WebUrbanist » 7 More Abandoned Wonders of the World: Amazing American Abandonments

7 More Abandoned Wonders of the World: Amazing American Abandonments

Abandoned Spooky Graveyard Structures

Ever see an impressive derelict structure and wonder just how a building so elegant, sizable or centrally located could be abandoned? There are amazing abandonments all over the world, but some may be closer than you think. Many are even located right in the heart of major cities like New York or Los Angeles and are decades or even centuries old. From zoos to steel mills, prisons to offices complexes and monasteries to cemeteries here are 7 abandoned wonders of the USA.

Abandoned Spooky Cemetary Chapel

Rochester, New York: Built in the early 1800s, Mt. Hope Cemetery was the first munipical cemetery in the United States with graves older than the official graveyard itself. Such famous persons as Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas are among those buried there in everything from lawn crypts and columbariums to family mausoleums. It seems strange, then, that the chapel at such an historically significant location would be abandoned to the elements, though it remains elegant even in its disrepair.

Abandoned Prison Building Complex

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Western Penitentiary is over a century old and was finally abandoned a few years back, only to be reopened a few months ago. The site was, in a way, one of the world’s most temporary abandonments, left in pristine condition during its period of disuse and lending itself to the surreal experience of a recently working prison for visitors. Originally used in the 1800s to house Confederate Army war prisoners, it is now used for medium to low security containment of inmates requiring drug and alcohol treatment.

Abandoned Steel Architecture Complex

Abandoned Steel Factory Buildings

Lacawana, New York: The Bethlehem Steel Company was once the second largest steel mill in the United States. They manufactured everything from railroad cars and bridge and building parts to World War II battleships. After nearly 150 years in operation, the company finally declared bankruptcy less than a decade ago and has left behind a series of remarkably intact abandonments.

Abandoned Island Industrial and Medical Complex

North Brother Island, New York: This abandoned 20-acre island sits amazingly close to the bustling center of New York City yet is completely unused. It was home to a hospital in the 19th Century, then housed veterans after World War II before becoming one of the first drug treatment centers for teens in the 1950s. Corruption and failure caused the facility to close and the island has since been off limits to the public, though some urban explorers have made their way onto it anyway. The island was also the site of an infamous shipwreck in 1904 in which over 1,000 people drowned or burned to death.

Abandoned Computer Office Building Complex

Palo Alto, California: During the dot-com bubble, Sun Microsystems experienced incredible growth and rapidly expanded in all areas including personnel, infrastructure and office space. Sun has since had ups and downs and has streamlined their operations and few people think twice about the amazing remnant abandonments they have left behind, save for a few intrepid urban explorers. Along with other things, the (above) adventurers found shotgun shells, cans of malt liquor, rows of servers and even working light fixtures.

Abandoned Monestary and School Buildings

Staten Island, New York: St. Augistine’s Monastary sits atop Grymes Hill and was once a school but now has been closed for over a half a century. Originally built as a school for boys, it was later converted and then sat idle until purchased in the 1980s. Each new owner, though, has since fallen into debt and the school was eventually purchased by a local college to avoid unwanted development, yet even Wagner College apparently has no plans to develop the property.

Abandoned Old Zoo Buildings and Enclosures

Los Angeles, California: The Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles is neither the oldest nor the newest of L.A.’s massive animal habitats. Though this location was abandoned decades ago it is unusually available to visitors even today. It isn’t every day that a set of abandonments not only survives for generations but also remains available to the public as a kind of museum or window into the past.

Check out These Previous Articles in the Seven Wonders Series

7 Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 More Deserted Wonders of the World
7 Underwater Wonders of the World
7 Underground Wonders of the World
7 More Underground Wonders of the World
7 Island Wonders of the World
7 Engineering Wonders of the World

Want More? Check Out These Great Related Articles:

Posted by Urbanist December 18th, 2007
7 Wonders, Abandonments, Architecture, Travel, Urban, Urban Images, Urbex
Comments: 101

Comments

Comment from ppp
Time: December 18, 2007, 10:49 pm

For some reason I would like to go to the island in N.Y.C.

Comment from Carson
Time: December 19, 2007, 2:37 am

Those are all very interesting, but it seems like the only focus was major cities. In Macon, GA there is a 15th century Spanish monastery still preserved in the woods behind an apartment complex. It’s been filled in so you can’t enter it, but it was used as a slave church after the Spanish monks were run out by the Native Americans. If you know where to go, there is still a statue of St. Peter stepping on Satan’s head in the woods, as well. When the monks were there, there were 12 statues, all pointing in the direction of the next so travelers would be able to find the place!

Comment from Anonnymuss
Time: December 19, 2007, 6:42 am

Poor design. Pictures don’t correlate to narrative. How hard is it to create borders?

