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(Check out our complete collection of 100+ Abandoned Buildings, Places and Property.)
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
Abandoned Man-Made Military Island
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 Insane Asylum Complex
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 Luxury 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.
Abandoned Seminary and Finishing School
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 Amusement Park Complex
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 Cliff-Side Tourist Train
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 Grain Silos and Structures
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.
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55 Comments
January 6th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Wonderful places! Very good research, nice pictures too.
January 6th, 2008 at 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…
January 6th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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!
January 7th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Great topic, horrible image layout.
January 7th, 2008 at 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?
January 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am
This are awesome!! You should include Newark, NJ for your next 7! They have fabulous abandoned turn of the century mansions!
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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…
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I feel like going for a little exploration to see if there is any abandoned buildings in england worth exploring…
January 7th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Brooklyn, New York is 45 miles away (three counties removed) from Kings Park, NY.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 7th, 2008 at 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.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Great addition to the 7-Series. It will be interesting to see what becomes of these sites in the future.
January 9th, 2008 at 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. :-)
January 9th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I had my 7th birthday at Malibu Grand Prix!
January 9th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Malibu rocked!
And I might get a job @ the mill city museum!
Great post all around!
January 11th, 2008 at 3:37 am
Wow, a great article. you’ve got a very interesting site.
January 15th, 2008 at 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?
January 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Fort Carroll is the one for me to visit, I’m in the DC area .. nothing abandoned around here
January 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
You want to see abandoned go to Detroit
February 6th, 2008 at 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)
February 12th, 2008 at 11:36 am
LOOKING 4 ABANDON FACTORYS ETC.. IN MARYLAND 4 PAINTBALL. ANY IDEAL LOCATIONS?
February 28th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I am fascinated with this site and the pictures of all the abandoned wonders.
March 5th, 2008 at 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.
April 2nd, 2008 at 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.
April 13th, 2008 at 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.
July 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I just went to the National Park Seminary today and about half of it has been converted into condos. I just found your site yesterday and was really excited to find something so close to me in DC. Much of it is still rundown but it’s all closed up and fenced, and they were having an open house so I didn’t want to try to get in. Still pretty awesome to see, definitely the first place I want to go in a zombie outbreak.
July 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Abandoned in Michigan and Now revitalized. http://www.thevillagetc.com/
If you ever come to Northern Michigan in Traverse City, Michigan,
you will find the old State Hospital Grounds on the west and south side of well known Munson Hospital.
Until about 1972(?) this was the place to go for all your mental illnesses, tubercolosis, etc. It was a self sustaining community. The founder believed the therapy the patients needed was to work on the farm it had.
It is currently being redeveloped and condos are starting at a 1/2 million dollars. Now if i could just find the buried memorial to the dairy cow. Trails every where and beautiful hike on the 100 acre property. http://www.yourplacegrandtrave.....ervini.asp
July 8th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I’ve got one to add - the Uptown Theater in Chicago, IL. Enormous theater by the same people that designed the Chicago Theater, extremely lavish and completely abandoned. Incredible.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I don’t know if anybody was aware of this, but listed above is Bridal Veil Falls, here in Utah. Well, on the 25th of July, 2008 the top portion of the tram (which used to be a restaurant and gift store) was destroyed by fire. Authorities aren’t sure how the fire was started but arson is suspected. It’s a shame because I was planning a little trip to get up there. Oh well…
August 1st, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Here’s the news link for the fire I just mentioned….
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3849891
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:24 am
I have to agree with Chuck Norris Dude. Everyday I see houses that have sat empty until they crumple. Or buildings that sit empty forever. All because the owners are too greedy .
There are people that either live on the streets or live in unbarable conditions that would appreciate living in just one room of some of these. Give them a chance….restore them or let them live there in exchange for the work they put into the place. And if it is a house…maybe give them the option to buy with payments. It beats it sitting there rotting to the ground!
January 4th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Just wonderd if you have ever been to Goli otok in Croatia? It’s and abandoned Political prisoner camp in the Adriatic, i went in 2001 and it was amazing i have a few pics but i have heard its bit of a torist trap now.
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