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AbandonedAmerica

@[email protected]

I'm Matthew Christopher, creator of the Abandoned America website, podcast, and book series about the beautiful and fascinating ruins in our midst. Photos are mine unless credited otherwise. Not a photo bot, so I post about other things from time to time.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The remains of Nottingham Looms at the abandoned Scranton Lace Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania
https://www.abandonedamerica.us/scranton-lace-factory

View from the second level of a massive, two story loom across a row of platforms atop more looms which are still threaded. On the right is a long bank of windows.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, PA was one of the town's few surviving landmarks. Progress was being made to turn it into a community art center, but it was destroyed by arson before the plans were completed. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/third-presbyterian-church

The darkened interior of a church with ornate wooden ceiling beams and curved pews. The carpet is red and in the background light streams in through partially broken stained glass windows.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

A hallway lined with seclusion cells at the abandoned Greystone Park Psychiatric Center, demolished in 2015. Woody Guthrie was a patient at Greystone from 1956-61 as a result of his Huntington's Disease. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/greystone-park-psychiatric-centered

A long, decayed hallway lined with yellow, green, and blue doors. At the bottom of the doors there is a slit allowing food to be slid in to the person inside.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The last days of the Hershey Chocolate Factory, closed after production was moved to newer facilities in West Hershey and Mexico. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/hershey-chocolate-factory1

A long room lit by fluorescent lights. Large yellow tubs with machinery inside sit atop wooden floors. A stepladder is off to the side.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The reason for the abandonment of western Pennsylvanian neighborhood of Lincoln Way was the subject of wild internet rumors. Though the truth was more mundane, it was perhaps more heartbreaking as well. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/lincoln-way

Vertical image of a badly deteriorated living room filled with garbage and debris. Stairs and a doorway are discernible, but the floor is collapsing into the basement and the ceiling is sagging precariously overhead with clothing and other objects dangling through it.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The Budd Factory in Philadelphia manufactured everything from train cars to auto bodies to jet and tank parts. By the 1980s, though, their sales had slumped and their factory in Philadelphia was abandoned. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-budd-factory

A massive, three story open industriaal space with bays on either side. The walls are blue and white with yellow trim, and are covered with graffiti. Debris is scattered across the floor.
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@ObsidianUrbex@mstdn.social avatar ObsidianUrbex , to random

A beautiful abandoned synagogue in USA, abandoned for around 30 years.

More photos and history article - https://www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/religious/blue-and-gold-synagogue-usa/

abandoned room from upper floor, lower floor has many seats all facing the front. the roof is a great bike and gold dome
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AbandonedAmerica ,
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@ObsidianUrbex absolutely lovely shot!

AbandonedAmerica ,
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@ObsidianUrbex Oh wow, which instance was that? I would not be happy about that. Nice to see you again too! 😊

AbandonedAmerica ,
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@ObsidianUrbex I'm so sorry to hear that. I have been kind of worried about that sort of thing with the fediverse, as it really does affect people who create artwork. The collateral damage between inter-instance spats can be a huge setback - and after setbacks on other platforms because of algorithm changes, that's really disheartening.

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

A decayed workshop in an abandoned china factory
https://www.abandonedamerica.us/slideshow146842.html

A vast room filled with vats and pipes. The floor is covered with moss, mold, and bits of machinery. A small sign hangs from the ceiling that reads "Quality And Pride Go Hand In Hand"
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

A residential building in the abandoned Rosewood Center in Owings Mills, MD. Demolished.
https://www.abandonedamerica.us/rosewood-institution

A two story wood and stone building that is overgrown by unkempt trees. A concrete ramp in the center leads to a broken door.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The ruins of an abandoned meat packing company. It is also one of the places I have had the pleasure of stepping on a rusty nail.
https://www.abandonedamerica.us/barnes-meat-packing-company

An overgrown brick room with a sapling growing in the center. Several doors are open in the wall behind it.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

