10. Canal Village, Rome, New York
Where: Rome, New York
Time period: 1970s
Erie Canal Village, located near Rome, New York, was built at a cost of $8.2 million. It was intended to represent a historic revival of the Golden Age. The Village features stores and museums that reflect the Erie Canal in the 1800s, but they are all now run-down and abandoned. Although the tourist attraction was built in the 1970s, it was not kept up.
Rome, New York’s Canal Village, @atlasobscura/Pinterest
Although it was intended to improve the surrounding environment, it had the opposite effect. Erie Canal Village became a political tool used by both sides to blame the other for causing Rome, New York, to fall into ruin because of the buildings’ deteriorated and abandoned state. In order to prevent more harm to this once-popular tourist destination that is now a wasteland, the place is closed to the public and chained off.
zi ang