All too often, the stories of abandoned places end in tragedy. In this episode, however, we're going to discuss an amazing success story: after nearly 30 years vacant, the gorgeous Lansdowne Theater is being rebuilt! My guest, Matt Schultz, the Executive Director of the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corporation, shares with us how this miraculous turnaround is taking place and his experience on how to save a local landmark. Photos/history of The Lansdowne: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/historic-l...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Did you ever wonder how someone could become so obsessed with abandoned buildings that it engulfs their whole life? This is my story: the strange tale of of how and why I began photographing abandoned buildings across the world and started the Abandoned America project - an origin story for the podcast and website, if you will. Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AbandonedAmerica Get Email Updates: https://us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=24ba303f6c1b17ce6e5f37d49&a...
Nov 28, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 20
There's an odd overlap between dreams, abandoned spaces, and photographs - they all present distortions of the reality we are familiar with. Why is it that we find all three so compelling? Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AbandonedAmerica Get Email Updates: https://us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=24ba303f6c1b17ce6e5f37d49&id=88f0dd85ff...
Oct 24, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this episode Matthew interviews Stacey Tenenbaum, a Canadian filmmaker who produced and directed a beautiful documentary called Scrap. Scrap takes a poetic and meditative look at what becomes of the objects we use after they've ceased to fulfill the function they were originally intended for. The documentary shares the story of some incredible people and spaces, including a photographer who documents e-waste processing facilities in India, an architect who is repurposing parts of ships into b...
Jul 31, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Gould Street Power Station in Baltimore was once the most impressive power plant in the city and considered a technological marvel, but now its demolition seems inevitable. In this episode, we'll trace the wild history of the site through the bitter public utility wars that led to its construction to its eventual closure and abandonment - a trip that includes a forgotten inventor, a brutal murder, and a look at what might be in store for the area in the years to come. Show Notes: https://www.ab...
Jun 30, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Forest Haven was a developmental center in Laurel, Maryland for children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities and chronic illnesses that was the site of what was described as "the deadliest known example of institutional abuse in recent American history." Today Forest Haven lies abandoned and mostly forgotten, but in this episode we'll explore how profound and often fatal neglect shattered lives of residents for decades, and why it was allowed to continue for years after s...
May 31, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Rumors of why the small neighborhood of Lincoln Way wound up abandoned abound: did some monstrous beast scare away the residents? Or was it for some more realistic and relatable reason? In this episode we'll explore the mystery of how roughly 40 homes on a quiet Western Pennsylvania street were left vacant for years, still littered with the former residents' belongings, and uncover the true story of what became of the community. Show Notes: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/lincoln-way-abandoned-a...
May 15, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 15
The SS United States is about as unique and incredible as it gets: an entire ocean liner that's larger than the Titanic, out of use since 1969 and moored in Philadelphia since 1996. Both the fastest liner ever built and the largest constructed on US soil, it's one of only two surviving relics from the entire age of passenger liners, and yet its future has been imperiled for decades and it seems like its time might finally be running out. We'll explore why the SS United States is so significant a...
May 01, 2023•22 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Located a short distance from one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States, it's hard to imagine why the Fallside Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY would have been abruptly closed and left abandoned. To tell the story we need to look at the boom and subsequent implosion of the area's tourist economy, caused by industrial pollution and misguided urban renewal projects. We'll also talk about what the town's plans for the future are and how the fate of the Fallside Hotel may in fact be...
Apr 17, 2023•21 min•Season 2Ep. 13
What would you do if the only bridge to your community burned and the town refused to rebuild it? The residents of Long Beach, CT found out the hard way and it destroyed their entire neighborhood, leaving nearly 50 beachfront homes abandoned. In this episode of the Abandoned America podcast, we'll explore the tragic story of what went wrong, how the fate of Long Beach was tied to the defunct Pleasure Beach Amusement Park located next to them on the peninsula, and what happens when the towns arou...
