Table of Contents
MOST POPULAR
Abandoned Scranton Lace: A Visual Autopsy of the American Dream
What happened to the place that built Hillary Clinton’s grandfather’s American Dream? Check out this pictorial essay about the abandoned Scranton Lace Factory
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Come Fly With Me—Abandoned & Infamous: Birchwood Resort
A ghost town of decaying cabins and recreational facilities
Tee Time No More –Abandoned Mini-Golf
If you’re looking to play a few rounds of mini-golf, you may be out of time.
Death and Taxes (Part 2): The Crumbling Burial Chamber
What can only be described as a sad & strange situation
Abandoned: The Honeymoon Capital of the World
1. For Lovers Only–Abandoned Penn Hills Pocono Resort
Welcome to JizzneyLand!
2. Abandoned Summit Resort: Saxy Sal, Dirty Dancing,
& the Heart Shaped Bar
Forsaken Family Fun
1. An American Eulogy: Angela Park
The abandoned amusement park of your childhood memories
2. The Abandoned Moonlite Drive-In
It’s the end of the world as we know it
3. The Abandoned Picnic Grove Of The Soul
ABANDONED RAILROAD
1. The Death(s) of the Wilkes-Barre Train Station & The Funeral Train (Part 1)
Once upon a time, getting from one place to another was much different than it is today.
2. A Resurrection Reversed: The Playboy Bunnies & The Death(s) of the Wilkes-Barre Train Station
A tragic tale (pun intended)
GHOST TOWN: Concrete City
Wanted: a roving band of marauders
1. Post-Apocalyptic Chic Ghost Town: Concrete City
Abandoned in 1924, Concrete City is said to be the first example of modern-day cookie-cutter or tract housing
2. Spontaneous Acts of Art: Concrete City Ruins
See how hopeless abandonment has become a frequently changing urban art gallery
3. Of Concrete City, Mermaids and the Ghost Town Stairs to Nowhere (Part 1)
4. Of Concrete City, Mermaids and Ghosts (both Past & Present) Part 2
It Was Loved Until It Wasn’t
Losing My Religion: Abandoned National Shrine
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus near Hazleton
THE BATTERED CORPSE OF INDUSTRIAL AMERICA
At the Scranton Lace Company, the workers were told mid-shift
that the factory was closing “effective immediately”
1. A Visual Autopsy of the American Dream
A pictorial essay about the abandoned Scranton Lace Factory
2. The UE Magazine Interviews: SCRANTON LACE FACTORY
Taking one of NEPA’s most infamous locations to an international audience!
3. The Sexy Side of Abandonment: Scranton Lace Pin-Up Girls
A whole lot of sex goes on within those dark, sticky and usually moist spaces
TWISTED METAL: Huber Breaker Ruins
A long decaying carcass of America’s industrial decline
1. Take a Peek Inside the Huber Breaker Ruins
More insight into the ravages of time than you can hope to absorb in one visit
2. The Art of Industrial Decay
See what happens when artists look for beauty in industrial abandonment
3. The Huber Breaker Rocks –with ASTORIAN STIGMATA
Putting a new “spin” on a popular local historical location….
4. The Huber Breaker: Machines of Corruption
Featuring Beyond Fallen
ESP
Visit a haunting world of empty guard towers and crumbling cell-blocks in Philly
1. Haunted ESP (ghost on film)
Visit one of “the most haunted places on earth”
2. The Eye of God and The Mad Chair
Where prisoners were subjected to physical and psychological torture
3. The Ghost of Gangster’s Paradise
Al Capone’s reign at ESP
4. The Ghost Cats
A testimony to survival
5. Welcome to Cellblock 3: The Ghosts Here Are Probably Coughing
It’s the abandoned cellblock that visitors have been trying to sneak into for 20 years!
FORSAKEN FAMILY FUN
Before the days of the corporate owned and operated mega theme park,
families brought the fun for other families right into their own backyard
1. An American Eulogy: Angela Park
The abandoned amusement park of your childhood memories
Angela Park: An American Eulogy (Part 2)
(Update-Ferris Wheel)
2. Hanson’s Amusement Park: Abandoned but Not Forgotten Ruins
3. The Abandoned Picnic Grove Of The Soul
4. No Fun In The Sun Moon Lake Park
5. Lost History: Croop’s Glen
Sometimes, history gets lost. And I don’t mean long ago, far away history like those places or events that are ancient, but the history of less than a hundred years ago right outside your own front door.
a. Lost History Found : Croop’s Glen
b. ***NEW UPDATES for: “Lost History Found : Croop’s Glen
c. And They All Came Tumbling Down
The Baby Contest Pavilion Collapse at Croop’s Glen
WELCOME TO THE ZOMBIE HOTEL
A Taxpayer Funded Failed Preservation Project
1. Hotel Sterling: The UnDead Days
Zombie buildings are real
2. Hotel Sterling Demolition: Five History Lessons
As demolition begins, what is history trying to tell us
3. Hotel Sterling Demolition: History Deconstructed
Whose VERSION of history gets to be saved? Contemplate that question for a while
4. Hotel Sterling Demolition: Yesterday’s Papers Are Such Bad News
What did local journalists report about the failed preservation attempt as it was happening
5. Hotel Sterling Demolition: One Year Later
6. The Significance of the Demolition of the Hotel Sterling
DRIVE-IN OF THE DAMNED
1. The Abandoned Moonlite Drive-In
It’s the end of the world as we know it
IMAGINATION CAPTURED: ABANDONED ZOO
This is the topic that started my fascination with abandonments and “lost” history
1. KIRBY PARK ZOO RUINS ? !—Ooops! Maybe not……
Abandoned bathroom or zoo ruin? Decide for yourself…..
