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…
Paramount Theatre in Marshall, TX
Although trespassing and other legally dubious methods of accessing abandoned places are half the fun of exploring, it’s a welcomed relief when I occasionally have permission to be in said…
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…
The Baker Hotel
The Baker Hotel
The Baker Hotel, located in Mineral Wells, Texas, was a renowned luxury resort and spa that operated from 1929 to 1972. The history of the hotel is one of opulence…
Harlem’s P.S. 186
It’s hard to describe the current state of Harlem’s P.S. 186 without falling into the dreaded verbal blackhole of flowery rhetoric that plagues urban exploration writing. I can’t count how…
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…
Loew’s Poli Palace, Majestic Theatre & Savoy Hotel photo gallery
Quick background about the theaters: Although separate theaters, both the Poli Palace and Majestic Theatre share the same building, along with the abandoned Savoy Hotel, in Bridgeport, CT. The theaters…
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…
Bottle Beach at Dead Horse Bay
2018 update: My comic about Bottle Beach eventually became part of my book Tenements, Towers & Trash, and you can hear me talk about in on the New Yorker Radio Hour.…
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…
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…
Old Calistoga Hospital- the Francis House
When heading out to explore an abandoned hospital or house, I usually have an approximate idea of what to expect. If it’s a hospital, it’ll be secluded, probably surrounded by…
Vieques Military Bunkers
(go here to see all Vieques Island posts) Around Christmas 2012, I spent a week running around the island of Vieques by myself. I explored abandoned military bunkers, sugar mill…
The nurses' quarters now, view from the hotel across the street
U.S. Marine Hospital of Memphis
Every time I think I’m going to write a quick post and be done with it, I fall into a research k-hole, only to come to many hours later, balls…
Playa Grande Sugar Plantation
(go here to see all Vieques Island posts) The Playa Grande Sugar Plantation ruins are on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. For the sake of honesty and full disclosure, the…
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…
Proctor’s Palace Theatre
The downtown area of Newark, New Jersey, is something of a modern ghost town. Although the ground levels of the main streets are still very active, it seems like more…
Bennett School for Girls
March 2022 update: Bennet School is currently in the process of complete demolition. When I first drove by the Bennett School for Girls, I did a cartoon double-take. If asked…
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
Update: as of 2015, the Boyce Thompson building has been bought by Simone Development and renovations have begun to turn it into a commercial and office space. rendering and webcam photo…
Pleasure Beach
Pleasure Beach is the worst name for an amusement park, but the best name for a ghost town. Located in Bridgeport, CT, the beach is a tidal island, meaning at…
Puerto Ferro Lighthouse
(go here to see all Vieques Island posts) The Puerto Ferro Lighthouse lies on the south side of the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. (Vieques has an unfortunately sordid…
Arcade Building
Going to the mall in ye olden days was a completely different experience than going to the mall today. Around the turn of the 20th century, “shopping arcades” were starting…
New York City Farm Colony
Farm Colony is the Times Square of urban exploring. Everybody goes there, takes the same photo (see above) walks around the streets for a bit, and then complains about…
The Embassy Theatre
If you’re at all familiar with famous music venues, you probably know about The Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY. The Capitol opened in 1926 as a vaudeville and movie…
Six Flags New Orleans
Abandoned amusement parks tend to be the most popularly enjoyed urban exploring photos. My theory is that most people have been to some type of amusement park, anywhere from a…
New Rochelle Water Co.
One of my favorite aspects of exploring, besides the actual act of it, is researching the histories of the places I visit. I can spend four hours exploring a place…
Holy Land U.S.A
One of my favorite anecdotal bombs to drop on people after they’ve known me awhile is that I am a preacher’s kid. For part of my childhood, my dad was…
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
Please note that Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital, now known as Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, is still an active facility for the mentally ill. This post only addresses the abandoned hospital buildings on…
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…