The Indian Chief Tavern closed in 2014 after 33 years when the owner retired. The neighboring Shop Rite purchased the property and apparently left it to crumble. After driving past many times, I finally decided to pull in and take a look.
The Indian Chief was a favorite local watering hole. Along with a bar and restaurant, it offered a banquet hall, live music, comedy nights, karaoke, and football watch parties. You can still visit the Facebook page to see photographs and event notices from happier times.
The building is secured so I proceeded clockwise around it.
The well preserved notice of closure and thanks to the Chiefs past patrons visible through the lounge door window.
Banquet foyer doors look pretty good through the window.
The only interior window view I found displayed the devastation within.
There were visible attempts to access the building. Someone removed this cement cover, opening the way into the crawl space.
I have watched enough horror movies to know one does not enter an old crawl space. There did not appear to be any recent trespass.
Damaged door frame showed another entry attempt.
I imagined many a good time occurred on this back patio. There was extensive structural damage along the gutter and facia, providing openings for critters and water.
The back storage held a couple of unexpected surprises.
I was interested to see if any of the tapes were watchable, but I adhered to the first rule of exploration: Take Only Photos.
Such an unusual variety of discarded and forgotten objects.
Since Shop Rite owns the site, I am considering contacting them for approval to conduct an internal walkthrough.