When most people think of New England, quaint villages and fall colors are the first things that spring to mind. Go back 100 years and more, however, and you'd find a region filled with factories and mills, churning out the goods the country needed to get through several world wars. Much of that began to move out starting in the 1950s, leaving a trail of derelict factories. Strathmore Paper Mill #2 here in the Woronoco section of Russell, MA held on longer than many, finally closing in 1999. As is fairly common with abandoned buildings, this one burned rather spectacularly on the evening of June 19, 2020 under suspicious circumstances. Amtrak's "Lake Shore Limited" passes the burned-out hulk nearly four months after the fire.
