15 Times Popular Places Were Abandoned And Turned Into Spooky Sites, As Shared By This Photographer
Change is the only constant!
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The energy of a place is usually conveyed by the presence of beings in the surrounding. If left for a long time without human presence, even the most lively sites can become dull and eerie.
Pablo Iglesias Maurer is a photographer who got interested in the idea of exploring the current reality of old postcard-like pictures. After capturing a '5-decades-after' shot of a Golf course he found on a matchbox, he ordered '60s photo postcards from eBay and started going around the country to look for those places in the vintage photos. Check out some of the before-after images he captured in the gallery below.
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Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"Sunbathing and swimming in the Poconos. Postmarked, 1967. "Dear Jonnie: If you were only here, I would take you out for a horse-back ride - or else we could go golfing. Be good until I see you. Dr. Waterman.""
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"Stairs lead down to an abandoned theater in the Poconos. The curtain last fell here sometime in the early 90's."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard and Associates
"The Mies van der Rohe-inspired "Jenny G Wing" opened in 1964 and was among the last structures erected at Grossinger's. It was designed by famed architect Morris Lapidus—the man who near single-handedly created the "Miami Modern" look in hotels and, more locally, designed the Capitol Skyline Hotel."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"More of the indoor pool at Grossinger's. The tiled floor was heated, the entire structure air conditioned. Above, beautiful mid-century "sputnik" chandeliers cast a glow on the swimmers below. Below the pool are exercise rooms, a gym, salon and a host of other amenities. The pool has sat vacant since the late 90's and has fallen beyond repair."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"Grossinger's outdoor pool, olympic sized, built in 1949 at a cost of $400,000 (about $5 million in today's market.) Long gone are the private cabanas, changing room and lounges that used to surround it."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"The browns and reds and oranges of this Poconos dining hall's carpet have turned green, the color of the moss that's taken its place."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"Looking down the side of that same 70's structure. "Ultra-modern building houses the dining room, cocktail lounge, lobbies and offices.""
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster
"A residential building at a Poconos resort sits in disrepair. On the back of the postcard: "Dear Bernie - Don't think we forgot you - but we're having such a grand time that post cards are a chore! This is the life & the place & the people are grand. We couldn't be happier or have more fun. See you soon! Love, Lou & Shiela."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"The Homowack Lodge now sits abandoned on the southern edge of the famed "Borscht Belt." On its lower level, maybe the highlight of the place, a four-lane Brunswick bowling alley. It has seen better days. The resort closed in the mid-2000's but lived on briefly, first as a Hasidic resort and lastly as the site of a summer camp—one which was forced to shut down after the NY Department of Environmental Conservation deemed it uninhabitable."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, FPC advertising
"Grossinger's indoor tennis center. The rear of the postcard is an ad for Grossinger's rye bread, a local staple during the resort's operation. Resort royalty Jenny Grossinger lays out the pitch: "The fun and fresh air people get here at Grossinger's really gives them an appetite. They love all of our food - and a particular favorite is our Grossinger's rye and pumpernickel bread. Now you can get this same healthy, flavorful bread at your local food store. Try a loaf. I'm sure you'll love it.""
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"After a fire destroyed the main building at this resort in the Poconos, a replacement went up in the early 70's. It is a truly striking sight, a modernist spaceship tucked away deep in the woods."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Catskills Institute at Brown University
"A lane attendant at the Homowack lodge in the Catskills."
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"The indoor pool at Grossinger's, which opened in 1958. Elizabeth Taylor attended the pool's opening, and Florence Chadwick - the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions - took the first dip in it. From Ross Padluck's excellent "Lost Architecture of Paradise": "...The new indoor pool at Grossinger's was the zenith of the Catskills. Nothing quite like it had ever been built, and nothing ever would be again. It represented everything about the Catskills in the 1950s-style: extravagance, luxury, modernism and celebrity.""
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"The caption on the back of this Pocono resort's postcard touts this theater as the "resort world's most modern showplace." With a capacity of 1200, it remains splendorous even in disrepair. This postcard is also postmarked, and filled out. "Having a lovely weekend here. All pleasure - only exercise is rowing a boat and playing shuffleboard! Nice to be lady-like and not "rushing" about! We will see you soon.""
