THEN AND NOW: What 10 abandoned places in the US looked like before they became ruins

Talia LakritzApr 16, 2020, 20:15 IST

Grossinger's Resort in the Catskills, then and now.Courtesy of Marisa Scheinfeld

"Borscht Belt" resorts in the Catskills went out of style and have sat abandoned for decades.
Houston's Astrodome used to host sports games and concerts, but is now empty except for when it's used for shelter during natural disasters.
The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, is now a museum and features a tour led by a former prisoner.
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From once-glamorous summer resorts to eerie sanatoriums, abandoned buildings (and even whole cities) across the US remain shells of their former selves. But what were these eerily empty structures like in their prime?

Here's what 10 abandoned places looked like before they were deserted and how they've since decayed.

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By 1971, it was closed and totally abandoned.

Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

It closed in 1961, and many visitors think it's haunted.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky was built in 1910 as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients.

The last train left the station in 1988.

Michigan Central Station opened in 1913 and was the tallest railroad station in the world at the time.

These days, it's used as a shelter during natural disasters.

When the Houston Astrodome opened in 1965, it was the first domed multi-purpose stadium in the US.

The mines closed in 1938 when the supply of high-grade ore ran out and has been empty ever since.

Nearly $200 million worth of copper was processed at Kennecott Mines in Alaska between 1911 and 1938.

The abandoned City Hall subway station is only accessible via a special tour.

New York City's first subway station, City Hall, opened in 1904.

It closed in 1990 and is now a museum.

The Ohio State Reformatory opened in 1896.

Today, most of its structures are on the verge of collapse.

From the 1880s to 1943, people with contagious diseases were quarantined on North Brother Island near New York City.

It closed in 1986 and its once-glamorous swimming pools and gazebos are being overtaken by the surrounding woods.

Grossinger's Resort, another Borscht Belt hotspot, was once known as the "Waldorf in the Catskills."

The ice skating rink at the Pines Hotel has seen better days.

The Pines Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York, was part of the "Borscht Belt," a collection of resorts popular with New York City Jews in the 1950s and 1960s.

A photographer created 3D models of abandoned places that allow you to explore inside their forgotten walls

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