This is a gallery of abandoned and forgotten communities in Ohio.
East Cleveland
East Cleveland, Ohio, partially founded by Scottish immigrants, was incorporated as a village in 1895 and became a city in 1911. It was home to General Electric’s Nela Park, the world’s first industrial park, and numerous opulent mansions along Euclid Avenue—including the 248-acre estate of John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil’s founder and the world’s first billionaire. By the Great Depression, many of the mansions were demolished or abandoned, replaced by commercial or industrial properties.
The population of East Cleveland began to decline after World War II because of the development of newer suburban developments, increasing crime, and shifting demographics. Its inhabitants peaked at 40,000 in 1950 and have dramatically declined to under 14,000 in 2020.
Mingo Junction
Mingo Junction, Ohio, was founded circa 1869 when an ironworks was started nearby. It later centered around Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel’s Mingo Junction Works, which closed in 2009.
The town served as a Pennsylvania steel mill community in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter and as a primary filming location for the 1984 film Reckles.
Negley
Negley, Ohio, is a community and former coal camp operated by the Powers Mining Company in Columbiana County, Ohio. It is at the northern terminus of the now-abandoned Youngstown & Southern Railroad’s Smith’s Ferry Branch. The company store, constructed in 1867, was reportedly the world’s largest in the early 1900s. It is now a 5,000 square-foot antique store.
