Pillsbury Abandoned: Art and Ruin in the Industrial Midwest

The Pillsbury Flour Mill in Springfield, Illinois, operated between 1930 and 2001. What began as a flour mill expanded into prepared mixes, artificial sweeteners, and convenience food products during the 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, the factory employed 1,500 workers and encompassed 750,000 square feet in over 15 buildings across 18 acres.

Like many such facilities of the time, the Pillsbury plant contained large amounts of carcinogenetic asbestos. The EPA conducted a massive cleanup in 2017. However, the buildings continued to decay, and their reputation loomed darkly in the community. In 2020, a small not-for-profit was formed to clean up and demolish the abandoned mill. In 2023, the author recognized the site’s impressive historic and artistic potential. A multi-faceted program followed, resulting in a variety of history and art exhibits.

This book illustrates the site as it looked in 2023 and 2024, after decades of abandonment, decomposition, salvage, and theft. The emphasis is not only on the remnants of history, but on what the empty place had become. The images in this book reflect two years of exploring and documenting abandoned architecture, residual history, technological extinction, post-abandonment graffiti, and the remarkable aesthetic vistas found in the decaying factory.