An incredible number of historic buildings have been redeveloped in recent years, but there’s still plenty of left worth saving. Here are the ones we’d most like to see.
Lee Plaza is one of those buildings that still holds onto its old charm and was a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Located on the West…
View on Google Maps The abandoned Michigan Central Station is one of Detroit's most iconic buildings. Just like the Motor City, the s...
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
Part of an ongoing series on abandoned houses in Detroit.
The building was originally the city's main post office. A tunnel between the warehouse and the Michigan Central Station across the street s...
Modern Detroit is a lot of things, all at once: infamous city of decay, hotbed of creativity, time capsule of the American dream, etc. Regardless of how you...
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
Once a powerhouse for car manufacturing, this abandoned factory in Michigan was once one of the most fascinating buildings in the state.
Abandoned Detroit, ground zero of the North East United States Urban Exploring Scene. Abandoned Churches, Abandoned High School, Abandoned Theaters
A photo set of an abandoned neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan. Photography by Luke Fandrich.
Abandoned Detroit, ground zero of the North East United States Urban Exploring Scene. Abandoned Churches, Abandoned High School, Abandoned Theaters
I keep coming back to Detroit. It's bizarre how photogenic the downfall of America’s industrial powerhouse can be. However there's an eerie and unwanted sense of responsibility to be felt when looking through these before & after photographs of Detroit taken in 1973 and 2010 by the same photogra
In its infancy, this neighborhood served as a land division place alongside a water source,…
A collection of archival images of Brush Park in Detroit, Michigan with additional photography by Luke Fandrich.
Fisher Body plant on Piquette St. The empty field next to it is full of stuff people dump.
One of Detroit's overlooked neighborhoods is Delray, an intriguing place on the southwestern end of the city. Its borders are Fort Street to...
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
The Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit MI - Matthew Christopher's Abandoned America
Abandoned Detroit, ground zero of the North East United States Urban Exploring Scene. Abandoned Churches, Abandoned High School, Abandoned Theaters
I keep coming back to Detroit. It's bizarre how photogenic the downfall of America’s industrial powerhouse can be. However there's an eerie and unwanted sense of responsibility to be felt when looking through these before & after photographs of Detroit taken in 1973 and 2010 by the same photogra
The abandoned Fisher Body Plant 21, located down the street from the original Ford Plant on Piquette Avenue. This facility was used for the majority of it's time as a Cadillac Tech Center.
Reputed to the the largest abandoned site in North America, Packard has perhaps been hit harder by arson, scrappers, and vandals than any other abandoned site as well. By Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America.
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
Stunning before and after photos of the beautiful city with sad story, Detroit.
Detroit's Abandoned Ruins Are Captivating, But Are They Bad For Neighborhoods?
This place is on private property. Listing for informational purposes only. Please do not visit without express permission from the land owner. In 1910, the LaSalle Park neighborhood was far from bustling downtown Detroit. Only a few houses had been built along 12th Avenue, leaving long open tracts of countryside. But Bishop John Foley, leader of the Detroit Catholic Archdiocese had watched the city grow rapidly, and knew that it wouldn’t be long before this area would fill up with houses too. With that in mind, he bought a parcel of land on the corner of 12th Avenue and LaSalle Street as a possible site for a future church. He didn’t have to wait long. On a cold February day in 1914, Foley and Rev. Chas E. Henigan surveyed the snow-covered lot. With new houses popping up throughout the neighborhood, Foley believed it was time for a new church, and had recruited Reverend Henigan to lead it. In April, the first mass of St. Agnes Catholic Church was held in a frame house two blocks away bought for the purpose. The new congregation quickly outgrew the house though, and moved into a temporary church in December of 1914 that could seat 200.In the meantime, construction started on the permanent location of St. Agnes, with the school built in 1916, and the convent a year later. After considering several possibilities for a sanctuary, the parish chose a gothic design by the firm of Van Leyen, Schilling, Keough, and Reynolds, and started work in 1922. The