Abandoned in New York

When it comes to urban exploration, New York has it all. The Empire State stretches across 54,555 square miles. Relics of the past can be found in every corner.

Upstate New York is filled with abandoned, out-of-the-way places. Each represents someone’s dream; a career; fond memories; a home; all quickly fading into the past. But explorers beware: while most of the following places are open to the public, some are restricted and you visit at your own risk.

An abandoned Girl Scout camp deep in the woods is something from a horror movie, and you can experience it yourself in Upstate New York. In 1929 the Girl Scouts of America purchased 150-acres between Maxwell Bay and Sill Creek for use as a summer camp.

Unfortunately, rising tax rates, declining membership, and environmental factors led to the camp’s closure and sale in 1996. New York State bought the land but budget cuts forced it to designate the site as a preserve. The buildings were left to rot. The camp is remarkably well preserved for having been abandoned and accessible to the public for over two decades.

On July 2, 1918, a terrible explosion at a munitions factory outside Syracuse, New York claimed the lives of more than 50 workers, injuring dozens more. 15 men were incinerated beyond recognition and over 20 reported missing and presumed dead. Today, Split Rock Quarry is largely abandoned, taken over by hikers, urban explorers, curiosity seekers, and partiers.

Since its closure, some visitors have reported strange encounters in the abandoned quarry at night, and it has become a popular destination for paranormal investigation. Eyewitnesses reported strange lights and glowing green and yellow apparitions.

The Tahawus Club in New York’s Adirondack Mountains was built on the ruins of an older town, called Adirondac, which businessmen Archibald McIntyre and David Henderson built for their iron miners and lasted from 1826 to 1853. A titanium mine opened in 1940, and the newly christened town of Tahawus grew to over 80 buildings. That mine closed in the 1980s, however, and the structures quickly deteriorated.

Today, not much remains of this ghost town. Beautifully illustrated interpretive signs explaining the area’s history have been erected at the site, and one building, called the MacNaughton Cottage, has been preserved. Crumbling brick chimneys stand as memorials to the rest.

Closed in 1983, the St. Lawrence State Hospital in Ogdensburg, New York was an integral part of the local community for nearly a century. It treated thousands of mentally ill, disabled, and epileptic patients. Today, most of the hospital’s old buildings are abandoned, but several were sold and opened as private treatment facilities and a NY State minimum security prison.

Mountain Drive-In, off NY State Highway 52, east of Liberty, New York, silently sits in ruins like a scene from the Fallout series. A faded sign still advertises “Mountain Fest ’97”, so I assume that was when it closed. According to Cinema Treasures, it opened in 1951 and once had three screens.