One of the locations used for the filming of the 1989 science fiction film ‘The Abyss’ was Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, an uncompleted nuclear power plant on Owensby Road, near Gaffney, South Carolina. Cameron’s massive set remained at the facility before it was finally demolished in 2007. Cameron’s massive set remained at the facility before it was finally demolished in 2007. Urban explorers have provided us with a glimpse of that rusting set, in a series of photos taken in 2004.
Through all that time, the site was still considered Fox property, despite the fact that it was never used again. It was only turned into a film studio about six years after its cancellation, which caught they eyes of Mr. Cameron and his team. Figuring it’d be easier to shoot on a set than in the actual ocean, they went to work building two tanks – the larger “A” tank (which housed the exterior downed submarine, the Montana; as well as the Deepcore rig) and the smaller “B” tank (which was used for miniature shots and interior shots) – to build sets and shoot the film in.
Photos of the Abyss filming location
The following images are pulled from a gallery that shows just what the location used in The Abyss looked like years ago. This set contained 7.5 million US gallons of water, at the time the largest freshwater filled tank in the world. Filming for The Abyss was reportedly brutal, with two of the main cast refusing to ever talk about it again.
