MomSkoop
America’s cities hide forgotten places with stories that send shivers down your spine. Behind crumbling walls and rusted gates lie buildings once bustling with life, now silent witnesses to bygone eras. From old prisons to deserted train stations, these abandoned urban spots hold memories, mysteries, and maybe even a few ghosts.
1. Eastern State Penitentiary – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Gothic towers rise above Philadelphia’s skyline, marking what was once America’s most famous prison. Built in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary pioneered the controversial ‘separate system’ where inmates lived in complete isolation.
Today, peeling paint hangs from cell walls like skin, and rusted bed frames remain frozen in time. Visitors report cold spots, whispers, and shadowy figures darting through corridors where Al Capone once served time.
The prison closed in 1971, but many say not everyone left – guards still report unexplained footsteps and voices calling from empty cells.
2. City Hall Subway Station – New York City, New York
Beneath Manhattan’s busy streets lies a forgotten masterpiece. City Hall Station opened in 1904 as the crown jewel of New York’s new subway system, featuring elegant chandeliers, leaded skylights, and arched ceilings lined with Guastavino tiles.
Abandoned since 1945 when modern trains became too long for its curved platform, the station now sits in ghostly silence. Most New Yorkers rush by without knowing it exists, while the occasional tour group marvels at this underground time capsule.
3. Six Flags New Orleans – New Orleans, Louisiana
Roller coasters frozen mid-thrill and faded carnival colors create an eerie playground where laughter once echoed. Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters submerged this amusement park in 2005, leaving behind a twisted wonderland reclaimed by nature.
Alligators now swim in water features where children once splashed. Weathered Mardi Gras masks still decorate buildings, their empty eyes watching as vines crawl up support beams and through broken windows.
4. Michigan Central Station – Detroit, Michigan
Standing eighteen stories tall, this colossal Beaux-Arts masterpiece once welcomed thousands of travelers daily to the Motor City. Michigan Central Station opened in 1913 during Detroit’s golden age, featuring marble floors, bronze chandeliers, and a soaring main hall inspired by ancient Roman baths.
After the last train departed in 1988, decades of abandonment followed. Rain poured through the broken roof while scrappers stripped away anything valuable, leaving behind a skeletal reminder of Detroit’s faded glory.
5. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – Weston, West Virginia
Hand-carved stone walls stretch nearly a quarter-mile, enclosing what was once America’s largest hand-cut stone building. Designed according to the Kirkbride Plan, this massive Gothic asylum opened in 1864 to house 250 patients but eventually crammed in over 2,400 souls suffering in desperately overcrowded conditions.
Lobotomies, ice water baths, and electroshock therapy were common treatments behind these walls. Patients’ desperate scratches remain visible on walls in certain wards, a silent testimony to their suffering.
6. Old LA Zoo – Los Angeles, California
Concrete caves and rusted cage bars hide among Griffith Park’s hiking trails, surprising unsuspecting visitors. The Old LA Zoo operated from 1912 to 1965, when animal welfare concerns led to the construction of a more modern facility nearby.
Instead of demolishing the outdated enclosures, the city simply abandoned them. Now hikers can walk through empty animal grottos and peer into the small cages that once held lions, bears, and monkeys in conditions considered humane a century ago.
7. Armour Meatpacking Plant – East St. Louis, Illinois
Massive brick smokestacks pierce the Illinois sky, marking what was once among America’s largest meatpacking facilities. Blood-red rust now stains concrete floors where thousands of workers once processed livestock for a hungry nation.
Abandoned since 1959, this industrial behemoth spans several city blocks. Sunlight filters through collapsed roofs, illuminating graffiti-covered walls and massive machinery too heavy to be scrapped, frozen in their final positions.
8. Renwick Smallpox Hospital – New York City, New York
Gothic spires rise from Roosevelt Island’s southern tip, their jagged silhouettes cutting a dramatic figure against Manhattan’s skyline. Built in 1856, this haunting structure treated thousands of smallpox victims when the disease meant almost certain death.
Patients gazed at the city skyline through arched windows, many knowing they would never return home. After closing in the 1950s, the hospital fell into dramatic decay until it was stabilized as a protected ruin.
9. Richmond Power Plant – Richmond, Virginia
Towering turbines gather dust in cathedral-like halls where Richmond’s industrial heart once beat with thunderous power. Constructed in the early 1900s, this massive brick powerhouse supplied electricity to the city’s streetcar system and growing industries.
Abandoned since the 1970s, nature slowly reclaims the structure. Trees grow through broken windows while pigeons roost among control panels that once channeled lightning-like power through the city.
10. Old Essex County Jail – Newark, New Jersey
.jpg){kind=link}
Victorian brick walls topped with razor wire create a fortress-like presence in downtown Newark. Constructed in 1837 and expanded throughout the 19th century, this jail housed everyone from petty thieves to murderers awaiting execution.
Closed in 1971, the jail’s deteriorating cell blocks reveal haunting prisoner graffiti and personal artifacts left behind during its sudden closure. Maximum security wings feature heavy steel doors that sometimes slam shut without explanation, trapping unwary explorers temporarily in darkness.