itsabandonedpa-blog

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Williams Grove Amusement Park

Photo Credit: onlyinyourstate.com

Location: Williams Grove, PA

This amusement park shut down in two thousand five. The park was in operation for one hundred and fifty five years. The last time people were legally allowed to wander the park was halloween of two thousand and sixteen. They had an event for Halloween where people could walk through the old abandoned roller coaster, water parks, and fun houses. The park would not have officially closed, if they could have found another buyer to run the park. All the structures in the park are still standing, but they are slowly becoming overgrown by plants. It is located near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. If you wander the park during the year it is considering trespassing. Also the wood on the roller coaster is beginning to rot so wandering up the roller is really dangerous. But there is a lot of cool photo ops and this is one of three in Pennsylvania. 

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Concrete City

Photo Credit: explorepahistory.com

Location: Nanticoke, PA

These giant concrete structures used to house the workers of the Truesdale Colliery company. Compared to other homes given to coal workers at the time, these houses were considered luxurious. There was a park, concrete swimming pool, baseball field, tennis courts, sidewalks, and etc. The typical miner's home was made of wood, packed with too many people, and barely livable. So a home like this was to die for. Typically only the higher up workers could afford to stay in these homes. But the homes were not everything they were cracked up to be. The walls would be covered in condensation, freezing items such as clothing and the wall paper starting coming off the walls. The homes also did not have indoor plumbing so the tenants had to wander out to an outhouse for their bathroom needs. Instead of putting in a sewer system, they abandoned the city all together eleven years after its construction in 1913. The only reason these buildings are still standing is because the attempts of using dynamite failed in blowing up the homes.

For more information visit: http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1AE

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Lincoln Way

Photo Credit: Sherman Cahill

Location: Clairton, PA

Probably one of the strangest locations posted on this blog to date...

Imagine stumbling upon forty houses, each filled with someone else’s belongings. The closets filled with clothes, shelves with pictures, some driveways containing a parked car, and flickering lights even though there is no electricity. What makes these houses even stranger? Nobody knows why the people of Lincoln Way just fled the premises. It was rumored to have been due to some of the pollution from the factory across the river or because of the decline in the steel industry, but why would they leave their belongings as they left? Why would they not take their cars? Lincoln Way was said to be one of the nicest areas of Clairton in its hay day. After a fire in early April of 2015, many of the houses burned to the ground leaving about ten creepy residences. The local government is hoping to knock down what is left of Lincoln Way.

For more information visit: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2015/04/11/Clairton-fire-decimates-ghost-town/stories/201504110108?pgpageversion=pgevoke

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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Photo Credit: Cassandra Duke

Location: Centralia, PA

The last standing church in Centralia, is none other than my family’s Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church. When the town was still highly populated, their was a total of seven churches. On the top of the church and on various head stones in the cemetery, you will find a rather peculiar cross. The cross has an extra diagonal line on the bottom to symbolize that the church is Russian Orthodox. Since the Ukraine used to be apart of the Russian Empire, the two have very similar cultures. The church has become inactive due to the removal of all the townspeople of Centralia. The last time the church was in operation, was six years ago for the 100th anniversary of the church, which was built in 1911. The reason why the government decided to let the church stand is that the church is considered to be outside of the impact zone of the underground fire.

For more information visit: http://www.vpnavy01.com/websites/church/index.html

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Pier 124

Photo Credit: Cassandra Duke

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Pier 124 also known as Graffiti Pier, is a go to place for graffiti artists and vandalists. Every inch of this pier is covered in layers of spray paint. To some it would be considered destruction of property and to others its a colorful array of art. Pier 124 used to be used for transportation of coal. On top of the pier, there used to run tracks for the various coal cars and machinery. You are able to climb on top of the pier since someone wedged rail spikes into a tree. It is not the safest manner of climbing, but for adventurers, it gets the job done. There is a beautiful view of the Delaware river from the top. The pier went out of use in 1991 because coal mining had moved south. This location is the busiest abandoned place I have been to. You are always accompanied by fellow travelers. 

For more information visit: http://www.12ozprophet.com/news/history-spot-philadelphia-graffiti-pier/

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Bunkers of Alvira

Photo Credit: Cassandra Duke

Location: Allenwood, PA

What most people see as game land, has about 150 hidden secrets. What are these secrets you ask? Giant concrete bunkers. During World War II the United States feared for their domestic safety after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States government reached its all time highest peak in military spending and needed a place to store the surplus. The people who lived in the small village of Alvira were all removed from their homes in order to proceed with the Pennsylvania Ordinance Works. Every single home, church, farm, and business was burned and bull dozed to the ground. These people were uprooted and removed from their homes, just to create over a hundred unused concrete domes that sit empty. Inside the domes you will find rotting deer carcasses, empty beer cans, massive spools of barbed wire, trash, and etc. The United States government has made mistakes and the creation of these bunkers, was a giant one.

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Sleighton Boarding School

Photo Credit: Cassandra Duke

Location: Glen Mills, PA

The Sleighton Boarding School is a prime example of how underfunding can kill a private school. The school went bankrupt about sixteen years ago in 2001. The school is about 100 acres of land given to a Quaker from the most famous Quaker himself, William Penn. On campus there is at least seven empty buildings still filled with random furniture, books, graffiti, and etc. These buildings were used as an office, classrooms, boarding halls, and there is a very unique dark church at the end of the property. The school went through periods of being all-boys and then all-girls, but most recently it was a co-ed facility. The name Sleighton is relatively new in comparison to the plots long history. The name Sleighton did not come around until the 1960′s. Remember if you intend to explore to keep safe and it is not highly recommended. The property is still considered to be private and the property is still patrolled.

For more information go to: http://savesleighton.com/?page_id=25

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Old U.S. Route 61

Photo Credit: Patrick McCloskey

Location: Centralia, PA

Probably the most famous abandoned location in the state of Pennsylvania is Graffiti Highway. Graffiti Highway is an old piece of U.S. Route 61. The highway is located in the town where Silent Hill was based on and where the mine fires will continue to burn for years to come. In recent years, students from surrounding colleges have been coming to the location for courses such as Environmental Science and just to come see the urban legend. But these trips will soon be coming to an end. The local government is scared that since there has been such an increase in tourism, that there is a higher risk for people to get hurt. The ground is literally collapsing beneath their feet. The ground will collapse even faster as the fire grows bigger and the above pressure increases. The local government is closing off the highway for everyone’s safety. Remember when you go to visit to stay safe.

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St. Nicholas Breaker

Photo Credit: Cassandra Duke

Location: Between Shenandoah & Manahoy City, PA

More than half of a century ago, this was the world’s largest coal breaker. Without this breaker, the tons of local Anthracite coal would not have been usable. This was where the region made their money and provided the locals with jobs. The population has decreased by thousands since the closing of the breaker. My great grandfather worked in this breaker for a short amount of time. Working in the breaker was a luxury in comparison to the mines. During my walk through, all that was left of the establishment was hundreds of broken windows, tons of rusted metal, 25 pairs of old shoes, random pieces of furniture, some broken staircases and layers of coal dust. These photos were taken in March of 2015, so the St. Nicholas Breaker is in a more demolished state if you were to visit the location now. Remember to stay safe if you intend to explore.

For more information visit: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-last-coal-breaker-20150528-story.html