A forgotten salvage yard full of trolleys and trains rusting away in the forest

https://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-trolley-graveyard

A green and white streetcar with saplings growing through the snow in front of it. It is flanked on either side by more trolleys
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

Exploring an abandoned knitting company complex turned up a fascinating link to a lifesaving medical technology, and an unexpected treasure. More on Abandoned America: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/golaski-labs

A large room with a sagging wooden ceiling. The brick walls and wooden supports are painted green and white. The room is cluttered with machinery, worktables, and chairs.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

You probably wouldn't expect to find a bowling alley in an abandoned lace factory, but life is full of surprises. https://www.abandonedamerica.us/scranton-lace-factory

The curve of old wooden benches takes up the bottom half of the frame, with a scoring sheet on a small table in the center. Behind them, the lanes of a bowling alley stretch off into the distance.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The basement of an abandoned power plant

See the rest https://www.abandonedamerica.us/crawford-power-station

A large water valve (?) that resembles a seashell covered in rust and peeling paint is in the foreground. A short stairway to another platform is to the left. I don't know what the other machinery is tbh
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The abandoned Church of the Transfiguration - one of my favorite places, now long gone. Check out the gallery and find out the odd story of its demise which, oddly enough, involved Anne Hathaway's (now ex) boyfriend: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/church-of-transfiguration

Side view of the sanctuary of a grand church. A large arch in the wall crowned with painted plaster medallions is on the far wall, and rows of pews line the foreground
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

It's really weird how someone can spend over twenty years documenting loss but yet still be so blindsided by it when it finds them.

AbandonedAmerica OP ,
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@_elena thank you, Elena. Some nights I'm better with it than others ❤️

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The gas blowing room at the abandoned Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, PA

See the rest https://www.abandonedamerica.us/bethlehem-steel

A huge room with a row of rusty machines that resemble locomotive stretching off into the distance
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The abandoned Holy Trinity R.C. Church in Duquesne, PA eventually collapsed, causing nearby homes to be evacuated until it was torn down. See it before the ceiling caved in at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/abandoned-holy-trinity-roman-catholic

A badly damaged church facade. Broken stairs lead to three red front doors beneath a large smashed stained glass window flanked by tall towers
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@killyourfm@layer8.space avatar killyourfm , to random

An empty barn interior featuring wooden beams, a dirt floor, and shafts of light streaming through slats in the walls, captured in black and white. (Photo by Jason Evangelho)
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AbandonedAmerica ,
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@killyourfm I have not! It looks awesome but my limited travel budget means I don't have as much opportunity to visit places out west

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

I'm just going to throw this out there: I have been getting a ton of new follows, and a lot of them appear to be bots and fake accounts.

I think we can mostly agree that bots and fake accounts are not a great thing for the majority of people in the Fediverse who aren't looking to artificially inflate follower counts - a process that really isn't beneficial to anyone who wants actual authentic engagement - and I'm concerned that this will eventually lead to the sort of spam plaguing Facebook.

AbandonedAmerica OP ,
@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar

@beeoproblem yeaaaah, that's no fun.

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

Fun fact: All the ghosts Luigi vacuums up in the haunted mansion are insurance executives too

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

A pediatric ward in an abandoned hospital

Find out why it was left to rot: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/monsour-medical-center

A curved hallway with soot covered floors. The walls have a pattern of lines of different colors running their length. In the center of the floor is a small yellow plastic chair
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The remains of the defunct Presidents Park: a series of 20-foot tall busts of US presidents left forgotten and decaying in a field.

Read the story here: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-president-heads

A large bust of Woodrow Wilson is in the foreground, its face peeling away and stained by time. Behind it rows of other presidential busts are visible.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

Posting something like "I sure am glad I don't live in the US because I don't have to worry about x, y, and z happening" has the same energy as saying to someone whose loved one just died, "I sure am glad MY loved ones haven't died because if they did here are the things I'd be sad and upset about."

