WebUrbanist » 7 (More) Abandoned Wonders of America: From Military Islands to Mills and Institutions

7 (More) Abandoned Wonders of America: From Military Islands to Mills and Institutions

Amazing Abandoned Wonders of America

Imagine entire islands and vast building complexes eerily abandoned virtually in your own back yard. This seemingly far-fetched scenario might be more real than you realize. Complexes of more than 150 buildings and even small islands are located near the heart of major cities such as Houston and Washington DC. You may know these 70 Wonders of the Ancient World but few consider how such ‘wonders’ become abandoned at all. From insane asylums to military bases, hotels to theme parks and seminaries to silos here are 7 more abandoned wonders of America.

Abandoned Military Island Buildings

Baltimore, Maryland has a number of interesting abandonments, but none so sizable and prominent as Fort Carroll. Over a century old, this for was constructed in the middle of the 19th century though it never saw war. In WWII it was briefly used as a firing range for the Army and a checkpoint for ships, but has been abandoned ever since. Developers have failed to find uses for it and it has since become a habitat for numerous animals and the site of occasional urban explorations.

Abandoned American Mental Hospital Buildings

Long Island, New York is home to one of many now-abandoned institutions for the mentally ill. The Kings Park Lunatic Asylum was established in 1885 and grew from a few wooden buildings into a vast complex of over 150 stone and brick structures housing over 9,000 patients. Uses included a power plant, railroad spur and theater and more. Currently only two of the buildings are still active, and there are no solid plans for redevelopment as just cleaning up the land would cost $80 million.

Abandoned Historic Hotel Building

Mineral Wells, Texas is home to a grand old abandoned hotel with the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the United States. Opened nearly 80 years ago, the 14 story Baker Hotel had visits from celebrities including Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Roy Rogers, The Three Stooges, Bonny and Clyde, Helen Keller and even Ronald Reagan before closing its doors. As per a strange promise made to the public, the hotel’s founder Earl Baker closed the hotel on his 70th birthday. The hotel was auctioned and reopened under new ownership but in the late 1960s Baker had a fatal heart attack (strangely enough) in his own grand hotel’s Baker Suite. The hotel closed shortly thereafter for good, leaving behind only pictures of this wonder.

National Park Seminary Abandoned Structures

Washington, DC is known for many things, but relatively few know about the National Park Seminary which sits on its outskirts. The first buildings on the campus were built in the late 1880s, starting and an inn and followed by bars and gambling. More structures were added as the site became a finishing school for girls before the complex was converted to a military hospital during WWII. Though they are currently still abandoned as shown in the photographs above, developers plan to turn these unique buildings into housing units in the near future.

Abandoned Theme Park and Playground

Houston, Texas was one of numerous locations where the Malibu Grand Prix entertainment company set up a theme park a few decades ago. The complex included mini-golf, boat and go-kart racing as well as video games and other entertainment. Two Grand Prix locations in close proximity were abandoned quite recently in part due to a scandal which erupted when three employees of were accused of murder (two of whom received the death penalty) and these photos do not do the locations justice.

Abandoned Mountain Tram System

Provo Canyon, Utah features some amazing natural wonders including Bridal Veil Falls - a 600 foot waterfall. The world’s steepest aerial tram was built in the 1960s to connect visitors to the top of the falls but was destroyed over a decade ago in an avalanche. With the closure of a local tourist train route, there was insufficient incentive to rebuild the tram which has been left to decay along with the eerily vacant tram buildings at both top and bottom as shown in the images above.

Abandoned Saw and Flour Mills and Silos

Minneapolis, Minnesota sits on the Mississippi River and was historically a center for mill work based on its banks. Starting in the 1930s, however, Minneapolis lost its position as the wheat and wood milling center of the United States. Many now-inactive mills sit idle despite occupying amazingly valuable property in the middle of the city. Today, some of these mills have been turned into museums that can be visited while others are simply closed to all but the most intrepid urban explorers.

Want More? Check out These Other Amazing Wonders of the World:
7 Abandoned Wonders of America
7 Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 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 January 6th, 2008
7 Wonders, Abandonments, Architecture, Travel, Urban Images, Urbex
Comments: 42

Comments

Comment from life&style
Time: January 6, 2008, 6:49 pm

Wonderful places! Very good research, nice pictures too.

Comment from Ayingel
Time: January 6, 2008, 6:55 pm

actually, some of the mills in minneapolis have been redone for apartments and condos, and the old flour mill (the one that had a huge fire) actually is now Mill City Museum. they are also uncovering ruins of other mills built before the ones still standing. if you ever get a change, i really suggest taking a carriage ride on nicollet island and ask about the history of the mills…

Comment from chuck norris dude
Time: January 6, 2008, 7:54 pm

Now I’m looking at all those abandoned buildings and somehow homeless people cross my mind. I’m stunned by the vast difference that has been made in our civilization. Here we have big abandoned building that nobody cares about and on the other side there is huge number of people without roof over their head.

Comment from Matt
Time: January 7, 2008, 8:45 am

My parents took me to that Malibu Grand Prix when I was a kid - it was uncharacteristic of them and I had a great time, especially getting to play an arcade game with my Dad. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

Comment from carl
Time: January 7, 2008, 9:27 am

Great topic, horrible image layout.

Comment from Pasha
Time: January 7, 2008, 9:48 am

Fort Carroll sounds very intersting, and i live less then an hour away from Baltimore. I would be very interested in visiting it, but how does one do it if i don’t have a boat? Also, is it safe?

Comment from Stefanie
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:12 am

This are awesome!! You should include Newark, NJ for your next 7! They have fabulous abandoned turn of the century mansions!