Comment from Jonas
Time: December 19, 2007, 7:43 am

No Pabst brewery in Milwaukee?

Comment from ziggy
Time: December 19, 2007, 7:51 am

does anyone know if you can explore the church itself? or is it locked down pretty good?

Comment from aaron
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:00 am

really should have detroit’s michigan central train station on here.

http://www.seedetroit.com/pictures/mcsweb/

Comment from Phil
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:15 am

great site.
Not only are these abandoned places cool
I have a whole city of them an hour away: Detroit

http://detroityes.com/home.htm

Comment from Brandon
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:18 am

Very nice. Michigan Central Station is definitely one of the more beautiful buildings in America that has been abandoned.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/setecx/2060563557/in/pool-604008@N23/

Comment from Buffalo, NY
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:26 am

lackawana!!! Not LACAWANA….. Check your spelling before posting a story!!!

Comment from androo
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:27 am

GREAT post with an awesome collection of photos! i’ve always wanted to explore some of the abandoned building here in Florida… i’ve just never gotten around to doing it..

Comment from Thomas
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:32 am

Here’s another abandoned piece of American history:

http://www.iserv.net/~chaffee/ch07006.htm

(Launch Pad 34, Cape Canaveral, site of the Apollo fire, and the launch of Apollo 7 - abandoned in place)

Comment from Aaron Stewart
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:33 am

This was fascinating, thank you for this post. :)

Comment from Tom
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:37 am

Glad you mentioned Mt. Hope cemetary in Rochester, NY. You missed however, the Rochester Subway system. There are some really cool structures down there and if you’re looking for awesome abandoned things, that’s the place to go.

Comment from Odey
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:41 am

How can you not mention the abandoned train station in Detroit. In fact it should be number 1 on your list. It’s spectacular. Too scared to go inside and see the crackheads? lol…couple other places in the D that you could have mentioned that are better then what you have shown, but the train station should have been number 1 on your list…

Comment from DJ Inphinity
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:46 am

I agree with you…We have a lot to explore…

Comment from Detroit
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:05 am

No mention of the Detroit Train Station?

Comment from Speedmaster
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:17 am

That was a fun post, thanks.

Comment from Bruce A
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:45 am

I’m surprised you mentioned North Brother Island without mentioning its most famous resident, Typhoid Mary.

And Mt. Hope may look abandoned, but somebody’s obviously been taking care of the grounds there, so it’s not completely abandoned.

Thanks for the article!

Comment from Kathleen
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:56 am

The old Jefferson Hospital in Houston, Texas was recently refurbished into artist lofts. The old building has a long history of illness and death dating back to before the Civil War; it was creepy and haunted - I went into it twice while it was unsecured and still utterly abandoned. Now, it is a showcase of urban renewal, although bodies are still buried all around its perimeters. Shiver.

http://www.avenuecdc.org/jeffdavis.asp

Comment from David Gridley
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:57 am

I know the Rochester, NY location well.. that cemetery is the oldest municipal cemetery in the US (if I’m not mistaken) and very beautiful. Alas, the entire cemetery has sections that have fallen into disrepair over the years.

Comment from Matthew Edwards
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:15 am

Once again… coastal bias. We have way better ruins the in midwest.

Comment from Kevin
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:25 am

I used to work at the Sun building in Palo Alto until it was “abandoned”. Sun sold the property to the Jewish Communtiy Center show on the sign in the photo. So, I think it is a little unfair to characterise Sun as having abandoned the building.
Some months after we moved out it was used as an urban combat training facility by the local police SWAT team which would explain the presence of the shotgun shells.
You’re lucky to get the photos as the building has since been torn down. All that is left is a large pile of rubble and a 3 storey construction crane.

Comment from Chase Voisin
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:28 am

Kind of left out New Orleans, LA there.

Comment from Charlie R
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:53 am

I used to drive by the old Sun building in Palo Alto often. However, it was razed a few months ago and is now full of gravel and construction equipment.

Comment from John
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:55 am

Interesting, but maybe a more appropriate title would have been “Amazing Abandonments of New York and California.” Surely there are more interesting things in the states in between.

Comment from clevername
Time: December 19, 2007, 11:00 am

Another cool one (although not in the US), is the NSA Field Station Teufelsburg, on the outskirts of Berlin. It was an US spy post during the cold war when Berlin was still divided. My latest excursion there had me escorted out and lectured by German police.
http://picasaweb.google.com/shaunjason/Berlin/photo#5040710349535178098
http://picasaweb.google.com/shaunjason/Berlin/photo#5040710504154000770
http://www.ccc.de/teufelsberg/

Comment from Anonymous
Time: December 19, 2007, 11:05 am

Check out Fort Ord in Monterey California. Abandoned Military bases are fun!

