137. Osaka Maritime Museum, Suminoe-ku, Japan

Location: Osaka Bay, Suminoe-ku, Japan
Year: 2000
Cost: $93 million to build*
For more than a decade, this giant, domed structure was the home of the Osaka Maritime Museum, which was dedicated to exploring the city’s history and culture. The structure was award-winning and weather-resistance, and you could access it through an undersea tunnel. The main attraction was a full-size model of an Edo trading ship.

Osaka Maritime Museum, Suminoe-ku, Japan @atlasobscura/Pinterest
Now, this French-designed building is empty and abandoned, thanks to falling museum attendance and a lack of funding. Residents and visitors can still watch the dome from the Bay, but they cannot go into this museum, which is a shame for Japanese maritime enthusiasts.

138. Baron Empain Palace, El-Montaza, Egypt

Location:  El-Montaza, Egypt
Year: 1911
Cost: $10.9 million to restore in 2020*
This distinctive, historic palace was built by Belgian millionaire Edward Empain. Empain was a passionate traveler, and he loved Egypt so much that he decided to build the Empain Palace in 1911. That wasn’t his only plan. The Baron also wanted to create a new city in the middle of the desert, suggesting the name “Heliopolis” for this feat (City of the Sun).

Baron Empain Palace, El-Montaza, Egypt ©Baloncici/Shutterstock
Empain Palace is abandoned, and no one lives there now. There are also rumors of hauntings, as local legend says that, in some of the rooms in the Palace, Empain’s wife would worship demons, sacrificing animals to these dark forces. According to people who live near the Palace, sometimes, for no reason, there are screams echoing from its rooms, late at night.

139. Witley Wonder Underwater Ballroom, Godalming, England

Location: Godalming, England
Year: Late 1800s
Cost: $400,000 to build*
This rotting, underwater ballroom has a fascinating history attached to it. Called the Witley Wonder Underwater Ballroom, this subterranean smoking room was located beneath a lake. It had a roof aquarium, and, like everything on its surrounding estate, it was doomed.

Witley Wonder Underwater Ballroom, Codalming, England @terrinakamura/Twitter
Whitley Wonder was built by notorious criminal Whitaker Wright, who floated bonds and committed other white-collar crimes for a living. When the heat was on Wright, he fled in 1900, but he was caught. Four years later, he was tried by the Royal Courts of Justice and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Before the police could take him away, Wright swallowed a cyanide pill, ending his own life. His estate has, largely, remained abandoned since this gruesome death.

140. Abandoned Dome House, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Year: Unknown
Cost: Unknown
In the middle of the woods in Fox Chapel, North Carolina, there is an abandoned dome house that is in bad condition. It is built in a similar style to the architectural fad from the sixties known as “Futuro Houses.” Designed by a Finnish architect, these prefabricated, dome-shaped homes sold like hotcakes after their ’68 debut.

Abandoned Dome House, Chapel Hill, North Carolina @atlasobscura/Pinterest
The Chapel Hill Dome House is Futuro-inspired, but, alas, its owners’ plans don’t seem to have worked out. Locals have left it alone, and you can see its rotting, distinctive bubble shape along Jack Bennett Road. The roof has caved in, and the deck is rotting, so there is no real access into the home.

141. Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton, Chattahoochee, Florida

Location: Chattahoochee, Florida
Year: 1978
Cost: $22 million* (Total Estate Value)
This Florida arena has sat empty for decades. Known as the Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton, the arena was home to the world’s “fastest game.” It was also rife with gambling and danger. In the arena, jai alai, a notoriously dangerous Spanish sport, was played, and people would bet on the players at the Big Bend.

Big Bend Jai Alai Fronton, Chattahoochee, Florida @atlasobscura/Pinterest
The Big Bend was founded by Stephen Calder, who died with a $22 million estate (the Big Bend included). His estate was disputed for thirteen years in probate court, and it was uncovered that Calder may have been a super shady businessman, hosting fixed games, encouraging gambling, and even, allegedly, hiding suitcases of gems and gold everywhere.

142. Santa Claus, Golden Valley, Arizona

Location: Golden Valley, Arizona
Year: 1937
Cost: $8,000* (2021 Sale Price)
The Mojave Desert is one of the hottest places in America, and it is the last place you’d expect to find a Christmas-themed town. Despite that, there is Santa Claus, a now-ghost-town founded by Nina Talbot and her husband in the 1930s.

Santa Claus, Golden Valley, Arizona @HallowsHaunts/Twitter
Santa Claus was founded as the North Pole in the desert, and there were rides and other Christmas-themed buildings. For a while, Santa Claus was a popular tourist attraction, attracting even celebrities. But, Santa Claus started to struggle because no one bought land there, and Talbot sold the town in 1949 after making very little profits. The land has changed hands over the years, with the last sale price record at $8,000 in 2021.

143. Titanic Standard Reduction Mill, Genola, Utah

Location: Genola, Utah
Year: 1920
Cost: $580,000 to build*
The Tintic Standard Reduction Mill was built in 1920, but it was only in operation until 1925. Now, the refinery is abandoned, and people are discouraged from visiting it, as it has high levels of lead and arsenic, two substances that are deadly to humans.

Titanic Standard Reduction Mill, Genola, Utah ©DT Brimhall/Wikimedia
There was a time when this Mill, which was built into the side of a mountain, was productive, producing 200 tons of ore per day. Despite that, the owners were not able to keep it open for a multitude of reasons, and it has since become a hovel filled with abandoned mining equipment and dangerous poisons.

144. Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield, Nevada

Location: Goldfield, Nevada
Year: 1908
Cost: $300,000-$400,000 to build*
In 1908, Goldfield, Nevada was the place to be, and it was home to a lot of people and the Goldfield Hotel. The Hotel was extravagant, as you would expect the lodgings in a Gold Rush town to be. The 150-room Hotel had a mahogany lobby, chandeliers, gold-leaf ceilings, and abundant champagne.

Goldfield Hotel, Goldfield, Nevada @atlasobscura/Pinterest
But, when the gold dried up, so did Goldfield and the Hotel. Now, the Goldfield Hotel is known not for its opulence, but for being haunted, and the hotel, admittedly, does have a lot of murders and suicides. Some visitors even, rather theatrically, claim that the Goldfield Hotel is a direct portal to Hell itself.

145. Smith Mansion, Cody, Wyoming

Location: Cody, Wyoming
Year: 1980s
Cost: $500,000* (2020 Purchase Price)
The Smith Manson is a psychedelic building that cost its creator $500,000 to build. Constructed by Lee Smith, an engineer, the home started as a locally-harvested abode for Smith and his family. But, Smith became obsessed with the project, and that obsession led to his wife divorcing him and taking the kids with her.

Smith Mansion, Cody, Wyoming @USC_07/Twitter
Still, Smith didn’t stop, adding more and more onto the home and sinking thousands into it. Tragically, while working on the house on an upper level, Smith fell to his death from a balcony. This put an end to his obsessive, strange project, which captivated Wyoming locals for years.

147. Abandoned Brach’s Candy Factory, Chicago, Illinois

Location: Chicago, Illinois
Year: 1923
Cost: $5 million to build*
Brach’s Candy is one of the most popular candy brands in the United States, bringing in millions of dollars in revenue a year. In Chicago, Illinois, the company built a $5 million factory to meet the huge demand for its candy. In 1923, that amount of money was unheard of.

Abandoned Brach’s Candy Factory, Chicago, Illinois @atlasobscura/Pinterest
The plant was finished, and, there, Brach’s produced more than 250 kinds of treats. The factory survived the Great Depression, but, when the cost of sugar spiked in the 1980s and 1990s, the massive candy operation was unsustainable. The factory closed in 2000, and it remained abandoned until demolition began in 2014.

148. Zelda Fitzgerald’s Abandoned Sanatorium, Beacon, New York

Location: Beacon, New York
Year: 1859
Cost: $16,680 per month to stay there in the Sanatorium’s heyday*
In 1859, this Sanatorium was constructed, though, at the time, it was not a medical facility—it was a gothic house made for a former Civil War general. Named Tioranda, the home was converted into a psychiatric hospital in 1915. It cost $750 a month to stay there ($16,680, adjusting for inflation), and it was a private place for the rich and famous to stay when they were having a mental breakdown.

The Sanatorium was the same place where F. Scott Fitzgerald took Zelda, his beloved wife, to try to find a cure for her depression. Other famous socialites included Frances Seymour and Rosemary Kennedy, both of whom suffered sad fates at the hospital. The Sanatorium closed years ago, though its interior remains perfectly preserved to this day.

149. Climax, Colorado, Leadville, Colorado

Location: Leadville, Colorado
Year: 1900s
Cost: $700 million* (2012 Upgrades To The Mine)
Climax, Colorado was a small mining town that sat over 11,300 feet above sea level (hence its name). It was located near a molybdenum mine, which, after $700 million in upgrades, was reopened in 2012. Climax has remained closed, however, and it is one of many abandoned mining towns out West.

Climax, Colorado, Leadville, Colorado @atlasobscura/Pinterest
At one point, the Climax Mine was the site of 75% of the global supply of molybdenum. It had high points and low points until it was closed in 1995 and its buildings moved to next-door Leadville. Now, all that is left of Climax, the town, is an old train engine and a few mining exhibits and relics.

150. The Lost Diner, Manhattan, New York

Location: Manhattan, New York City, New York
Year: 1956
Cost: Unknown
This is, perhaps, the saddest diner in all of New York. The Lost Diner is located off the West Side Highway in Manhattan, New York, and the Kullman car, though it may be hard to believe, was once a popular restaurant.

The Lost Diner, Manhattan, New York @atlasobscura/Pinterest
The diner opened in 1956 at 357 West Street, and it slowly drew in fewer customers over the years until its owners abandoned it in 2006. Now, all that remains are food piles, busted windows, striped walls, and a caved-in roof. No one has fixed the rubble yet, though, we’re sure, local businesses have complained about the eyesore.

151. Durham City Baths, Durham, England

Location: Durham, England
Year: 1932
Cost: Undisclosed
There was a time when baths and washhouses could be found all over England (and in America, too). The Durham City Baths and Washhouses were founded in 1932 in Durham, England, and they were constructed to replace an old, peat-floored pool that had turned into a muddy swamp.

Durham City Baths, Durham, England @samstoker1/Instagram
The Durham Baths were impressive, as the pool was large enough to accommodate professional swimming competitions. The heat from the pool was diverted into drying rooms, and women would wash and dry peoples’ clothes for pay. The Baths remained open until 2008, and now, they are abandoned. Though there were plans to turn them into housing complexes, those plans fell through.