Photos from the Center of the World

TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane standing in front of the famous sign for the town of Center of The World. Created as a gimmick in 1840, the sign and the town stand now more for irony than anything else.

By Charles Monroe-Kane
Photos by Seth Jovaag

Shuttered businesses line the familiar streets of producer Charles Monroe-Kane’s hometown in the Rust Belt in northeastern Ohio. The steel mill where his father worked is shut down, locked behind chains. Opioid abuse is rampant, poverty is high, jobs are scarce. But people remain. What keeps them going? What do they hope for? Charles went back to talk with friends, family and community members in a journey to the Center of the World, Ohio.

Hear the full audio documentary here.

Pastor Nick Dejacimo talking with TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane about his vision for turning the abandoned Mike Tyson mansion in Southington, Ohio, into an evangelical mega church. “Look at this,” Dejacimo exclaimed in the former pool and hot tub room, “it was always meant to be a church.”

Looking out at 58 acres of beautiful woods, criss-crossed with paved paths, over the property of Mike Tyson’s abandoned mansion in Southington, Ohio.

TTBOOK producer Charles Monroe-Kane standing in one of the tiger cages of Mike Tyson’s abandoned mansion in Southington, Ohio.

Teenagers have had a field day in Mike Tyson’s abandoned mansion in Southington, Ohio.

The 140 members of the Living Word Sanctuary Evangelical Church, currently housed at the YWCA in Warren, Ohio, are busy fixing up Mike Tyson’s abandoned mansion in Southington, Ohio. They are tithing and giving their Saturdays to the endeavor. The words “Mike” and “Tyson” from the front gate were the first things removed. The Living Word Sanctuary Evangelical Church plans to open their new church in November, 2017.

The Lucky Inn was once a hallmark of Center of the World. Last year the tavern closed. It is now for sale for $85,000. It was purchased 10 years ago for $125,000. The bar is surrounded by derelict buildings and boarded up homes. Though just off an Ohio Turnpike exit, one has to wonder if anyone will buy the business.

The Lucky Inn shares a parking lot with the Gates Motel. The motel has been abandoned for years. The county recently removed the caved-in motel as a danger to the community.

Once the site of more high-end stores, the nearby strip mall is filled with what residents can afford — discounts.