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…
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…
the New York World’s Fair
To read about the history of the New York World's Fair (and its lampposts) please go to the New Yorker to read my comic about it. The second to last panel has…
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…
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…
Ball Bearing Factory
Disclaimer: This location is not completely abandoned, one of the floors is occupied. The short story of this factory building is that it manufactured many different things, from paint rollers…
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…
Homowack Lodge
2016 update: Homowack Lodge is now a historic landmark. The unfortunately named Homowack Lodge was one of the many Borscht Belt resorts that were popular from the 1920s to the…
Penn Hills Resort
2017 update: the latest of many fires at Penn Hills destroyed the main building, and the others are stated for demolition. 2015 update: The World's Fair lamp posts (seen later in this…
Found #2
Time for another addition of Found Things! As always, most of these images and captions are taken directly from my Instagram, so my apologies if you already follow me and…
Found #1
Everyone has a different exploring style, ranging from spending all their time taking precise, long exposure shots, to just dickin’ around taking dumb photos of their friends trying to look…
GALLERY: Trenton Psychiatric Hospital
Trenton Psychiatric Hospital (originally known as the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum) was founded by Dorothea Dix in 1848 and is still operational today. Parts of it are abandoned, hence…
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…