Abandoned Pennsylvania: Industry and Endings

Pennsylvania’s history is intrinsic to our understanding of America’s expansion. As the second state in the nation, much of America’s early industrial history can be traced back to Pennsylvania and its two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburg.

Not only was the Declaration of Independence signed in Philadelphia in 1776, it was also the capital city of the United States from 1790 to 1800. More than two centuries later, evidence of much of this history is slowly being erased from our present-day landscape.

For the armchair urban explorer and history buff alike, Abandoned Pennsylvania: Industry and Endings takes a journey through Pennsylvania’s industrial, recreational, correctional, and educational past. Scranton Lace Factory, the anchor of a small industrial town, and the irreplaceable Inn at Buck Hill Falls were once bustling cogs in a growing state’s fortunes; a fireplace and a clock tower are all that remain to remind us of their existence.

Of other buildings, such as the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church and Thomas Edison High School, nothing remains. In their place is an athletic field, a Save-A-Lot store, and a parking lot. Industry and Endings illuminates the regrettable fact that our hunger for progress is outstripping our respect for the past.