General Some abandoned places, for your consideration

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MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Kolmanskop, Namibia, was once an opulent mining town. Now, it's buried under the sand.


Kolmanskop was at its liveliest in the early 1900s, when German miners came to the area to hunt for diamonds. With them, they brought German architecture, giving the desert area an opulent, out-of-place look. The town featured a ballroom, a hospital, and a bowling alley among other amenities.

The town's decline began shortly after World War I, but the final nail in the coffin was the 1928 discovery of a diamond-rich area along the coast. Most of Kolmanskop's residents hurried to the new hotspot, leaving their belongings and the town behind.

The desert has slowly been taking over Kolmanskop ever since.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The United Kingdom's Maunsell Sea & Air Forts in the Thames and Mersey estuaries were built to defend the country against German forces.



During World War II, the Maunsell Army Sea & Air Forts was a group of forts raised above the water on stilts, designed by Guy Maunsell, a British civil engineer.

The forts officially closed in the 1950s, but the structures that remain can occasionally be seen from land at East Beach Park in Southend-on-Sea.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Ross Island was a British settlement on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India before it was abandoned due to an earthquake.



Vegetation has all but consumed the remains of the island, which was once referred to as the "Paris of the East." In its prime, it was home to British government officials, as well as a penal settlement set up after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The British residents made it their home with extravagant dance halls, bakeries, clubs, pools, and gardens until 1941 brought an earthquake and an invasion by the Japanese.

Ross Island was then alternately claimed by the Japanese and British until 1979 when the island was given to the Indian Navy, which established a small base there.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Plymouth, Montserrat


Folks going to the Lesser Antilles may fly right past Plymouth, Montserrat, and with good reason. This capital city was vacated in 1995 because of a looming volcanic eruption. Two years later, Soufrière Hills volcano blew its top, covering Plymouth in 40 feet of ash. Visits to the area are possible, but it depends on safety levels since the volcano is still active. If the alerts are too high, you can still take a boat tour.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The Haludovo Palace Hotel was a luxurious retreat on the Mediterranean Sea in Krk, Coratia, in the 1970s.



This mid-century-style hotel opened in 1971, drawing visitors to the small Croatian island of Krk.

A year later, the founder of Penthouse Magazine, Bob Guccione, invested $45 million in the property and expanded it, turning it into the lavish Penthouse Adriatic Club Casino.

Once the Yugoslav Wars began in the early 1990s, Krk was no longer a popular travel destination, and the hotel was eventually abandoned.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The abandoned City Hall subway stop in New York City was originally built to impress.



Completed in 1904, City Hall station was the first southern terminal of the first line of the New York City subway. Built to impress New Yorkers with their swanky new mode of transportation, the station featured Roman brick walls, brass chandeliers, and vaulted arches.

It closed in 1945 as it could no longer accommodate the growing ridership, but apparently you can still see it if you stay on the 6 train after its last stop, on its way back uptown.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria was once the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party.



In power during the height of Soviet influence, the Bulgarian Communist Party decided to erect the monument to commemorate socialist communism. However, the site was abandoned after the government's fall from power in 1989.
 
NotBanjaxo

NotBanjaxo

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MMAPlaywright said:
Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria was once the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party.



In power during the height of Soviet influence, the Bulgarian Communist Party decided to erect the monument to commemorate socialist communism. However, the site was abandoned after the government's fall from power in 1989.
Click to expand...
It's now a monument to the failure of communism, nice.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Prora in Rügen, Germany, was meant to be a 3-mile-long resort for Nazis.



Three years before Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of a three-mile-long tourist resort on the island of Rügen called Prora, then the largest resort in the world.

When World War II began, however, Prora's construction stalled and it was left abandoned for several decades.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was once a revolutionary prison and became the most famous in the world.



The spooky Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous prison in the world, but now stands in ruins. It once held many of America's most notorious criminals, including "Slick Willie" Sutton, an American bank robber, "Scarface" Al Capone, the Chicago mob boss, and Freda Frost, a female inmate who poisoned her husband.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana, is so creepy that's it's been used as a set for horror movies.



The crash of the steel industry hit Gary, Indiana, hard in the 1970s. This economic depression resulted in the abandonment of many once-popular buildings, including the City Methodist Church.

The church reportedly cost a whopping $1 million to build back in 1926, which would be about $7 million by today's standards. However, despite all the work that went into building the beautiful English Gothic-style church, the parish officially closed in 1975.

Since its closure, the City Methodist Church has not gone entirely untouched. The site has acted as a shooting location for several movies, including "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Transformers 3," and "Pearl Harbor."
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky, is believed to be haunted.



The Waverly Hills Sanatorium acted as a hospital in which patients with tuberculosis were quarantined in the early 1900s, although the building that still stands today was not completed until 1926.

