Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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T Uniform



🔥 Update: May 3, 2026

The former Temco Uniforms facility—anonymized as "T Uniform" in this early exploration—was destroyed by fire on May 3, 2026. These photos are now part of the historical record of a site that no longer exists.

📖 Read the full historical write-up and environmental investigation here.


Not much I can say about this little gem nestled next to a bridge other than it is heavily polluted. A nice little fun exploration. The boiler and electrical rooms were neat little surprises. Sometimes you find various equipment from all over and even in some cases defunct factories or mills where you have already explored products right up in your face. I nearly went in through an open window but decided against it since I saw an opening while walking up the bridge surveying the property for any viable entrances.

A full historical writeup when I reveal its true name.

Enjoy!


















vacant open space business warehouse



large silver pacific steel boiler



dirty maintenance boiler room










📖 Full History: This location is the former Temco Uniforms Company facility. Read the complete historical write-up and environmental investigation here.

🧥 Did You Work at Temco Uniforms?

Were you employed at the Temco Uniform Company in Rockland County before its 2002 closure? Or at Modern Filters before 1985? Do you have photos from when the factory was operational, uniform samples, or memories of this Samsondale Avenue facility? With the building now lost to fire, your firsthand accounts are more important than ever.

Drop a comment below or contact me directly. Full credit given to all contributors.

📸 More New York Industrial History

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