Apr 03, 2023•24 min•Season 2Ep. 12
The morning we snuck into Taunton State Hospital before dawn was like something out of a dream. It's one of those profound experiences that haunts you for the rest of your life, something you try to explain to others but can never quite find the words to express. Join Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America for a 22-minute exploration of what Taunton State Hospital's story was, why anyone would go to such great lengths to see it before it was destroyed, why it still matters today, and how even ...
Mar 20, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 11
The Randall Park Mall in North Randall, Ohio was, for a brief moment, the largest mall in the world. Less than 40 years later it was in ruins. In this episode we'll cover the mall's extravagant opening, tumultuous lifespan, why it finally closed, and what it was like visiting it in the aftermath. For a shopping center, it has some pretty shocking crimes in its past, and its story is more haunting than you might think. Come join Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America for a quick primer on the l...
Mar 07, 2023•21 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Gary, Indiana was once a thriving metropolis, but now it's a city of ruins. In this episode we'll discuss Gary's founding as a steel town, its economic collapse, and what still remains - including the abandoned City Methodist Church, the Gary Public Schools Memorial Auditorium, and the Palace Theatre. How did a city go from being called the "City of the Century" to having roughly a third of its buildings vacant, and what is it like going there today? View the photo gallery/show text on Abandoned...
Feb 21, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Amusement parks are a happy part of many people's family memories - so it's hard to imagine a theme park of over 200 acres sitting abandoned for nearly 20 years. That is just what happened with the massive Six Flags New Orleans, however: left to rot after Hurricane Katrina submerged it for weeks, it has been vacant for over three times as long as it was open. Why wasn't the park reopened or redeveloped? Today I'm joined by Jake Williams, writer and director of the recent documentary about Six Fl...
Feb 08, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 8
In this episode we cover the demolition of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in West Philadelphia, a beautiful and historic church that could have easily been saved and repurposed but like so many others was torn down under questionable circumstances. We'll talk with Christopher Daniels, a teacher who found himself thrust into the role of a community activist trying to save a building whose fate seemed already sealed to find out what he did and what can be learned from the community's efforts to...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 7
Today's episode is about an abandoned garden - but not just any garden, this one was created by America's first female landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand. Farrand is remarkable for many reasons - she designed the innovative and revolutionary landscapes for some of America's wealthiest families and most prominent universities and even landscaped the White House. However, much of her work today is lost. I'm joined by Karen Waltuch, Horticulturist at the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association, and Da...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode we talk with Dr. Cristina Visperas about her new book " Skin Theory: Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory ", which explores the shocking past of the now-abandoned Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia. For decades Dr. Albert Kligman conducted unethical and harrowing medical experiments on Holmesburg's inmates - in this episode we explore what those experiments were, how they formed the basis of the modern dermatology industry, and what happened in their aftermath. Read Cr...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The documentation and exploration of ruins may have existed for centuries, but the history of the subject in the internet age is still a relatively short one. In the last episode we talked about the legacy of Ninjalicious, who helped turn people on to the subject, and in this episode we're going to take a look at the best known and most popular website on the subject before the advent of social media: Urban Exploration Resource, or UER.ca. I'm joined by Avatar X, the founder of UER, and we'll ta...
Nov 29, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 4
"Urban Exploration" is a term used by many to describe trespassing, primarily in abandoned places, and over the last 20 years it has developed into its own counterculture and art genre. Today we'll talk about Jeff Chapman, also known as Ninjalicious. A Canadian who found his love for going into restricted areas during his struggle with a terminal illness, Ninjalicious would spend the remaining years of his life sharing his passion for trespassing and building the bedrock of the urban exploration...
Nov 14, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 3
The Retail Apocalypse is upon us, or so we're told: the US has gone from 2,500 malls in the 1980s to about 700 today, and as anchors fold even more are expected to close in years to come. Today I'm joined by guest Alexandra Lange, architectural critic and author of the new book " Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall ", to discuss the amazing life and death of the shopping mall. We'll examine how the mall serves as a nostalgic touchstone for so many, their problematic reinforcem...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Brownsville, Pennsylvania used to be a prosperous town - what happened to turn it into a ghost town of dozens of rotting buildings that include the former train station, hotel, hospital, banks, churches, apartments and homes, and stores? The answer is a haunting mystery centering around how one man purchased scores of properties to build a dream, and why when it failed he left them to rot. In this episode I interview former mayor and lifelong resident Norma Marcolini-Ryan and we discuss Brownsvi...