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

My friend Ed Metka, owner of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company, better known as the trolley graveyard, passed away earlier this month. Character limits here are limiting, so I included what I wanted to write about him in the photos if you're interested. He was a sweet, gentle man who loved sharing his passion for the streetcar system with others, and I'll miss the hell out of him.

Ed's memorial page: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/.../edward-ed-metka-11880847
My photos of Ed's collection: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-trolley-graveyard

Earlier this month, my good friend Ed Metka passed away. Ed was the owner of the Vintage Electric Streetcar Company, better known as the Trolley Graveyard, in Windber, PA. I worked with Ed for a decade holding photo workshops and over that time I came to know him as a kind, gentle soul who loved sharing his passion for his collection with others. His was a heart full of love - for his wife June, for his family, and even for those he had just met. I feel so very fortunate to have known him, and to have been able to spend time with him outside the work events to hear his stories.
Ed believed in the streetcar system, and always hoped it would make a comeback. I think the world would have been a better place if it had; certainly offering more and better public transit options helps people with lower incomes and produces less pollution. Watching Ed's collection deteriorate over the years as vandals destroyed the cars was heartbreaking, both in the sense that many beautiful examples of transit history were ruined, but also because it was hard on Ed. The dream he had never materialized in the way he hoped it would, but I think there was at least one unanticipated victory that shouldn't be minimized or ignored: hundreds of people were able to see and appreciate the cars too. Without Ed, it's likely they would have been scrapped long ago, but instead visitors could marvel at the surreal beauty of dozens of trolleys and train cars fading into the forest that surrounded them. I don't think reinstating the streetcar system was something any one person could achieve, but Ed did ensure that people had a chance to share his love for them. As someone who has spent years documenting places and things I never managed to save in hopes that at least they could be appreciated, I have to hope there's a value to this. We can't stop time or always make the changes we want materialize, but we can honor the people, places, and things we've lost, and share them so others can too.
I wish I wasn't in a position where I'm doing that with Ed. I'd much rather he was still here to tell you about the streetcars himself with the twinkle in his eye he always got when the subject came up. As always, my ability to capture the essence of someone or somewhere that is gone is a pale shadow of the loveliness of what I've photographed. Photos are beautiful things in that they allow us to remember and relive, but they are never adequate as a replacement. I'm grateful that I had the time I did with Ed. He was a good man with a good heart, and the world is so much brighter because of people like him. I hope wherever he is, he's back together with June and talking with someone about trolleys. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll see him there again one day too.

An older gentleman with a baseball cap, short white hair and a mustache. He is wearing a white t-shirt with a drawing of a trolley on it. He is standing in front of a green and white streetcar.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

My wife's bit of wisdom for tonight: "Dogs are angels. Cats are spicy angels." I feel this is pretty accurate, tbh

@wcbdata@vis.social avatar wcbdata , to random

@AbandonedAmerica - Dude, your piece about Gary, Indiana on Atlas Obscura is phenomenal. Growing up outside Chicago, Gary was just a syncopated song and a smell when the wind came in hard from the east. I loved learning more about its history and decline.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/abandoned-america-gary-indiana

AbandonedAmerica ,
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@wcbdata thank you so much! I really appreciate it!

@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The same abandoned church after 4 years of neglect

See the rest https://www.abandonedamerica.us/most-blessed-sacrament-church

Choir loft view of a vacant church looking at a slight angle towards the altar area. The color scheme is dominated by white, red, and gold with blue accents. The paint is starting to flake off and the right wall is mottled with black and green from mold and water damage.

Choir loft view of a vacant church looking at a slight angle towards the altar area. The color scheme is dominated by white, red, and gold with blue accents. The church appears to be in very good condition.
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@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar AbandonedAmerica , to random

The remains of the 18-20 foot high busts of US presidents that were once at Presidents Park.

Find out what happened to them: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-president-heads

A large, badly weathered bust of Abraham Lincoln sits on a scraggly patch of grass. Rows of busts of other presidents are behind him. The sky is cloudy.
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