Help spread the word. Can fresh thinking turn the tide in Erie, Pa.? The village on about 18 acres of land were listed as a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Located in Cresson, PA, just a few miles from Altoona, youll find the abandoned SCI Cresson. but the question remain. The former steel mill holds 2 MW of solar panels. Northeastern Pennsylvania has a rich anthracite coal mining history, and nowhere is that better seen than on a tour of the Lackawanna Coal Mine in Scranton. The Monongahela moved its administrative offices from Pittsburgh to the new building. Even as the mines closed, the community continued until it finally became abandoned in the early 2000s. Its kind of hard to see your parent struggle when theyre just trying to do everything they can for you.. By 1924, the community was abandoned. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Curtin, PA. My 2x great Grandfather was born there. Above Beaverdale PA. I havent crossed that bridge yet., Justin things that his generation may be the ones who have to effect change, assuming enough of them stay to replenish the political ranks. What about Wierham know my dad used to go there for groceries with parents in horse and buggy. ), the Windber Trolley Graveyard is a fascinating destination, should you be lucky enough to score a visit. Please enter valid email address to continue. The highlights of this abandoned superhighway are two tunnels, both roughly a mile long. There are many haunted houses in the area. I recall knowing folks from Helvetia heard they took it off the map a few decades ago. The stunning shots were taken by an American urban explorer known as Abandoned Southeast at Ensley Steel Works in . It was probably one of the most amazing places I visited time and time again! Credit: Scalo Solar Solutions. Some of these sites were abandoned due to technological shifts that left them obsolete. A map of Pennsylvania Railroads from 1923 showing essentially all of the state's rail lines in service, prior to massive abandonments that began in the post-World War II era. It left a very special place in my heart. Today, visitors can go deep underground to see this once-active mine and learn more about coal mining. All thats left are foundations and a cemetery as well as the adits to some of the coal mines. Yettwo years later it broke, with catastrophic consequences. Make sure to obey any signage you might see, and obtain owner permission or pay the admission fees where required.). OnJuly 21, 2003, a tornado struck the bridge, destroying 11 of the 20 support structures. Sadly, the homes were left abandoned for over a decade and are now in a state of disrepair. Known as Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Interrogation Camp, German and Japanese officers were brought here after being captured and interrogated. Yes, many people still live there. Ive never heard anything about this place since. If you walk through the forested trails of the Scotia Barrens, you might even find more hidden ruins of this ghost town. It was a trailer park with a pond across the street. Coal mining town & logging.Thats what my Grandfather did.Lost his thumb in Saw mill.Stayed in Gettysburg, Allentown, Coatsville,Burnham.ect.Family came to Pa. from Stockholm. A remnant of the legendary U.S. Steel Homestead Steel Works, the Carrie Blast Furnaces are a vestige of Pittsburgh's 20th-century domination of the steel industry. Over dinner, she says of her father: He always tries his best, hes come through a lot of tough things. The status of visitors being allowed is unknown, but I assume that it is currently closed to exploration. Interactive atlas of historical coal mine maps in Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations has collaborated with Pennsylvania State University to produce the Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas. For over 100 years, trains used this viaduct to cross the valley more than 300 feet below. It will always be my number one place. Some of them have been, in more recent times, repurposed for new uses. Yellow Dog Village isa former mining company town dating back to the early 1900s that now serves as a time capsule and tourist attractionin Armstrong County, PA. Today, Pithole is just an empty field near Oil Creek State Park. There are definitely foundations, steps, the Stone Church, and 2 cemeteries left from Alvira. The Kinzua Viaduct was oncethe longest and tallest railway bridge in the entire world! Paid toursof Yellow Dog Village are now available several times a month, with theproceeds being used to help repair some of the homes. Austin Damin Potter County was billed asthe dam that could not breakat the time of its construction in 1909. Today theRivers of Steelnonprofit group puts ontours, workshops, exhibitions, and festivalsat the Carrie Blast Furnaces, to promote tourism and economic development in the region, as well as preserving the site itself. What about Buck Hill Falls Inn? You could find a job here, but Id be making less than people who work at Walmart. Desperate times call for desperate measures, he says, and people will take a desperate position even if its not in our best interest sometimes.. It is fascinating! Along Pleasant stream. You can still find the original maps online and many foundations survived. Back in the 1960s, my church group visited Cooks Forest in Northwestern, Pa. A group of us took one of the trails and got lost in a ghost town. "It was a symbol of pride for all these people," said Mark Goyke, manager of the special projects division at Scalo Solar Solutions. It closed because it's parent company, Giant Eagle, planned to. I dont recall the reason for them but we played in them back in the late 1950s. I now live in Nevada, but I worked at Pithole as a tour guide when I was in high school many years ago. Bethlehem reported a loss of $1.5 billion in 1982, and began shutting down chunks of its massive operations throughout the 1980s and 1990s. "The wiring and anything else that can be scrapped has been taken out," said Emig, who told AOL News she's often chased away uninvited visitors. Thanks for sharing. Passed front of house.Could see smoke stacks. This ingeniously constructed camp has survived in part because two of the four walls are actually massive boulders that were incorporated into the camp structure itself. In Warren County was located the town of Corydon, PA. For the majority of the time its located at the bottom of the Allegany Reservoir, but every once in a while when the reservoir is lowered for the winter months, the town is accessible on foot. Opened from 1855 until 1972, this was the longest active anthracite coal mine in the world and had tunnels as deep as 800 feet below the ground. This Abandoned Aging Relic of The Pennsylvania Steel Industry Is Still Stunning Pennsylvania, located in the heart of America's Rust Belt, takes pride in a strong industrial