ABANDONED ─ FORGOTTEN PLACES IN AMERICA: A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY
Through out America you can find abandoned buildings. From the heartland to the seashore. Some were once regal... are now forgotten. Some structures once sheltered children labeled "incorrigible," "delinquent," or "wayward" are now thought “haunted.” Other’s were Hospital’s for the Insane...definitely are haunted :). According to the Census Bureau there Are Over 17 Million Vacant Homes in America. History is slipping away. These photo’s of abandoned buildings, preserve what nature crumbling. You can find beauty in decay and abandoned buildings. I know I do. Do you?
Entering a structure without explicit or perceived permission, even if that structure is abandoned, is considered trespassing.
-Let’s Get Started-
Empire Hotel in Sharon Springs, NY
The town of Sharon Springs, NY in which the Empire Hotel was built was known for its “healing waters” even before the Revolutionary War. The area’s mineral springs drew many visitors over the years and by the late 19th century it had become a fashionable spa that attracted such notables as the Vanderbilt's, the Macys, Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde. Hotels, bath houses, cottages, boarding houses, and pavilions were built in styles including Beaux Arts, Mission Style, Gothic Revival, Colonial Revival, Greek Revival, and Renaissance Revival; Italianate and Queen Anne were the most popular. The town began falling out of favor with its wealthy clientele by the early 1900s, however, partly because another nearby town’s racetracks and casinos eclipsed the waning popularity of drinking and bathing in mineral water.
Abandoned orphanage
Elkins Estate in Philadelphia.
Elstowe Manor, the crown jewel of the estate, was built in 1898 by William L. Elkins, the prominent Philadelphia businessman who, along with Peter A.B. Widener, built the Philadelphia Railroad Company and the streetcar monopoly, the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, through acquisitions of smaller lines and political opportunism. The interior of the mansion, designed by esteemed French interior designers Allard et Fils, is an architectural treasure chest filled with heavenly frescoed ceilings, carved mahogany panels, stately marble columns, and an eye watering display of crystal chandeliers, gold leafing, and regal, gilded molding.
Michigan Central Station
Opened in 1913, Michigan Central Station is one of the most majestic and historic buildings in Detroit. After several decades of neglect and decay, the announcement in 2018 that Ford Motor Corporation has purchased the building and intends to restore it as part of a revitalized Corktown campus.
Western State Hospital, Virginia
The Western State Lunatic Asylum, renamed the Western State Hospital in 1894, began operation as the second mental health hospital in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The original buildings were designed by William Small, and later altered by Thomas Blackburn, a Thomas Jefferson protégé. The Administration Building was constructed in the colonial style in 1828 and boats a beautiful circular wooden staircase spanning from the second floor to the third floor cupola roof patio, added in 1840.
On November 25, 1969, Western State Hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Only a year later, the property was vacated as the hospital moved their operations to the present site near Interstate 81. After they had moved out, the site was repurposed as the Staunton Correctional Center – a medium-security men’s prison. The prison remained in use until finally closing in 2003, leaving most of the site vacant for several years. By 2008, a small portion of the entire complex was rehabbed, and opened as residences called the Villages at Staunton. The first condominiums went on sale in 2008. By June of 2018, much more of the complex had been repurposed and opened as a luxury inn. The Blackburn Inn now features 49 rooms, with 27 different floor plans and even its own restaurant, housed within the former Western State administrative building. The Blackburn Inn is now even hosting a Saturday barbecue series that kicked off in the summer of 2018.
We’ve come to the end of our journey. I hope you enjoyed the trip back in time.
Don’t forget the vote in the best picture poll and maybe chat too?
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TILL NEXT TIME—BE SAFE