Comment from Mike
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:12 am

Holy Crap!! me and a friend of mine stop’ed in at the castle looking Malibu grand prix on our driving from Florida to California to play street fighter and grab some food.

Wow strange memory.

Comment from Todd
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:17 am

This “abandon” series is really neat. More please. Or dedicated blog subdomain ( abandon.weburbanist.com ). Or RSS for just the abandon pictures.

Comment from Briggamooz
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:23 am

Two more that are worthy contenders:

The Prora- Communist resort stretching along 3 miles of the Baltic sea coast. Located on the German isle of Ruegen, celebrated members of the Communist party were once “gifted” with a visit to the Prora. Notable for its large expanse, shaggy block inspired Commie-Era architecture and fantastic Baltic beaches hidden from public eye. Now how to various squats, Hippie communes and whatnot, the land had been up for sale for many years no, with no one willing to buy it.

The Henninger Brewery- Frankfurt am Main, DE. Large silo with viewing platform on top, the building was shuttered in 1996 and scheduled for demolition. As of 2006 it was still standing, capable of being broken into, lending itself to drunken adventures among the breweries crooked hallways. Described as “Willy Wonka’s Beer Factory”, located in the neighborhood of Sahcsenhausen by the Arbeitsamt.

Comment from Randomness
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:31 am

Well yes, but in order to legally fix the homeless problem someone has to step up and pay money to whomever owns the property…

Comment from RJC
Time: January 7, 2008, 11:34 am

Neat collection. I went to your referring website to look at some other abandoned places. I was always curious about Zzyzzx Rd on the way to Vegas and now I want to drive along the PCH and visit Treasure Island. Good stuff. THanks.

Comment from Isaac
Time: January 7, 2008, 12:28 pm

I actually have explored some of the mills before they were converted to condos. During their renovations, there were holes in the fence. Others found routes underground. The graffiti in there was amazing (i have photos, but they arent digitized). As Minneapolis goes through more renewal, these buildings will be bought up by developers and converted - most already have.

Comment from Miguel
Time: January 7, 2008, 1:54 pm

Not all of the buildings at the National Park Seminary (more commonly known as Forest Glen Seminary) in DC are abandoned. Many are well kept-up and I see lights on in some of them. Some even seem to be used for events.

Comment from Simon
Time: January 7, 2008, 2:23 pm

I feel like going for a little exploration to see if there is any abandoned buildings in england worth exploring…

Comment from NotBrooklyn
Time: January 7, 2008, 6:40 pm

Brooklyn, New York is 45 miles away (three counties removed) from Kings Park, NY.

Comment from M
Time: January 7, 2008, 7:32 pm

I really enjoy all of the “7″ series posts, but my enjoyment is hampered quite a bit by the horribly small images and layout. While the description is nice, pictures are worth a thousand words, and you can barely see any details with the tiny images. Would be great if they were at least made into thumbnails linking to larger images.

Comment from jacqui
Time: January 7, 2008, 8:44 pm

Great site……can I make one small correction? Kings Park Psychiatric Center isn’t located in Brooklyn, NY but farther east on Long Island, in a town actually called Kings Park. The town is approximately 50 miles east of Brooklyn.

Comment from Rose
Time: January 9, 2008, 7:46 am

Great addition to the 7-Series. It will be interesting to see what becomes of these sites in the future.

Comment from burning windmill
Time: January 9, 2008, 3:12 pm

Wow, simply mind shatteringly addictive to look at, such places should be frozen, or vacuum packed in something to keep them safe forever in their current states. :-)

Comment from NPV
Time: January 9, 2008, 3:58 pm

I had my 7th birthday at Malibu Grand Prix!

Comment from bcs
Time: January 9, 2008, 9:40 pm

Malibu rocked!

And I might get a job @ the mill city museum!

Great post all around!

Comment from Planet Apex
Time: January 11, 2008, 3:37 am

Wow, a great article. you’ve got a very interesting site.

Comment from California Kango
Time: January 15, 2008, 12:09 am

Just love the King’s Park Lunatic Asylum on Long Island! Not “love” as in “love,” but . . . um, er, well. . . . I wouldn’t want to live there, but maybe a visit?

Comment from Tom
Time: January 16, 2008, 1:53 pm

Fort Carroll is the one for me to visit, I’m in the DC area .. nothing abandoned around here

Comment from Gittes
Time: January 27, 2008, 11:14 pm

You want to see abandoned go to Detroit

Comment from dean
Time: February 6, 2008, 2:52 am

Detroit phas a substantial inventory of abandoned buildings:

http://forgottendetroit.com/

Some of them have since been razed and others, including the Book Cadillac, have been redeveloped http://www.westinbookcadillacresidences.com/

Someone bought the Albert Kahn designed National Theatre for around $500,000.00 (ten years ago it could have been bought for $1)

Comment from DEE
Time: February 12, 2008, 11:36 am

LOOKING 4 ABANDON FACTORYS ETC.. IN MARYLAND 4 PAINTBALL. ANY IDEAL LOCATIONS?

Comment from Toby
Time: February 28, 2008, 1:56 pm

I am fascinated with this site and the pictures of all the abandoned wonders.

Comment from Josh
Time: March 5, 2008, 12:43 am

About the Malibu Grand Prix locations in Houston, The murder took place in 1983 and neither location was closed till much later. I remember going to Street Fighter II tourneys at the Malibu on 610 and that would have been 1992 or 1993.

Comment from Porch Lifts
Time: April 2, 2008, 9:51 am

On the Topsail Island there are(or at least were before the last big hurricane) a series of submarine watch towers that I always got a kick out of.

Comment from Adam Auteri
Time: April 13, 2008, 11:50 am

You guys should check this site out, it has hundreds of places and pictures:

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com

The site design isn’t so hot, but the content is pretty amazing.