Objectively, an uninhabited house, building or town sends out a pretty clear—and often creepy—signal that it’s probably best to stay away. And yet, for reasons that are hard to explain, we’re instantly attracted to such places by a feeling. Maybe it’s curiosity. Or excitement. Or fear. But we have to know what’s going on there. We need to snoop around. We want to understand the story. In this book, full of facts and pictures, we explore the legacies behind 22 abandoned places in America. Knowing the truth makes them a little less mysterious—but even more intriguing.
FROZEN IN TIME • Are you drawn in by abandoned places? You aren’t alone
1/REMINGTON ARMS • The end of the Civil War sparked a gun run in the United States, with Americans racing to arm themselves to defend against domestic enemies.
2/ST. ELMO, COLORADO • Like so many towns in the American West, St. Elmo, Colorado, was born during a gold rush—and died when the dash for riches came to an end.
3/RHYOLITE, NEVADA • This gold rush town fell nearly as fast as it rose.
4/VIRGINIA CITY, MONTANA • This town once boasted one of the richest gold strikes in the Rocky Mountains, discovered at the height of the Civil War.
5/NEVADA CITY, MONTANA • This town, established in what would become the Montana Territory, isn’t nearly as famous—or infamous—as its neighbor, Virginia City.
6/DUDLEYTOWN, CONNECTICUT • Located in the northwest corner of Connecticut, Dudleytown isn’t actually a town—it’s a section of the nearby village of Cornwall.
7/GLENN DALE HOSPITAL • When this Maryland tuberculosis sanatorium was first built in 1934, it was a beautiful campus of 23 buildings constructed among rolling, grassy hills.
8/CAHAWBA, ALABAMA • Cahawba is a ghost town that was built on top of a ghost town. Not a great way to begin.
9/KENNECOTT, ALASK • A For a short time, this town was home to one of the most lucrative copper mines in the world. But it couldn’t survive the Great Depression.
10/BANNACK, MONTANA • The story of Bannack is a lot like those of other gold rush towns in the Montana Territory.
11/TERLINGUA, TEXAS • This is the mining town that Chicago industrialist Howard E. Perry lifted up—and ultimately destroyed.
12/BODIE, CALIFORNIA • Many believe Bodie was cursed from the start. In 1859, William S. Bodey discovered a small amount of gold 50 miles south of Lake Tahoe along the Nevada border.
13/NEW JERSEY PINE BARRENS • Fans of The Sopranos will recognize this region as a good place for a murderous crime family to bury bodies.
14/BUFFALO CENTRAL TERMINAL • As Buffalo goes, so goes its landmark railroad station.
15/CAMP ZACHARY TAYLOR • As the U.S. rushed headlong into World War I, it quickly found that it needed new places at which to train soldiers. Facilities were built across the country, and cities often clamored to host them.
16/WEST CASTLETON, VERMONT • After the Civil War, the town of West Castleton, nestled between two lakes—Glen Lake and Lake Bomoseen—bustled with activity.
17/BULOWVILLE, FLORIDA • In 1821, Maj. Charles Wilheim Bulow bought more than 4,500 acres of land along a tidal creek on the northeastern coast of Florida.
18/FRISCO, UTAH • The story of Frisco began with a small discovery.
19/OLD JOLIET PRISON • At the beginning of the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, “Joliet” Jake Blues (John Belushi) is released from the Illinois State Penitentiary.
20/FORT GORGES • The world was changing fast in the 1800s, when threats from abroad seemed real—especially after the War of 1812.
21/SIX FLAGS NEW ORLEANS • The marquee that stands in front of the old amusement park still speaks its final, ominous words.
22/TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM • Built as a...