Comment from Jordan
Time: December 19, 2007, 11:19 am

I’m surprised the old train station in Detroit wasn’t in here. It’s an incredible structure that is home to dozens of bums now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station

Comment from oggin
Time: December 19, 2007, 11:21 am

Cool :-)

Comment from wes
Time: December 19, 2007, 11:44 am

what about the Bethlehem steel mill? That’s an amazing piece of work

Comment from Matt
Time: December 19, 2007, 12:07 pm

Seems that you missed the Uptown theater in Chicago. Check that one out.

Comment from Rufus
Time: December 19, 2007, 12:07 pm

You spelled Lackawanna wrong

Comment from itsabecky
Time: December 19, 2007, 12:47 pm

i live in Bethlehem, PA very close to the original Bethlehem Steel factory. It’s currently being torn down and turned into a Sands casino. the plan is to try and maintain some of the structures and incorporate it into the casino. it should be finished by the spring of 2009.

Comment from Jason Erickson
Time: December 19, 2007, 1:41 pm

The old Sun facility in Palo Alto has been demolished and new construction is going up as I write this. It began approximately six weeks ago, and estimates are that it will be complete in early February, 2008.

Comment from adamm
Time: December 19, 2007, 2:00 pm

This is an amazing compilation, i live in rochester, and mount hope is truly beautiful.

Comment from Risa
Time: December 19, 2007, 2:30 pm

The Sun Microsystems building is now demolished. Work has begun on a Community Center.

Having worked in the bulding. during the bubble, I never found the building to be anything special. It was a building and nothing more.

Comment from Constance
Time: December 19, 2007, 2:56 pm

Very cool, thanks.

Comment from Anonymous
Time: December 19, 2007, 2:58 pm

you forgot about the detroit train station, by far the most impressive.

Comment from digga
Time: December 19, 2007, 3:35 pm

lots of old places there. surprised me to see how many of them are in ny. im going to have to try to check a few of those out.

Taking Over The Net

Comment from Jodie
Time: December 19, 2007, 4:36 pm

The Western Penitentiary is very a eery place, I would love to visit the place though and take some pictures for my photography course :)

Comment from Water Tiger
Time: December 19, 2007, 5:53 pm

Woodkerne is available for St Patty’s Day, Celtic and Irish concerts, parties and weddings!

Comment from Greg
Time: December 19, 2007, 6:09 pm

Wow all of this going to waste. One would think they could find a good use for these buildings and sites.

Comment from subcorpus
Time: December 19, 2007, 6:20 pm

so are they gonna re-open ‘em … ???

Comment from Mister Rose
Time: December 19, 2007, 6:47 pm

Really? I wouldn’t have thought they counted as being old enough to be abandoned? Over the pond ‘abandoned’ means noone even looked or thought about the stupid place for 600 years.

Those places are just unoccupied. Plus, I really thing ‘wonders’ is pushing it.

Comment from me
Time: December 19, 2007, 7:27 pm

you should make a huge list…like 50
i enjoyed reading this…but i want more
chop chop

Comment from tom termini
Time: December 19, 2007, 8:24 pm

Check out this awesome spot just outside Washington DC — once Teddy Roosevelt’s “hunting lodge”, a casino and brothel, then a girl’s school, and later seized by the government for the war effort.

http://www.saveourseminary.org/

Comment from Jason From Bay Area
Time: December 19, 2007, 9:43 pm

They missed a huge one…When they were in the Bay Area they should have stoped by Oakland and checked out the Oak Knoll Area. Its a navy hospital and city and church, its huge and abandoned. Just recently they put up gaurds because the sale brought a lot of publicity…..

Comment from Laura Brittain
Time: December 19, 2007, 10:41 pm

I love this blog. It is beautiful and SO interesting! I always wonder about the people who used abandoned buildings … what were they like, what were their hopes, dreams, experiences. All so fascinating. Thanks for such an interesting blog!

Comment from Chris
Time: December 20, 2007, 1:38 am

Wow the LA zoo was in so many kids shows - wonder woman, 6million dollar man and more - amazing!

Comment from zeta
Time: December 20, 2007, 5:50 am

Nice pictures, but how do these buildings qualify as “wonders of the world”?

Comment from Allen
Time: December 20, 2007, 7:04 am

you should check out Seaholm Power Plant in Austin, TX. That’s a crazy building that’s been collecting dust for about a decade. Also, it might be worth featuring some of the Cold War-era abandoned military installations in the midwest and the desert.

Comment from C-Lo
Time: December 20, 2007, 9:07 am

There are so many beautiful buildings like this abandoned in New Jersey. If anyone wants to see more of these kinds of buildings, I would suggest picking up a copy of N.J. Weird magazine. And no I don’t work for the zine. I just want to bring it to attention.