#1
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"Sunbathing and swimming in the Poconos. Postmarked, 1967. "Dear Jonnie: If you were only here, I would take you out for a horse-back ride - or else we could go golfing. Be good until I see you. Dr. Waterman.""
#2
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"Stairs lead down to an abandoned theater in the Poconos. The curtain last fell here sometime in the early 90's."
#3
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard and Associates
"The Mies van der Rohe-inspired "Jenny G Wing" opened in 1964 and was among the last structures erected at Grossinger's. It was designed by famed architect Morris Lapidus—the man who near single-handedly created the "Miami Modern" look in hotels and, more locally, designed the Capitol Skyline Hotel."
#4
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"More of the indoor pool at Grossinger's. The tiled floor was heated, the entire structure air conditioned. Above, beautiful mid-century "sputnik" chandeliers cast a glow on the swimmers below. Below the pool are exercise rooms, a gym, salon and a host of other amenities. The pool has sat vacant since the late 90's and has fallen beyond repair."
#5
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"Grossinger's outdoor pool, olympic sized, built in 1949 at a cost of $400,000 (about $5 million in today's market.) Long gone are the private cabanas, changing room and lounges that used to surround it."
#6
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"The browns and reds and oranges of this Poconos dining hall's carpet have turned green, the color of the moss that's taken its place."
#7
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"Looking down the side of that same 70's structure. "Ultra-modern building houses the dining room, cocktail lounge, lobbies and offices.""
#8
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster
"A residential building at a Poconos resort sits in disrepair. On the back of the postcard: "Dear Bernie - Don't think we forgot you - but we're having such a grand time that post cards are a chore! This is the life & the place & the people are grand. We couldn't be happier or have more fun. See you soon! Love, Lou & Shiela."
#9
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"The Homowack Lodge now sits abandoned on the southern edge of the famed "Borscht Belt." On its lower level, maybe the highlight of the place, a four-lane Brunswick bowling alley. It has seen better days. The resort closed in the mid-2000's but lived on briefly, first as a Hasidic resort and lastly as the site of a summer camp—one which was forced to shut down after the NY Department of Environmental Conservation deemed it uninhabitable."
#10
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, FPC advertising
"Grossinger's indoor tennis center. The rear of the postcard is an ad for Grossinger's rye bread, a local staple during the resort's operation. Resort royalty Jenny Grossinger lays out the pitch: "The fun and fresh air people get here at Grossinger's really gives them an appetite. They love all of our food - and a particular favorite is our Grossinger's rye and pumpernickel bread. Now you can get this same healthy, flavorful bread at your local food store. Try a loaf. I'm sure you'll love it.""
#11
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
#12
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmasters
"After a fire destroyed the main building at this resort in the Poconos, a replacement went up in the early 70's. It is a truly striking sight, a modernist spaceship tucked away deep in the woods."
#13
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Catskills Institute at Brown University
"A lane attendant at the Homowack lodge in the Catskills."
#14
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Bill Bard Associates
"The indoor pool at Grossinger's, which opened in 1958. Elizabeth Taylor attended the pool's opening, and Florence Chadwick - the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions - took the first dip in it. From Ross Padluck's excellent "Lost Architecture of Paradise": "...The new indoor pool at Grossinger's was the zenith of the Catskills. Nothing quite like it had ever been built, and nothing ever would be again. It represented everything about the Catskills in the 1950s-style: extravagance, luxury, modernism and celebrity.""
#15
Image source: Pablo Iglesias Maurer, Kardmaster Brochures
"The caption on the back of this Pocono resort's postcard touts this theater as the "resort world's most modern showplace." With a capacity of 1200, it remains splendorous even in disrepair. This postcard is also postmarked, and filled out. "Having a lovely weekend here. All pleasure - only exercise is rowing a boat and playing shuffleboard! Nice to be lady-like and not "rushing" about! We will see you soon.""DE
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