In the fall of 1985, a group of men in hard hats pushed open the rusted metal gates of an abandoned cotton mill near downtown Atlanta.

They didn't know it, but they were about to make a big discovery.

The mill was an enormous red brick structure with two smokestacks and a water tower.

After shutting down in the 70s, it now sat in a state of perdition.

It was an eyesore and a safety hazard, standing watch over the tiny Atlanta community

that had grown up around it, Cabbage Town.

By the 80s, the only signs of life

inside the gates of the mill were rats and the occasional trespassing graffiti artist.

It's likely that on that day in 1985, at least one of those men in hard hats looked up

and saw an infamous quote that had been spray painted high on the walls of one of the

buildings. The dark is near, the night is bold, there is no comfort when the soul grows cold.

This mill used to be one of the largest employers in Atlanta, but now it had been purchased by

these men for a measly $3.1 million.

With flashlights in hand, they entered the first darkened building.

Their lights illuminated sprawling rooms filled with ancient machinery, silhouetted like ghostly

metal dinosaurs in the dark.

The men moved carefully through the mills crumbling and dust-covered buildings, cataloging everything

they encountered along the way. Eventually, they entered mill building number two. They thought

they'd find more of the same, rotting wood floors and rusting machinery. But they were wrong.

This building was different. Very deep inside the mill complex was the executive suite. For nearly 100 years, this is where the company's tycoons had managed their cotton empire. As the developer's flashlights panned the room, one light paused. Way in the back of the room, a single black door.

As the team approached the door, they noticed it was different from the others.

This was the unmistakable black steel door of a safe.

...