Comment from Anthony
Time: December 21, 2007, 2:22 pm

Upsala College in East Orange, NJ is an incredible abandoned site. Although I think they’ve begun to tear it down.

Comment from Pete
Time: December 22, 2007, 11:22 am

the Armour Swift meat packing complex in Fort Worth, Texas is an amazing abandonment. It was site of the worlds largest grease fire a little over 30 years ago. now it sits abandoned and decaying. very dangerous, but full of awesome photo opportunities. you can find pictures scattered in my gallery at http://che-gue-petey.deviantart.com/

Comment from gigliowananomacon
Time: December 22, 2007, 5:38 pm

didn’t they film the panda/grizzly scene in anchorman at that L.A. Zoo?

Comment from Lis
Time: December 23, 2007, 9:43 pm

I would love to know more about the Spanish Monastery ruins mentioned by Carson in Macon, GA…I live in Atlanta, so it would be an easy drive for exploration

Comment from Alex
Time: December 27, 2007, 2:04 pm

It’s hard to tell which text goes with which pictures. If you put dividing lines between each section that would help a lot.

Comment from Jay Gerland
Time: December 28, 2007, 10:54 am

You spelled Lackawana, NY wrong for the Bethlehem Steel photos.

Comment from salman
Time: December 31, 2007, 7:12 am

itz really Cool Abandoned wonder of the World

Comment from Henry
Time: January 2, 2008, 8:00 pm

Carson and Lis …. email me about the ruins in
Macon … I have seen ‘em all my life but don’t
have many facts … would like to compare notes.
Please put “Macon ruins” in subject line. Thanks
bufordbox@earthlink.net

Comment from cave guy
Time: January 7, 2008, 9:56 am

hi Carson,
i’m pretty close to Macon. can you be a little more specific?

thanks!

Comment from Dustin
Time: January 28, 2008, 5:15 pm

You guys dont know ANYTHING!
Come to Detroit, we have more huge abandoned buildings than youll ever see in your LIFE. INcluding a big 15 story trainstation from 1917

Comment from Northern Girl
Time: February 2, 2008, 7:06 pm

There are a number of ruins–former homes, businesses, and industrial sites, and ghost towns of different sizes–to be found in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, specifically in what’s known as “Copper Country”. Here the copper mining industry was once so prevalent that the area was highly populated and one of its cities, Calumet, was at one point considered as a contender for the state capitol. Henry Ford even designed a community near here, in Pequaming–his own utopia–that is now nothing more than a dirt road with delapitated structures overgrown with woods and lupine in the summer. A trip from Houghton to the tip of Copper harbor takes little time and there are very few people, but you’ll see rows of miner’s houses, factory ruins, mine shafts, abandoned schools, etc. among dense tall-pine forests, Lake Superior shoreline, and even a beach black with copper tailings. Calumet is a city along the way with stunning red-sandstone architecture, including churches, a theatre, restaurants, etc, plus some original cobblestone streets…the architecture and the feeling of another place in time are incredibly well-preserved. I live in Southern Wi but drive up to Upper Michigan often just to take pictures of the haunting landscape of a once industrious and prosperous area.

Comment from Dave
Time: February 6, 2008, 6:29 am

Interesting photos, but you could have made an entire page just from abandoned facilities in Detroit. Google “ruins of Detroit” and prepare to be fascinated. Of course, the *real* photo op will come after the Atchafalaya River finishes taking over the Mississippi (despite the government’s attempts to prevent it) and New Orleans becomes uninhabitable.

Comment from Hoteles en Sevilla
Time: February 7, 2008, 1:25 am

You should come with your camera to Detroit. You could write another post like this.

Comment from asdkf
Time: February 14, 2008, 12:36 pm

The abandoned Rochester Subway seems more interesting than all of these.

Comment from Greg
Time: February 14, 2008, 6:41 pm

It should be noted that the old los angles zoo was one of the sets for Police Academy, i can’t recall which one but (there were 7) it was used as a base for a fictional gang in the movie

Comment from pmp
Time: March 1, 2008, 5:17 pm

Amazing pictures! I wonder why Sun just left the whole building with tons of equipment?

Comment from bjorkman
Time: March 6, 2008, 11:50 am

what about 7 abandoned countries…
i have one…
Venezuela…
we all abandoned it in hands of a SOB

Comment from Saim Baig
Time: March 19, 2008, 8:29 am

Never thought that i will see such abandoned American places.Quite amazing & Captivating.

Comment from Turtle_strangulation
Time: April 3, 2008, 3:39 pm

Why are these wonders only from usa. I thought it would be about wonders from america, not just the u.s.

Comment from Madrid 2008
Time: April 11, 2008, 2:11 am

I never will sleep in a place abandoned :s It makes me shudder.