What is it about that word? Abandoned isn’t just an adjective, it’s a feeling. Maybe one of sorrow, or loss, or rage, or even gratitude at the forsaking of something that should never have existed to begin with. Abandoned places and objects may be eerie, wistful or even beautiful, but they’re seldom nothing. Abandonment always means something.
Click on any image to enlarge it, read caption, or begin slide show.

Have suffered with this feeling most of my life. Remindedd me of things, people and places I’ve abandoned. Regrets remain . In some things the disconnection was very wise. We must not regret abandoning toxic matters as they intensify with time.
Well stated…
Yes, indeed.
I love photos of abandoned places. I’m always wondering what the story is. I’ll be revisiting this post to save some of those photos, later, after I get home from work.
For some crazy unknown reason, these pictures of abandoned scenes make me feel nostalgic. But, believe me, I don’t want to be in any of those places! Thanks for sharing this interesting collection of pictures, Mitch.
My pleasure, as always, Nancy.
Kept expecting to see zombies in all those photos. The train track in the forest is my favorite.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. These triggered memories I haven’t remembered in years.
The photo of the desk chair with the circular window reminded me of a coworker who had been a belly gunner during World War Two. A nice guy, quiet, introverted. His being exposed like that in a glass bubble, but coming back unscathed, always made me wonder about him.
The abandoned Chevy plant brought back memories of a building at GE sat that unused for many years before I went into it to use an obscure piece of equipment. It felt strange spending time in a strangely deserted, large building.
Other photos triggered other memories. Thank for the memories. I wouldn’t have visited them without your guidance.
Happy to provide the memory tour, Gary. ;>)
Nice share
This is a very cool collection, Mitch!
I too love abandoned pictures, but they are creepy and An Abandoned Future really sends shivers. It was surely a time machine from our recent past…
Each abandoned place surely represents a story, adding curiosity to the sense of loss! I’ve also been thinking: Won’t heaven be glorious, where nothing will deteriorate (Matthew 6:19-21)?!
“Where moth and rust do not destroy…” Amen, Nancy!
Decades ago, in Plano, Texas, there was an abandoned farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere’sville. The former residents were killed in an Indian raid in the 1870s, and the place was said to be haunted. I went into the house, and yes, I believe it was haunted. Creepy stuff.
Just finished Enola Holmes #1 in which she is abandoned by her mother on her 14th birthday. How would that be captured as an emotion?
A young woman walking away from a Victorian brownstone, single satchel in-hand? But I think that’s too on-the-nose. What do you see, Pam?
Actually that image would signal emancipation since the Victorian age was male-dominant, despite having a queen for their monarch. Emancipation is a strong theme in Enola Holmes. I’m thinking more of The Little Match Girl. A child alone on the harsh streets of east side London selling what she can to stay alive (a scene that came to mind after I read your image suggestion).
‘Teenage Match Girl’ it is.
I wonder what the restoration costs on some of those old castles is…
*goes to check piggy bank*
;>) At least a hundred dollars, I’m guessing!
I’m going to need a bigger piggy.
Incredibly moving photos. Thanks Mitch.
Amazing photos… abandoned places are mysterious and have many stories to tell… maybe the idea is to sit still and look closely and listen to them?
I think you’re right, Dave.
Like others have commented, would love to know the stories. Beautifully haunting.
There’s an amusement park I used to work at called Geauga Lake. There are so many abandoned pics of it…it still strikes a chord with me and apparently others. Just like driving back to an old hometown; I always expect things to remain the same and they never do. But abandoned is different, it’s not being replaced with something better which change implies, but it’s just left, like people were just spirited away. Such a waste! I do wonder about the seats in the middle of the forest and the ship on the rock though, what?!
Many of these pose questions, don’t they, Martha?
I volunteer to reinhabit the room with the angels on its walls ~ especially if it’s in the house in the final picture…
;>) I think the house in the final picture might be of a somewhat humbler nature, Ana.
Not in MYYYYYYYY brain! 😆
Knocked it out of the park, Mitch! Poignant beauty. Blessings, Anne
Thank you, Anne!
Very interesting pictures Mitch. We humans have adandoned many things in our time. Thank God that he will never leave us nor forsake us! Have a Happy 4th of July!
You too, Cora!
Thanks!
I find stuff like this super interesting. The big door flanked by the two large trees looks like it should have Gandalf rapping on it with his staff …
Exactly, James!
Amazing how we are drawn to these places and their story. https://abandonedar.com/
These are amazing! There is such feeling packed into all of these!! Well done!!
Thank you!
I loved that NatGeo photo essay on the polar bears!
Pingback: My Biggest Hits of 2023 | Mitch Teemley
Pingback: The World We Leave Behind - Mitch Teemley