Years ago, when I first started to explore the coalfields of Appalachia, I would venture down the Tolsia and King Coal highways toward Williamson, West Virginia. Atop College Hill was the old Williamson Memorial Hospital, a place that I had long wanted to venture inside of. On April 11, 2021, I finally had my chance.
Category: Mid-Atlantic
The abandoned Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in southern West Virginia is probably home to more ghostly tales than any other place in the region—but they are just that, stories told as truths that have at times come at the expense of Native Americans.
The introduction of the railroad to West Virginia’s New River Gorge turned the area into a globally significant coal mining region.
With the inauguration of United States President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today, I wanted to share a history and gallery of 43 crumbling effigies of the presidents of the United States that stand in a field near Williamsburg, Virginia.
The Totuskey Creek Store is an abandoned mercantile stand along the still waters of Totuskey Creek near Warsaw, Virginia.
See what’s inside Poplar Hill, an abandoned mansion most famously owned by the Dunnington family in rural Virginia.
My journey through West Virginia a few days ago took me by the former Morris Memorial Hospital for Crippled Children in Milton. I had been wanting to conduct aerial photography of the site for some time and see how much progress had been made in converting it into the Grand Patrician Resort & Spa!
A storm in Nashville produced two tornados, killing 19 individuals and destroying many buildings, including parts of the Tennessee State Penitentiary.
The Exposition Hall, originally part of the West Virginia Exposition & State Fair located in Wheeling, was destroyed by fire on January 1, 2020.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, located in Weston, West Virginia, stands as a testament to a complex history, transitioning from a mental health institution to a prominent tourist destination.
The Lonaconing, Maryland silk mill, last operated by General Textile Mills, is one of my favorite buildings to photograph. From its early 20th century machinery to its dated calendars and papers, it is remarkable that this testament to industrial heritage remains standing well over 50 years past its closure.
Once considered outdated and redneck, dirt oval racetracks have made a resurgence across the rural swaths of America as unending regulations and expensive fares make it hard to justify trips to a NASCAR race track. Local dirt track racing has come back full throttle, although that resurgence has not spread to the abandoned West Virginia Motor Speedway near Parkersburg, West Virginia.
The factory that produced the first welded steel pipe is partially abandoned. Wheeling Steel’s Benwood Works dates to 1884 when Riverside Iron Works, its earliest predecessor, became the second mill in the area to produce steel.
Sometimes, I revisit an old friend and discover something new, such as the long-abandoned Jefferson School in Wheeling, West Virginia. I had not discovered much about the historic structure other than its demolition in 2013.