Photo Gallery: Scranton Lace Factory
The Scranton Lace factory operated from 1890 to 2002 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Despite being added to the National Register of Historic Places, it was demolished in 2018, because as we've…
Photo Gallery: Willard State Hospital
Willard State Hospital was an asylum in Willard, New York that operated from 1870-1995. Currently, some of the buildings house a residential drug treatment program, but many have been left…
Photo Gallery: Loew’s State Palace Theatre of New Orleans
Note- this is a photo gallery post with only minimal historical info provided (unlike my longer posts) For more context, visit After the Final Curtain or Cinema Treasures. Loew's State…
St. Paul’s School
Note- this is a photo gallery post with only minimal historical info provided (unlike my longer posts) For more context, visit the NYT. St. Paul's School was built in 1879…
TEPCO Beach
If you used to read this blog, please forgive my nearly seven-year absence. I left NYC, (I did the bulk of my exploring on the east coast) moved home to…
Essex County Hospital / Overbrook Asylum
Essex County Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. It was demolished and replaced with condos and a park in 2017. It began in 1896 as an…
napa soda springs
Napa Soda Springs
Disclaimer #1: All current photos (1998-2018) were taken by me, Julia Wertz. I've been photographing the Napa Soda Springs ruins since I was in high school. Many of these photos…
RIP Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital
On July 12th 2015, the best abandoned building at Middletown Psychiatric Center burned down. (Top photo c/o Middletown Fire Dept.) Previously known as the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital (and State…
Birchwood Resort
Birchwood was a quiet honeymoon resort, that like most Poconos resorts, had a heyday in the 60s and saw a rapid decline leading to mass closures in the 80s and…
Brooklyn Navy Yard: Naval Hospital & Admiral’s Row
The Brooklyn Naval Hospital is on the grounds of the perpetually changing Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is half abandoned, half commercial/office/film studio space. The hospital opened in the 1930s and…
Jayhawk State Theatre
The Jayhawk State Theater of Topeka Kansas was a permission visit during a road trip I took in 2013, so I don't have any good stories for you. For a full history…
Grafton State Hospital
In the world of urban exploring, there is a common phenomenon one could aptly refer to as the “money shot,” meaning an explorer will spend all day dicking around in…
Athens Lunatic Asylum
I’ve spent the night at a couple of asylums over the years, mostly for photographic and legal reasons (like, you know, avoiding the cops) but Athens was maybe one of…
Glen Gardner Sanitarium
Originally called the New Jersey Sanitarium for Tuberculosis Diseases, this hospital eventually became the Glen Gardner Sanitarium, and lastly, Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital. It opened in 1907 to treat tuberculosis before branching…
Belton Court
Belton Court, constructed in 1905, is a historic estate in Barrington, Rhode Island. The medieval-inspired, castle-like mansion has undergone numerous incarnations in the past 100 years, including Ferrin Hall, Gibson…
Hackensack Water Works
The New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company was constructed between 1881-1911 on a little manmade island in New Jersey. It operated as a water filtration and pumping plant…
SIM Hospital
Disclaimer: The hospital discussed in this post will be referred to under the pseudonym “SIM hospital.” I do this only rarely, when a location is on active grounds and/or fairly…
First German Reformed Church
Built in 1850, The Freeman Avenue United Church of Christ was originally known as the First German Reformed Church. In 1918, they dropped the German part of the name due…
The Red Hen
When I think of things I did NOT enjoy as a child, the list is surprisingly short: Math, church service, the tuna fish and crumbled crackers dinner my dad made…
Found #3: Greystone Edition
Time for another addition of Found Things! As always, many of these images and captions are taken directly from my Instagram, so my apologies if you already follow me and some of…
GALLERY: Greystone Park State Hospital
FYI: "Gallery" posts mean mostly photos instead of my usual half photos/half writing posts. I do gallery posts when I'm saving the history write ups for a later date. Update,…
Greenpoint Hospital
At a time when New York City real estate is stupid expensive, and historic landmarks are being turned into high rises that look like a game of Tetris, it’s surprising…
Harlem Valley State Hospital
It seems like a good time to run some Harlem Valley photos because the asylum is currently undergoing renovation by Olivet.* Soon, it will be a college campus subjected to…
Nepera Chemical Plant
Update: Nepera was demolished in 2015 The history of Nepera Chemical plant in Harriman, NY reads like a painfully predictable movie script about a Big Bad Chemical Company near a…
Greycourt Women’s Prison- La Guardia Men’s Homeless Shelter
These buildings started out as Greycourt Farm Colony- a woman’s prison- in 1918. It covered 258 acres of farmland that were tended to by female prisoners. (If you’re wondering what a…
Photo Gallery: Hudson River State Hospital
2021: Large parts of the campus have been demolished and/or remodeled and are now part of a shopping plaza. As far as I know, the Kirkbride still stands, although it’s…