Oct 03, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Chernobyl and its neighboring city Pripyat are two of the most haunting abandoned places on earth - but what is it really like in the exclusion zone today? In this season finale we'll hear from Mykhailo "Misha" Teslenko, a Ukrainian guide who has spend years exploring the remains of the worst nuclear disaster ever. We'll talk about what the real risks of radiation exposure are, the people who still live and work in the exclusion zone, and why so many things you may assume about Chernobyl are wro...
May 30, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
One of the more controversial subjects in the exploration of abandoned buildings is whether or not to keep locations secret. Join host Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America, guest host Matt Lambros, creator of the After the Final Curtain podcast, book series, and website, and Drew Scavello, the photographer behind Truth and Destruction Photography, as we chat about the reasons behind our approaches, and when/why we choose to keep locations to ourselves when sharing our photography, and what s...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The Catskill Game Farm grew from one man's collection of animals into the largest privately owned zoo in the United States and an incredibly popular tourist attraction that hundreds of thousands of people visited over the course of several decades. In this episode of the Abandoned America podcast, we'll talk about how the Catskill Game Farm became such a legend in the area, what factors ultimately led to its closure, and the huge controversies that erupted in its final days. I'll also talk with ...
May 16, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 10
The Catskills region of New York has had two different periods of incredible popularity among vacationers and two different periods of decline that saw many of its most popular resorts left in ruins. In this episode I'm joined by guest co-host Matt Lambros, creator of the After the Final Curtain podcast, website, and book series, and we'll explore what led to its establishment as the place to get away from the city in the late 1800s, and what led to many of the most popular hotels left being lef...
May 09, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The vacant Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania was an endangered architectural treasure in a city that has already lost many. A team of dedicated preservationists were making strides toward rehabilitating it into a much-needed community art center, but a sudden and horrific turn of events resulted in the destruction of the church. Join host Matthew Christopher and guest host Matt Lambros of After the Final Curtain as they interview Dave Guleke, a member of the Chester Historical P...
May 02, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Aside from homes, abandoned churches may be the most prevalent type of abandoned building in the United States - but why is that? In this episode I'm joined by Matt Lambros, author/photographer of the After the Final Curtain book series, and we'll discuss why churches are closing in such staggering numbers. The answers may surprise you! We'll also look at the history of the Ascension of Our Lord Church in Philadelphia, which was the third largest parish in the city and is now a stripped out husk...
Apr 25, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this episode I'm joined by my guest Matt Lambros, creator of the After the Final Curtain podcast and book series, and we'll discuss Danvers State Hospital, one of the most infamous of the abandoned American asylums. Starting with the fascinating history and lore surrounding the site and journeying to the hospital's closure and the impact that had on the surrounding community, we'll wrap up with the role it played in Matt's interest in abandoned buildings and what it's like to explore a massiv...
Apr 18, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In part 2 of our exploration of America's abandoned asylums, we'll discuss what led to the closure of so many state hospitals across the United States. Why was such an expensive, ambitious system dismantled and why is the word "asylum" now associated with such stigma and sadness? Together with my guest Matt Lambros, creator of the After The Final Curtain podcast and book series, we'll dive into what happened after the state hospitals were left to decay and why their closure may not have been as ...
Apr 18, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Of all the American ruins, asylums are perhaps the most iconic - but how did so many come to be left to rot across the country? In this two part episode we'll cover the history of the American state hospital system with my guest, Matt Lambros, creator of the After the Final Curtain podcast and book series. How were individuals with mental illness treated before the asylums were built? What led to their foundation, which was so idealistic and progressive, and how did the ambitious plan to provide...
Apr 18, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 4
