The Savanna Army Depot is a fascinating abandoned site in Illinois that, since its closure more than two decades ago, has been largely reclaimed by nature. Let’s find out what happened.
The U.S. Army established the Savanna facility in 1917 as a proving ground for munitions made at the Rock Island Arsenal during World War I.
After the war, in 1921, the site was converted to a weapons depot, where the army stored munitions and ordnance.
The munitions were stored in underground bunkers.
In 1989, however, the EPA declared the Savanna Army Depot to be a Superfund site. The depot was slated for closure in 1995, and five years later, in 2000, it was closed for good.
In the years since, nature has reclaimed much of the facility.
A portion of the site was redeveloped as an industrial park, and another parcel that was transferred to the state of Illinois became part of the Upper Mississippi River International Port District.
Grass and trees have overtaken most of the remaining structures.
Many of the buildings, including former living quarters on the site have fallen into ruin.
More than 9,000 acres of the depot site became the Lost Mound Unit of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge.
The Prickly Pear Trail is a 1.5-mile loop that offers a great way to explore a portion of the old army depot site in the wildlife refuge.
In some ways it’s sad to see such a huge facility with a long history fall into disuse. In other ways, though, letting nature reclaim a place where live ordnance is still a real danger doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
After you’ve looked around the parts of the depot that are open to the public, head a little way north and stretch your legs on the bluff-top trails of Mississippi Palisades State Park.
Have you seen the Savanna Army Depot in its current state? What other abandoned sites in Illinois are being reclaimed by nature?
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