A gallery of abandoned vehicles, including automobiles, boats, and tractors, in the United States.
Aircraft
1976 Beechcraft C23 Sundowner 180
Resting in the weeds at a lightly used airstrip in Johnson County, Kentucky, is a circa 1976 Beechcraft C23 Sundowner 180. The airport was hub of commercial aviation activity from its dedication in 1964 until it was functionally replaced by Big Sandy Regional Airport in 1986.
Automobiles
Chevrolet C10
The Chevrolet C series of trucks were manufactured by General Motor’s Chevrolet and GMC divisions between 1960 and 2002.
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Impala is an iconic sports car manufactured by General Motor’s Chevrolet division since 1953.
Chevrolet Impala
The Chevrolet Impala was a full-sized car manufactured by General Motor’s Chevrolet division between 1958-85, 1994-96, and 2000-20. It served as the brand’s flagship passenger car.
Fire Trucks
Ford B Series
The Ford B Series was a bus chassis manufactured by the Ford Motor Company between 1948 and 1998. It was a variant of the medium-duty F series and were often paired with bus bodies from the Blue Bird Corporation, among other second-stage manufacturers.
Jeep Cherokee (SJ)
The Jeep Cherokee (SJ) was produced from 1973-83 by American Motor’s division Jeep. It was based on the Wagoneer.
Jeep Wagoneer (SJ)
The Jeep Wagoneer (SJ) was produced from 1962-91 by American Motor’s division Jeep. The 4WD vehicle remained in production for 29 model years with an almost unchanged body structure.
Volkswagen
Other
Boats
Cornell Steamboat Company Barges and Boats
Along Rondout Creek in Kingston, New York, are the remnants of barges from the Cornell Steamboat Company which was founded in the late 1840s by Thomas Cornell in nearby Rondout. 4 5 After working at a family-owned dock and general store along the Delaware & Hudson Canal, Cornell became part-owner of the steamer Telegraph in 1847. As river traffic blossomed in the decades following the opening of the Delaware & Hudson and Erie Canals, steamboats began towing barges instead of loeading them onboard. As early-model passenger steamboats aged, Cornell acquired them, stripped them down to their hull, and converted them to serve as towboats.
In 1850, Cornell obtained the contract for towing Delaware & Hudson Canal Company barges and later expanded into the manufacture of tugboats. 5 By 1880, the Cornell Steamboat Company boasted more than 60 vessels and was the dominant towing operation on the Hudson River. In 1900, the company’s passenger fleet were abandoned so that the company could focus on its more profitable towing operations. 4
Business began to decline for Cornell after the Delaware & Hudson Canal was shuttered in 1904. 5 At the same time, demand began to wane for the shipment of ice and brick for which the company was dependent upon for revenue. Faster and cheaper railroads and improved highways led to further decay at Cornell and what remained was sold to its largest customer, the New York Trap Rock Corporation, in 1958. 4 5 After erecting a new vessel in 1960 for the sole purpose of moving stone barges between New York City and its quarries in the Upper Hudson valley, the company was liquidated in 1963. 5 Whatever remained after was acquired by by the Red Star Towing Company of Brooklyn in 1964. 4
Numerous barges from Cornell, anchored for years along Rondout Creek, were abandoned and eventually sank in place. 3
Lila Acheson Wallace
The Floating Hospital is a non-profit organization that provides healthcare services to medically underserved communities in New York City, New York. It operated several vessels that cruised New York Harbor and other waterways, giving indigent children and their caregivers healthcare services to children, and health and nutrition education to their caregivers.
The Floating Hospital traces its origins to October 1866 as a series of charitable excursions by steamboat tycoon John Starin for the poor, newsboys, and war veterans. 6 During the summer of 1872, George F. Williams, a managing editor of the New York Times, witnessed a policeman forcing a group of newsboys in City Hall Park off the grass and onto hot concrete walkways which burned their feet. Appalled, Williams wrote an appeal to the Times’ readership for money to charter a boat trip for the city’s newsboys and bootblacks so they could be turned loose on grassy shores of nearby waterways. 7 8 Per a request from Williams, the St. John’s Guild, a charitable affiliate of St. John’s Chapel of the Episcopal parish of Trinity Church, took over the organization of trips in 1873, which became a regular affair.
The Guild acquired its first vessel, the Emma Abbott, in 1875. It was replaced in 1899 with the Helen C. Juillard I and then the Helen C. Jullard II in 1916. 9 The Lloyd I. Seaman was christened in 1935 followed by the Lila Acheson Wallace in 1973.
By the 1970s, the Floating Hospital described itself as a “diseased prevention and referral agency” that focused on education while providing outpatient services on the vessel, both during outings in summer months and while moored at the South Street Seaport during the winter. 10 After using a Hudson River pier near 44th Street in the 1980s, it then bounced between Pier 11 at the foot of Wall Street and Pier 17 at the foot of Fulton Street. Later, Pier 11 was needed for expanded ferry service to Lower Manhattan and the management of Pier 17 was hostile to the presence of the vessel and its clients amid their promotion of the pier as an upscale retail venue. The vessel was then moved to Brooklyn in 2002. 11
In 2003, the Floating Hospital sold its last vessel, the Lila Acheson Wallace, and became a land-based facility in Chinatown 12 before moving to Long Island City in Queens. 13
Upper Canada
Upper Canada, an automobile and passenger ferry, was built in Owen Sound, Canada, by Russel Brothers Limited for Restigouche Ferries. 1 2 Christened and launched on May 28, 1949, the Romeo & Annette entered service under the command of Captain Romeo Allard, who operated a ferry across the Bay of Chaleur between Bathurst, New Brunswick, and Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec. The 90-foot by 36-foot beam side loading boat could hold 12 cars and featured twin Cummins diesel engines with a total of 550 hp, which gave her a top speed of 10.5 kts.
In October 1965, the Romeo & Annette was purchased by the Ontario Department of Highways and sailed westward to Kingston, Ontario, where she arrived on October 11, 1965. 2 In the following spring, she had been renamed Upper Canada and was ready for service to serve as a second ferry between Kingston and Wolfe Island.
Both Upper Canada and its partner, the Wolfe Islander, were replaced in 1976 by the Wolfe Islander III, which could carry 50 automobiles, more than the other two combined. 2 Upper Canada was delivered to Leamington, where it served as a backup for the Pelee Islander with the Ontario Northland Marine Service. 1 2
When the new Jimaan went into service at Pelee Island in 1991, Upper Canada was sent to LaSalle where it was leased to the Beausoleil First Nation for service on Christian Island on Georgian Bay between 1996 and 2000. 1 2 In the fall of 1999, she was replaced by Sandy Graham and was returned to Leamington. Al Johnson took ownership of Upper Canada in 1999 and hauled the boat to Lorain, Ohio. Her registration expired in 2008, and the boat has been abandoned ever since.
