September 29, 2020
More New Jersey, because I really needed the diversions this past weekend. I wanted to check out Double Trouble State Park for a couple of reasons. For one, it has that lovely dark, damp and piney ecology being part of the Pine Barrens watershed. It’s the kind of place where Read more…
September 28, 2020
Hidden at the end of Southern New Jersey is the mostly abandoned resort town of Seabreeze. Though easily accessible, the gorgeous coast facing Delaware was desolate save for some fisherman. An interesting stop with haunting views, it is a great place to explore for that isolated post-apocalypse feel.
Emblematic of our nation’s doctrine of expansion, the train was opportunistic engineering at a grand scale. But now their metal parts are often strewn about defying nature in striking ways that I like to photograph. Metal graveyards, like this on Staten Island, are alluring to me in this way. I Read more…
August 24, 2020
Rhyolite was another Gold Rush Boomtown. It’s quick rise was short-lived, however–the Panic of 1907 rocked Rhyolite and it never recovered. Its mine closed in 1911 and the town officially died in 1916. Now it has some new life as the recipient of various art installations including Albert Szukalski’s Last Read more…
August 21, 2020
Built in the 40’s, this old trading post is from the Route 66 hey-day. Route 66 Americana weirdness is one my personal kitsch favorites, being a lover of the road and all things vintage. And as I explored the roadside wreck I decided that I would do a road trip Read more…
August 20, 2020
Somewhere in Arizona, a gas station has seen better days, it’s conjoined facilities—abandoned, scrapped, but not vandalized.
Of course I took any opportunity to explore roadside abandoned sites. And there have been a lot! First, two Anasazi Inn locations. They are both large complexes within various states of decay. Wide open, I explored without much worry, even meeting a equally excited gal from Wisconsin who had also Read more…
August 13, 2020
I will be seeing several ghost towns on my trip through Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Though most will be at the latter end when I am away from the tricky landscapes–within previous Gold Rush hot spots. But Grafton, established 1859 on order of Mormon bigwig Brigham Young, is right outside Read more…
August 12, 2020
Back at The Kings Park State Hospital… with reinforcements! Though this post summarizes two visit to this rapidly changing site of ruins, I have still yet to explore the tremendous campus in its entirety… Which is fine as everyone that accompanies me to the site wants to return. Below is Read more…
August 9, 2020
Roosevelt Island (Manhattan) Formally Blackwell’s Island, nicknamed Welfare Island, was the historic home for New York City Lunatic Asylum–whose deplorable conditions would prompt the construction of massive asylums in the farm lands of Long Island, one of which I am visiting today! But from afar on a boat you can Read more…
August 8, 2020
With its service recently reinstated, I booked a ferry reservation some weeks back hoping to explore Governors Island‘s historical district with ease on my bike. So across the Buttermilk Channel I go, excited to conquer its 172 acres. In it: abandoned buildings (though the best are off limits), a couple Read more…
July 23, 2020
Just happened to see this behind some trees as I pulled up to James River State Park. Nice to find it by chance, especially at a dark sky park! It had such nice faded pastel hues. I guess I could have just stayed in there overnight! But it was structurally Read more…
Though most of the old Western State Hospital, whose history I summarized here in my DeJarnette post, has been repurposed or is in some phase of construction to be repurposed, there are still some parts to explore. Like the old steam plant–available for sale! And it looks very much like Read more…
Of course I had a couple of abandoned spots on my recent itinerary, starting on day one as I drove through Baltimore. Though I devoted a good amount of my morning trying to access Forest Haven Asylum, all my efforts were in vain. It was actually quite humorous as I Read more…
July 22, 2020
The closest National Park to my home is a pretty one, with undulating blue waves in the sky–the Blue Ridge Mountains. Shenandoah National Park‘s views are quite gorgeous. And its scenic Skyline Drive allows you to keep your social distance… and blast your music. On display, the cranky mountain air Read more…
July 18, 2020
Like a lot of New Yorkers, I picked up a rental car today. My secret for an affordable price is to rent on my neighbor, Staten Island. While I was there, multitasking as usual, I planned to hit up a Caribbean eatery that offers a vegan dish. So I had Read more…
July 13, 2020
Last time I was on the Creedmoor State Hospital grounds, State Troopers had me delete all my photos. So this time I was ready to read all the signs carefully, use multiple memory cards and hopefully capture some of what I had to delete back in January. I arrived by Read more…
July 2, 2020
This was the destination that sealed Ohio’s fate as my post-school year mini excursion. The historic Ohio State Reformatory. Though I wouldn’t have to worry about trespassing or finding a hole to crawl in! It’s open for self-guided tours. And on this steaming hot summer’s day, the parking lot was Read more…
June 30, 2020
The tale of the Indiana Hospital for the Insane, later the Central State Hospital, is much like Farm Colony hospitals all across the country. Opening in the mid-1800’s, the sprawling and self sufficient colony covered 160 acres outside of downtown Indianapolis and included male and female wards, a farm worked Read more…
June 29, 2020
The Monroe Allison House, an abandoned pink “gingerbread house,” brought me to Metamora, Indiana… so you can imagine my disappointment to see that it was amidst renovations… 😂 But really, the charming stop in the historic Canal Town was just the magic I needed and all of what I love Read more…
The Knightridge Space Observatory in Bloomington, Indiana is a simple observatory built in simpler times. But since that time the city of Bloomington and telescopic technology have grown. And the two-room structure with a rotating dome ceiling has been left alone in the woods since. Functioning only for 30 years, Read more…
June 28, 2020
In 1919, when East Cleveland was not a source of distracting ambient light, the Warner And Swasey Company gifted an observatory to the Astronomy department of the Case School of Applied Science. Though they manufactured a variety of machinery and tools, Warner and Swasey was best known for its giant Read more…
June 20, 2020
Sleighton Farm School in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania was once a reformatory school for delinquent girls. It was also other things since the 1826–including a House of Refuge and a co-ed reform school. But its life from 1931 to 1975, when it was an all-girls school for unruly 12-18 year olds… Read more…
A destination for lovebirds since the sixties, the heart-shaped jacuzzis, circular beds, mirrored ceilings and wedding bell-shaped pool at Penn Hills Resort in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania have been decaying since its closure in 2009. Though I have stalked from the fence in 2017, today’s photo mission in Pennsylvania Read more…
June 10, 2020
This place has been a bit of mission for me. The old Red Hook Grain Terminal–a massive 12-story grain elevator with fifty-four silos 120-feet up in the air. Intrepid explorers have made it in… but trespassing arrests are rumored to be enforced. With the days of easier access seemingly gone, Read more…
June 1, 2020
Alongside Campbell’s Pond on the South Mountain Reservation is an old pumping station, which used to help move larger quantities of water with an increased pressure to area residents. But it has been long abandoned. It was a must as we explored some the treasures along the trails about the Read more…