cornerstone of the church was laid in a ceremony on September 10 by Bishop Michael James Gallagher; construction of the 1,500 seat sanctuary was completed in 1924, and the church was dedicated on June 1st. Later in the year the church took delivery of a custom-built pipe organ by the firm of Casavant Frères, Opus #1035. St. Agnes thrived through the middle part of the century, growing to 1,600 families, three priests, 22 nuns, and a girl’s high school with 180 students by 1964 – the 50th anniversary of the church. A few years later though, a police raid on an after-hours drinking establishment down the street led to a confrontation between officers and residents that quickly grew into one of the worst outbursts of civil unrest the country would ever see. Though St. Agnes was relatively unscathed by the 1967 riots, most of the buildings around it along 12th street were burned to the ground. The neighborhood never recovered, and attendance numbers started to drop. By 1986 there were just 162 families worshiping at St. Agnes, not nearly enough to cover the operating cost of such a large church. As part of a wave of citywide Catholic Church closings and consolidations, St. Agnes merged with nearby St. Theresa Avila in 1989, forming a new parish that would continue on in the St. Agnes building. Reflecting the racial makeup of the neighborhood, the Archdiocese renamed the parish “Martyrs of Uganda,” in honor of African missionaries who had been executed in 1887 for refusing to renounce their faith. Though the parish focused heavily on community outreach and attracting new members, attendance continued to fall after the merger. The school closed in 2000 and was used for storage and events. As another round of church closings came up in 2006, it was decided that the relatively few number of parishioners at Martyrs of Uganda, as well as the poor condition of the building made it impractical to continue on. The parish was suppressed in June of that year, with around 90 members transferring to St. Cecilia Church. After closing, the building was put up for sale by the Detroit Archdiocese. What happened after that is hard to trace, but this much is clear. At some point after 2007 the Archdiocese removed the pews and stained glass windows, replacing them with clear plastic panes. The building sold to a congregation that never took possession of it, instead letting it fall into ruin. By 2009 the pipes of the organ had been stolen by metal thieves, and many of the glazed tiles set into the walls and pillars had been stripped out. Damage caused by weather and vandalism took hold through 2010, and the sanctuary began shedding large amounts of its façade. The future of the church is still very much up in the air, but there is a new owner. In June of 2012, Scott Griffin, a theater producer and real estate investor bought the church for $90,000. Though he has no immediate plans for the buildings, he has secured them against further trespass, and is talking with the community about what can be done with it. St. Agnes was certainly not the largest or most ornate of Detroit’s Catholic churches. It did however anchor a neighborhood that thrived with activity, and hosted Mother Theresa in 1981. 1,500 people packed the church to hear her speak; afterwards she insisted that the donuts, cakes and coffee that had been provided be given to the poor instead. 12th Avenue has struggled to rebuild in the wake of the 1967 riots, but is starting to show signs of life, with new housing sprouting up across the street and a new shopping center near Clairmount Ave. St. Agnes has the potential to anchor the neighborhood again.
10 Abandoned and Unused Libraries of the World. For every beautiful library, there is an abandoned or unused one.
View on Google Maps The abandoned Michigan Central Station is one of Detroit's most iconic buildings. Just like the Motor City, the s...
I keep coming back to Detroit. It's bizarre how photogenic the downfall of America’s industrial powerhouse can be. However there's an eerie and unwanted sense of responsibility to be felt when looking through these before & after photographs of Detroit taken in 1973 and 2010 by the same photogra
cool abandoned place in Detroit that we photographed
Nearly a third of Detroit's homes are vacant, and along with the residences, the city's stately hotels and cultural centers have been abandoned as well, falling into dramatic disrepair, their grand ruins still showing the promises of a once-booming city.
Photographer Ryan Southen witnessed the rapid interior decay of Michigan Central Station over the last few years, as the building awaits its fate. Ironically, much of the decay is due to the public fascination with the place.
It seems everyone has an image of Detroit, Michigan as a broken, bankrupt city ($18.5 million in debt). A place that has had a mass exodus of its citizens and is full of abandoned buildings. A city…
