The Abandoned Project

The Abandoned Project Abandoned Photography by Kevin Lacy
(7)

09/03/2026

Ta Prohm wasn't famous for centuries... then Hollywood introduced it to the world.

Built in 1186 by King Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and university, the temple was eventually abandoned as the Khmer Empire declined. Over the centuries, giant silk-cotton and strangler fig trees took root within the stone walls, their massive roots slowly wrapped around the ancient structures, creating one of the most extraordinary sights in Cambodia.

When Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed here in 2001, Ta Prohm became one of the country's most recognizable landmarks. Today, it's one of the few temples at Angkor intentionally left intertwined with the jungle, giving visitors a rare glimpse of what many ancient temples once looked like before restoration.

09/03/2026

This train station was built for the golden age of rail travel.

When it opened in 1929, it was one of the largest passenger terminals in the United States, designed to handle more than 200 trains and 10,000 passengers every day. During World War II, it became a vital transportation hub, moving troops, civilians, and supplies across the country.

As automobiles, interstate highways, and commercial air travel became more popular, passenger rail steadily declined. The last train departed in 1979, ending 50 years of service and leaving behind one of America's greatest railroad stations.

Today, its empty platforms and towering concourse are reminders of an era when railroads connected the nation.

09/03/2026

Rhyolite is one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the American West.

After gold was discovered nearby in 1904, the town exploded almost overnight. Within just a few years, it had banks, a hospital, an opera house, electric lights, a railroad depot, and thousands of residents who believed the boom would last forever.

Then came the Panic of 1907, declining mine production, and the closure of the Montgomery Shoshone Mine in 1911. Businesses failed, residents moved away, and by 1916 the town's power was shut off for good.

Today, its crumbling stone buildings remain as one of the most remarkable reminders of how quickly fortunes could be made—and lost—during the American gold rush.

09/02/2026

These bunks once belonged to soldiers who stood watch during one of the most tense periods of the Cold War.

Nike missile crews lived in barracks like these while working 24-hour alert shifts, ready to respond if Soviet bombers entered U.S. airspace. When they weren't monitoring equipment or maintaining missiles, these simple rooms were where they ate, rested, and waited for the next shift.

As long-range ballistic missiles replaced bomber threats, the Nike missile system became obsolete. Most sites were decommissioned by the mid-1970s, leaving behind empty barracks, launch facilities, and radar stations that still offer a glimpse into everyday life during the Cold War.

09/02/2026

This train hasn't moved in years—but the railroad it sits on was once considered one of the greatest engineering achievements in the American West.

Built through rugged mountains, deep canyons, and unforgiving desert terrain, the line earned a reputation for overcoming obstacles that many believed were impossible. Floods, rockslides, tunnel collapses, fires, and financial setbacks challenged the railroad throughout its history, making it one of the most difficult railways ever constructed.

Today, abandoned locomotives and railcars resting on these tracks are reminders of a time when railroads connected some of the most remote places in the Southwest.

09/02/2026

There's a reason so many retired airplanes end up in the Arizona desert.

The dry climate and low humidity dramatically slow rust and corrosion, while the hard desert soil is strong enough to support the weight of massive aircraft without the need for miles of paved storage ramps. Those conditions make Arizona one of the best places in the world to preserve airplanes for years—or even decades. Some aircraft are eventually returned to service, while many others become valuable sources of spare parts that keep active fleets flying.

What looks like an airplane graveyard is actually one of the largest aviation preservation facilities on Earth.

09/01/2026

For decades, this building never slept.

Ships arrived day and night. Conveyors roared overhead. Grain poured through these silos around the clock as millions of bushels passed through on their journey to mills, bakeries, and dinner tables across North America.

Today, there's only silence.

The machinery is gone, the ships have stopped coming, and one of the greatest engineering achievements of the industrial age has become a monument to a forgotten era. Built in **1925**, these silos are still standing nearly a century later—a testament to just how incredibly they were engineered.

08/31/2026

The size of these tanks tells you just how much work went into recovering gold.

After the ore was crushed into a fine powder, it was pumped into large processing vats where a chemical leaching process dissolved microscopic gold particles from the surrounding rock. From there, the gold was recovered through a series of additional treatment steps before being melted into bullion. Modern gold mills like this could process thousands of tons of ore that would have been impossible to recover during the Gold Rush.

Today, the machinery is silent, but it's a fascinating reminder that finding gold was only the beginning—the real challenge was extracting it.

08/31/2026

Imagine building a structure so well... that even a lake couldn't destroy it.

This freight transfer station was completed in 1914, where barges unloaded cargo from the river and railcars carried it across the country. When the Tennessee Valley Authority created Kentucky Lake in the 1940s, the surrounding community was flooded—but this massive concrete structure was left standing. More than 80 years later, it still rises above the water.

It makes you wonder...

If you had one chance to explore it, would you go inside?

08/30/2026

At first, it sounds like an easy decision.

An entire neighborhood. Hundreds of abandoned homes. Empty streets stretching across the desert.

But then you remember there's no grocery store, no school, no neighbors, and no jobs.

This is Eagle Mountain, California—a town built in 1948 to support an iron mine. When the mine closed in 1983, the community slowly emptied, leaving behind one of the largest ghost towns in the American West.

So here's the question...

Would you actually live here if someone gave you one of these houses for free?

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Long Beach, CA
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