I’d Love To Read About: Abandoned Places

Have you ever learned a strange fact or seen an unusual thing and thought, I wish there were more books about that? It happens to me all the time. Authors, if you’re listening, here are four abandoned places that I wish somebody would write about. (Or take inspiration from. I’m not picky!)

I’d Love To Read About: Abandoned Places

Olympic Venues

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The Olympics are fun, right? Every few years we get to dress up in patriotic colors and pretend that we know something about weird sports. But, what happens to Olympic venues after the fun is over? Most of them are repurposed. They become apartments, athlete training centers, convention centers, vacation resorts, tourist attractions, whatever. Others aren’t so lucky. The host country spent all of their money on building the venue, and now they don’t have money left to repurpose it. Those pretty venues become creepy abandoned places. 

Salton Sea, USA

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In 1905, the Colorado River broke through its dam and flooded an area of the desert called the Salton Sink. This is why California has a very large lake in the middle of an inhospitable desert. It was an accident. Instead of despairing about their soggy desert, Californians saw an opportunity. They named the lake the Salton Sea, dumped fish in it, and opened yacht clubs. They built hotels and campgrounds and turned the lake into a fancy resort.

In the 1950s, everything went wrong. There aren’t supposed to be lakes in the desert. The Salton Sea had no drainage outlet and was not replenished by rainfall (because it’s in a desert). The lake started shrinking fast and got contaminated by farm runoff and other chemicals. Animals died en masse. Nobody wants to yacht on a lake full of toxic chemicals and belly-up fish, so the tourists left and the resorts died.

Nowadays, there’s still water in the Salton Sea, but it’s mostly a desert wasteland.

Hashima Island, Japan

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In Japan, there’s a whole 16-acre (6.3 hectare) island that’s been abandoned and is thought to be haunted. The island got its start in the 1800s as a place for coal miners to live. The coal in Japan is under the ocean. Getting it out isn’t safe or pleasant. The temperature in the mines was around 86°F (30°C) and 95% humidity. Deadly accidents were common.

From the 1930s until the end of WWII, the Japanese miners on the island were replaced by Korean conscripted civilians and Chinese prisoners of war. The forced laborers were made to mine coal in inhuman conditions. It’s estimated that 1,300 of them died from accidents, exhaustion, or malnutrition.

By the 1970s, Japan’s economy was no longer heavily reliant on coal. Mines were shut down. Hashima Island was abandoned.

Petra, Jordan

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Here’s an old one. Petra is a city carved into stone. It’s believed to have been settled in 9000 BC and may have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants. It was once a center of wealth and power in the Arab world.

Then, things changed (as things do). New trade routes emerged that bypassed Petra. The city lost its independence to the Romans. An earthquake destroyed most of its buildings. The residents moved away. The glittering center of wealth became a camp for tired nomads.

People outside of Jordan didn’t know that Petra existed until 1812, when it was “discovered” by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. The outside world thought that Petra was pretty cool. Many of the buildings were reinforced or repaired. The ancient city became a tourist attraction and archaeological site.

Now, Petra is Jordan’s most-visited tourist destination. It’s been named a World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the world.

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Is there an abandoned place that you’d like to read about?