past: the steel industry, in particular, is a vital part of our history and culture. I lived in PA most of my early years and some of my adult life, never heard about the ghost towns. All Rights Reserved. How could I get permission from the owner of Yellow Dog to visit>. Homes are still standing. Abandoned as a railroad bridge in the mid-Seventies, the Salisbury Viaduct has in more recent times been reborn as part of the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail in western PA. Explorers can hike or bike across this 101 foot-high, 1,908 foot-long former railroad bridge and experience exceptional views of the surrounding countryside. Not far from Johnstown Pa. is the Staple Bend railroad tunnel. The town was vacated several years ago so the could build Curwensville Dam where boating and summertime activities are carried in now. From 1911-1931, this mine operated on the outskirts of Ashland, PA. Jim Cheney, I beg to differ about you saying there isnt anything of the Town left in Alvira, PA. Now abandoned for about a decade, this steel mill has weathered abandonment fairly well, though days of manufacturing at this site surely are at an end.. A going concern on 150 acres in the early 20th century, this local specialty-steel firm merged before World War . They can be accessed from several points along the spectacular Lehigh Gorge. Site of a small logging town, saw mill and CCC camp. Rockland Furnace dates to 1832 and was in operation until 1854. Marovich: In 1909, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation (J&L), which already had a mill on the south side of Pittsburgh, wanted to expand, so it purchased land along the Ohio River near the town of . Ralph Yarl replaying the shooting over and over again, mom says, Russian court rejects appeal by U.S. reporter held on spying charges, High-stakes showdown between Dominion and Fox News set to begin in Delaware court, Supreme Court to weigh case of postal worker who refused to work on Sundays, Russia says Putin has paid another visit to occupied ground in Ukraine, U.S. diplomatic convoy fired on in Sudan as intense fighting continues, Mexico president slams U.S. "spying" after 28 cartel members charged, FDA clears second bivalent COVID boosters for some Americans, Renowned climber Noel Hanna dies on Nepal's treacherous Annapurna, CBS Reports presents America: Manufacturing Hope. A year after losing his job, he has already retrained at the Erie Institute of Technology, in the company of a large group of other middle-aged men, motivated by the need to keep roofs over their families heads. The National Iron and Steel Museum in Coatesville isnt abandoned in and of itself. I dont know where in PA. The old Logging town of Hampton in Fayette County. / CBS News. However, during repairs in 2003, a tornado swept through the valley. I remember it when they were trying to get the people to move out. In Lebanon county there is a park and boat ride on the Union Canal in West Lebanon. This 18th-century village outlasted the canal, being abandoned in the late 20th century with the construction of the adjacent Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. It opened in 1911 with 20 duplex homes. The abandoned Bayless Paper Mill in Potter County is part of a planned 329 acre park and interpretive center dedicated to telling the story of the paper mill, the dam built to sustain in, and the disastrous 1911 flood that resulted when that dame broke, killing at least 78 people and devastating both the mill and the surrounding town of Austin. TheFountain of Youthreally does exist, and you can find it in a public parkjust north of Pittsburgh! Yes it still runs as they have opened it up to the public as record you can go swimming there as they have sand along the bank and boat and fish and they even have a camp site now people go there all year round .I live in Fayetteville,Pa just about an hour from this place. Abandoned downtown and hospital on the hill with nurses quarters. Onnalinda in Pennsylvania is an old coal mining town. Thats a great spot. Did you know that during World War Two,German and Japanese prisoners of war were housed and interrogated at a secret camp near what is now Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Cumberland County?! You missed fallbrook pa the cemetery is still there and there are also some remains, There are some pretty cool ruins in Allegheny county a town called little Boston in the Elizabeth area I was told but not sure if the info is correct but the ruins may be from an old terracotta factory. At its peak, Pithole featured more than 50 hotels, three churches, the worlds first oil pipeline, a newspaper, a theater, and a railroad. Let us know in the comments below. Orviston was once a booming brickyard. The dam was later rebuilt, but failed again in 1942. The town was flooded when they built a dam. US steel production, currently running at. Another vote for Fricks Locks. But this isnt merely a story of economics, this is a story of the human impact, the emotional toll that hits a community which has lost the means to provide for its people. I think that a lot of the local leaders have not been doing their part. Today the abandoned Kunes Camp is part of the yellow-blazed Kunes Camp Trail in the Quehanna Wild Area. My great grandparents lived there. And while the tunnel is still open to park visitors, the popular and nearby Glen Onoko Falls Trail is no longer, closed by the PA Game Commission in 2019 after nearly 150 years of attracting tourists to the Jim Thorpe area. Today, the bunkers are overgrown and hidden away in the woods of State Game Lands 252. Residential uses continue at 11 properties. Today, this once-bustling borough is reduced to fewer than 10 residents. The main abandoned building here is the 120 Mill Motor House. I think there is an old cemetery there. Like EMI, the Quin-T Tech Paper property, a complex of . (Note: While to the best of our knowledge you can legally these abandoned places at the time of publication, access can always change. In the old days, a mill like this would have needed 4,000 workers. Ive mentioned several other abandoned coal mines on this list, but the Number 9 Coal Mine and Museum in Carbon County might be my favorite. When the furnaces were closed in 1982,large swaths of the site met the wrecking ball. There are two old cemeteries at the end of road, some of the head stone date back to the 1700s. Peale near winburne, pa is a cool spot I used to hunt in. The main road leading to the west side of the gamelands is named Elvia Road. Today, you can find the neglected remnants of the Fountain of Youth along Kummer Road near Wexford. See Howard Tunnel in York County, Pa for the oldest operating railroad tunnel in the world. There is an abandon tunnel left from the East Broadtop Railroad along Rt 994 not far from Saltillo / Three Springs. 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