classified Documents Clerk. It was a great assignment.
My uncle Russell worked there until he died. He never told me what he did there though. The area is a favorite place for eagles to hang out. And lots of other wildlife. 2000 was when the Army Depot closed as I remember.
Awesome video, but for the love of God TURN DOWN THE MUSIC. You have great sound levels for your voiceover work but my god the music is at an 11 and your vocals around 5
my wife and I were there yesterday, we just stumbled onto the place while on a motorcycle ride. we were at the river observation deck. there was a local gentleman there, so I asked him what it was. he told me pretty much the same thing you did in your video. he also added the bombs for the Jimmy Doolittle raid on Japan came out of those rusty storage buildings.
Drove around it a couple years ago. You'll see the occasional black SUV with tinted windows which may stop and watch you from a distance. Those are the security guards, as long as you are cool they keep their distance and don't bother you. Very cool and kind of spooky in places and there are deer EVERYWHERE! Some of the old quarters have been turned into private residences so if you go there be aware that some of those are people's homes and respect their privacy. The "mounds" they talk about in the video would be the old ammo bunkers many of which are now used by companies to store records. Not sure how many there are but they cover several hundred acres. There are miles and miles of empty paved roads crisscrossing the facility and virtually ZERO cars. I plan on taking my bicycle and camera up there next year and spend a day just riding.
the mounds are on the other road. if you look on google maps there is a road that runs parallel to the base the mounds are off to the right. very wooded. but i have now been to all of em from the quad cities up to wisconsin, and the lost mound is impressively huge af
I was stationed there in 70 and 71. I was a physical security MP in the exclusion area, which I imagine is still classified and is closed to the public. I hesitate to mention much more about what I did, because I was instructed during my debriefing to not ever reveal. I do know that I was “checked on” for several years after I left. Don’t make too much out of that, because in reality it isn’t something many haven’t probably guessed, but I do caution discretion in talking about some things that were handled there. I would guess that even at this late date, the government considers some information about the installation to be sensitive. I was with 75th material command,
Does anyone know whatever happened to the bowling alley and building in which it was located? I was the winning bidder for the lanes back around 1972. I let the award go after I found out the lanes were attached to the concrete floor and would have been a major project to extract and transport back to New York.
Really cool. I visited some abandoned structures (they were bunkers or something) in Galena, only a few miles from where you were, and made a video on it. Can you get into these structures? And if so, would you get arrested? I subbed btw.
Not bomb. Nuclear artillery projectiles. An acquaintance, now a retired policeman/school resource officer, who was commander of the post MP detachment, told me that the entire atomic inventory of the US Army had been stored there during his tenure.
@@luxomni I was an MP with the 516th MP company from 1972 to 1974. Savanna Army Depot was one of the three 'S' depots. Sierra (California) and Seneca (New York) were the other two. All three were tasked with the storage and maintenance of tactical nuclear projectiles. Savanna was not the entire storage facility.
The property is leased to a trucking company and warehouse goods. I was victim to a enormous amount of round up granular product stored on this facility approximately 5 yrs ago.
Very good video; the problem with these types of videos of abandoned military bases is there's no historical commentary or formation on what actually was made, tested and then done with when completed. It would be great to have a paragraph of fact about what we're seeing and its importance. Would just like to know more detail; are there other bases nearby, were they related, pertained to which war and what did they produce for it?, Etc.
Maybe 8 or 9 years ago we were there and there was a building at the entrance that looked like it had maps and info about the place inside. It was closed that day and the next time we were there it was closed for good.
Does anybody know if there is a RAB (Restoration Advisory Board) still active at this facility? If so, how often do you meet, and do Federal and State EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) representatives attend these meetings? I was a member of the RAB here at Chanute AFB for 23 years, and curious when they have forecasted the final closure date.
Please do some research on the history, of the Savanna Army Depot, so you can give good information. Some of your information is not correct. It would be worth while.