The hospital operated until 1961 when an antibiotic that cured tuberculosis was discovered. Today, many people believe that the site is haunted. Visitors can participate in ghost tours, haunted houses, and laser light shows on the hospital grounds.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea, is the tallest unoccupied building in the world.



At 105 stories with a striking triangular shape, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang towers over much of the city.

Construction on the building began in 1989 with plans of containing Japanese lounges, casinos, and night clubs. However, the hotel has remained unfinished for decades.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Teufelsberg is located on a hill in Berlin, Germany, and was originally used to listen to Americans during the Cold War.



Located in Berlin, Teufelsberg ("Devil's Hill") is a man-made hill built out of rubble after World War II.

During the Cold War, the dome-like structures were added and used as US listening stations. Antennas and satellite dishes were built on the site in order to intercept radio signals from East Berlin.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows, New York, was part of the World's Fair.



The futuristic-looking structures that stand in Flushing Meadows Corona Park actually date back to the early 1960s, when they were built for the New York World's Fair in 1964.

A dream team of architects, including Philip Johnson, Richard Foster, and Lev Zetlin, designed the complex, which includes observation towers, a theater, and a tent that once had a cable suspension roof.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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There has been fire under the ground in Centralia, Pennsylvania, for over 50 years.



Until 1962, Centralia was just like any other coal mining town in central Pennsylvania. However, after a fire at a landfill spread to several local mines, the town became uninhabitable.

As the fire grew, it moved through the mines and underneath the town, creating health safety issues for residents.

Today, Centralia is completely abandoned, although it is full of eerily empty streets, houses, and businesses. You can still see steam rising from the ground in many areas, including on an abandoned strip of road that has become known as "Graffiti Highway."
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The SS Ayrfield in Sydney, Australia, has become a floating forest.



The SS Ayrfield was frequently used during World War II, often traveling back and forth from Newcastle to Sydney, Australia.

However, after the ship was retired in the 1970s, it took on an entirely new purpose. The ship was abandoned in Homebush Bay in Sydney, not far off shore. Plants began to grow on what remained of the ship's hull, which eventually turned into a lush forest.

Today, you can spot fully grown mangrove trees on the abandoned ship, providing a unique contrast with the hull's rusted exterior.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Crookham Court Manor School in Berkshire, New York, has a sinister history that involves child abuse.




This empty boys school in Berkshire, New York, has been abandoned since the late '80s, after a high-profile child abuse case came out and forced the school's closure.

A photographer who visited the building told Daily Mail, "I felt emotional as I walked around. I wondered what terrible things had happened in the rooms which are now eerily empty. It's horrible to even imagine."

Four former staff members have since been jailed, and the building remains in creepy ruins.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The hotels in Varosha, Cyprus, were once popular tourist destinations, but now, they are vacant.



Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot both visited Varosha, a town on the island of Cyprus, back in its prime, according to the Daily Mail. However, after Turkish troops invaded and occupied the region in 1974, hotels and businesses lost their customers and became vacant.

Today, many beachfront hotels still stand, overlooking the ocean, although they remain empty.
 
NotBanjaxo

NotBanjaxo

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Nov 16, 2019
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MMAPlaywright said:
The City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana, is so creepy that's it's been used as a set for horror movies.



The crash of the steel industry hit Gary, Indiana, hard in the 1970s. This economic depression resulted in the abandonment of many once-popular buildings, including the City Methodist Church.

The church reportedly cost a whopping $1 million to build back in 1926, which would be about $7 million by today's standards. However, despite all the work that went into building the beautiful English Gothic-style church, the parish officially closed in 1975.

Since its closure, the City Methodist Church has not gone entirely untouched. The site has acted as a shooting location for several movies, including "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Transformers 3," and "Pearl Harbor."
Click to expand...
I used an online inflation calculator:

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value From 1913-2024

Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2024. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news.
www.usinflationcalculator.com www.usinflationcalculator.com

According to that, a million in 1926 would be worth just over 15 million today.

Apart from that, nice post ;)
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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Hashima Island in Japan was once a bustling mining town located. Now, it's a crumbling island.



Hashima Island was once known for its undersea coal mines, which began operations in 1881. The island hit peak population in 1959 with over 5,000 residents (mineworkers and their families), but once the mines started to run dry in 1974, most people left, according to Lonely Planet.

The once-thriving island is now completely abandoned.
 
MMAPlaywright

MMAPlaywright

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The Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has fallen into shambles.



The Aquatics Stadium, which was built for the 2016 Olympics, now sits in disrepair.

The city of Rio spent an estimated $13 billion on the Olympics, and several of the venues have since started to fall apart.
 
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