abandonedamerica.org was started as a project to capture the mesmerizing beauty and lost history of the various
derelict buildings dotting our country's landscape. it has proven to be a massive undertaking, but in the past few
years it has grown significantly and been refined countless times in an attempt to create the most streamlined
and engaging experience possible.
in doing so i have realized several things. first off, this is a project that requires an almost endless amount of
time and money. the more sites i visit, the more i find my waiting list backed up and there are dozens of galleries
still awaiting work to be included here and old ones i'd like to revise. i have more ideas for what i want to do with
this site than i have programming knowledge to accomplish them, and my editing techniques are constantly
changing and (hopefully) improving. my finances for fuel and travel expenses are never enough to cover all the
potential places i have yet to go. in short, i can't see this site ever being anything but a work in progress, since i
doubt i will ever be completely satisfied with the state the website is in or not have new directions i want to go
with it.
second, while i am still interested in preserving the histories of these sites (and have much more work to do in
that area) there is something more that i am attempting to convey. call it silly or superstitious, but these sites
have their own presence and that is something that mere facts can't contain or express. this website is meant to
draw one into the atmosphere such buildings exude and to give a sense of the awe and humility one can't help but
feel upon entering a massive factory or asylum complex, and the deeper themes of sorrow and redemption such
places embody on many different levels. many people have made comments to the effect of, 'if these walls could
speak', and i feel that to (and through) the right people, they can. i am not so arrogant as to think that my
interpretation of such sites is the only correct one, but i do like to think of my work as giving a voice to the
voiceless. i like to believe that in the hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars i have spent compiling this
collection, there is something greater that i am working towards and for, and that perhaps my deep respect and
admiration for the shipwrecks of past industries, institutions, homes, and businesses can be shared through it
with those who would otherwise ignore or destroy such sites.
we live in a time where every spare plot of land is being developed and redeveloped, a time when cookie-cutter,
prefabricated homes and businesses are the general rule. the failures of the past are being ignored and
repeated, and many valuable pieces of our common heritage are falling to the wrecking ball every year. this
process may be inevitable but it speaks of a certain carelessness and wastefulness on our part not to
acknowledge and explore the fragments of our past together while we still can. there is also a responsibility i feel
we all share to confront the horrors some of these sites are witness to. while we teach and reteach certain
historical atrocities like the holocaust (and rightfully so), most people are completely ignorant that asylums and
institutions on our own soil came close to being as horrific and lethal to those inside. likewise, every factory
complex that is demolished erases a valuable part of the heritage of the community it helped create, and an
opportunity to understand the sometimes brutal working conditions, class struggles, and the economic
devastation created by the its closing is gone forever. while i love archaeology, i am dismayed at the prevailing
blindness in scholastic circles that prizes a handful of nails or pottery fragments from an early colonial
settlement but ignores sites that are still above ground and critical to preserving the accounts of
accomplishments and missteps over the last century.
so, if your impression is that there is no one clear focal point of this site, you are correct. my aim encompasses
not only the historical and photographic cataloging of such sites, but also on a larger scale a eulogy for the lost
ways of life they represent, a statement of their emotional, spiritual, and metaphoric relevance to our everyday
lives, and a sense of the visceral experience of entering a parallel universe of silence, rust, and peeling paint. as
such, you will find quotes, poetry, prose, and bits of the sites' past among the photographs, and it is my sincerest
wish that as you browse through the site you will gain a greater understanding for why i treasure such places
above almost everything else, and why i have chosen to spend such an enormous amount of time creating this
website - who knows, maybe you'll even find yourself moved to contribute in some way to continuing the cause. i
hope you enjoy your time on my site and come back frequently. as with the buildings themselves, there is always
more to discover. you have only to look.
derelict buildings dotting our country's landscape. it has proven to be a massive undertaking, but in the past few
years it has grown significantly and been refined countless times in an attempt to create the most streamlined
and engaging experience possible.
in doing so i have realized several things. first off, this is a project that requires an almost endless amount of
time and money. the more sites i visit, the more i find my waiting list backed up and there are dozens of galleries
still awaiting work to be included here and old ones i'd like to revise. i have more ideas for what i want to do with
this site than i have programming knowledge to accomplish them, and my editing techniques are constantly
changing and (hopefully) improving. my finances for fuel and travel expenses are never enough to cover all the
potential places i have yet to go. in short, i can't see this site ever being anything but a work in progress, since i
doubt i will ever be completely satisfied with the state the website is in or not have new directions i want to go
with it.
second, while i am still interested in preserving the histories of these sites (and have much more work to do in
that area) there is something more that i am attempting to convey. call it silly or superstitious, but these sites
have their own presence and that is something that mere facts can't contain or express. this website is meant to
draw one into the atmosphere such buildings exude and to give a sense of the awe and humility one can't help but
feel upon entering a massive factory or asylum complex, and the deeper themes of sorrow and redemption such
places embody on many different levels. many people have made comments to the effect of, 'if these walls could
speak', and i feel that to (and through) the right people, they can. i am not so arrogant as to think that my
interpretation of such sites is the only correct one, but i do like to think of my work as giving a voice to the
voiceless. i like to believe that in the hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars i have spent compiling this
collection, there is something greater that i am working towards and for, and that perhaps my deep respect and
admiration for the shipwrecks of past industries, institutions, homes, and businesses can be shared through it
with those who would otherwise ignore or destroy such sites.
we live in a time where every spare plot of land is being developed and redeveloped, a time when cookie-cutter,
prefabricated homes and businesses are the general rule. the failures of the past are being ignored and
repeated, and many valuable pieces of our common heritage are falling to the wrecking ball every year. this
process may be inevitable but it speaks of a certain carelessness and wastefulness on our part not to
acknowledge and explore the fragments of our past together while we still can. there is also a responsibility i feel
we all share to confront the horrors some of these sites are witness to. while we teach and reteach certain
historical atrocities like the holocaust (and rightfully so), most people are completely ignorant that asylums and
institutions on our own soil came close to being as horrific and lethal to those inside. likewise, every factory
complex that is demolished erases a valuable part of the heritage of the community it helped create, and an
opportunity to understand the sometimes brutal working conditions, class struggles, and the economic
devastation created by the its closing is gone forever. while i love archaeology, i am dismayed at the prevailing
blindness in scholastic circles that prizes a handful of nails or pottery fragments from an early colonial
settlement but ignores sites that are still above ground and critical to preserving the accounts of
accomplishments and missteps over the last century.
so, if your impression is that there is no one clear focal point of this site, you are correct. my aim encompasses
not only the historical and photographic cataloging of such sites, but also on a larger scale a eulogy for the lost
ways of life they represent, a statement of their emotional, spiritual, and metaphoric relevance to our everyday
lives, and a sense of the visceral experience of entering a parallel universe of silence, rust, and peeling paint. as
such, you will find quotes, poetry, prose, and bits of the sites' past among the photographs, and it is my sincerest
wish that as you browse through the site you will gain a greater understanding for why i treasure such places
above almost everything else, and why i have chosen to spend such an enormous amount of time creating this
website - who knows, maybe you'll even find yourself moved to contribute in some way to continuing the cause. i
hope you enjoy your time on my site and come back frequently. as with the buildings themselves, there is always
more to discover. you have only to look.