a. A Monkey in the Colliery, The Bear From Vaudeville & Politics of An Eagle: The Rise and Fall of the Kirby Park Zoo
The lives of the animals of the “lost” Kirby Park Zoo
2. The Kirby Park Zoo–An Unrealized Vision
a. Nay Aug Park Zoo
In Scranton, Pennsylvania, this now unused structure has been a symbol of community debate about animal cruelty for decades
3. Kirby Park: Walk With History Along The Olmsted Trail
Explore the Central Park / Kirby Park connection
MISCELLANEOUS
1. The House of Fans
Another relic left behind from the long defunct coal mining industry
2. DEATH AND TAXES: Even the Dead Can’t Avoid Abandonments
I consider this to be the strangest and most disturbing place that I’ve photographed to date. So what can be said when engaging in urban exploration exposes that you can’t even escape potential abandonment (and taxes) in death?…Apparently a lot! I also touch upon some theories about Urban Exploration itself.
3. I’ve Got The Power……
Pictures from the interior of a turn-of-the-century “light plant”, built in 1905
4. Into the Belly of the Beast
Exploring The Mines That Fed The Industrial Revolution…..”The Goonies”—NEPA Style!
5. Fashion in Ruins
Twilight, History, Fashion, Urban Exploration, Haute Couture, Goths, Salvador Dali,
Zombies, Journalists vs Bloggers Debate, Vampires, The Devil Wears Prada, Elsa
Schiaparelli, The Victorian Era and Fashion Photo Shoots
6. The Dead Diva of Hollenback Cemetery: The Notorious Florence Foster Jenkins
If someone was going to play you in a movie about your life, who would you want it to be?
7. Abandoned Firework Factory: They Always Go Out With A Bang (Part 1)
Happy 4th of July
8. Ghost Estates: The Sanctuary
The American Dream gone wrong….very wrong
9. The Haunted Monkey Candle Shoppe
Cheri Sundra--Guerrilla Historian 
Thanks Cheri! Great blog. Move to London, you can work for me! 🙂
I usually do not leave remarks, however Cheri Sundra-Guerrilla Historian is one entertaining read!
All fun stuff!
Greetings from Wisconsin! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your website. Anyhow, amazing site! Let’s swap. You visit the resort while I explore all of the fun places you visit! 🙂
interesting keep writing and photographing.
Keep on writing, great job!
You decidedly put a new spin on local subjects that have been written about for years. Great stuff, just great! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think and appreciate our past. We want more!
I hope you never stop!
Just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Great history in this valley that sometimes goes unseen thank you for taking the time to stop and share a part of the past. Any plans for a trip to Mountian Park on Wilkes-Barre Mountian not much left up there but still some remnants of what was once a there.
Hi Ron,
Thanks for the compliment!
I never know where I may end up….until I get there! 😉 It really depends upon whether or not I am able to find enough information about a location to write something about it…..I did look into this park while doing research about all of the local amusement parks, but was unable to locate anything new. But just like Croop’s Glen, you never know what information people have that they may send to me! So if anyone out there has information about Mountain Park—let me know!
This is what they have available at the NEPA Defunct Parks site:
http://www.nepalostparks.com/parks/mountain.html
~~Cheri
Great blog you have here! I seriously appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
I adore your site. Interesting way to look at the past.
Hey there! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and wanted to go ahead and give you a shout out from Boston! Just wanted to say keep up the good job!
Genuinely good articles on this website. I appreciate your appreciation for local history and your contribution.
Love your photos!
Thank you. I enjoy “Guerrilla History”. You should be a history teacher.
You definitely know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Good job, cheers!
Just wanted to say superb blog!
Appreciated your postings of sites that were an integral part of my families life in NEPA. Has anyone like yourself documented what has happened to the many cemeteries that were left to the wilderness because of church closings, etc? Genealogists would like to know.
Aciu labai
Thank you, Len!
Since I really don’t have more than a passing interest in genealogy, I am not very familiar with the local efforts going on in that arena. I do know that the historical societies do have some information about the local cemeteries and there are some resources available on the internet ….but other than that, it’s a topic that is unfamiliar to me personally.
Sorry I don’t have an answer for you….Someone like Tom Mooney at the Times Leader would probably have information about that since he often writes about genealogy in his column. Or you could try the Shupp’s Cemetery group on Facebook….I think some of their members are doing something like that….
~~Cheri
You can certainly see your expertise in the work you write. You go right for the heart!
I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading your articles.
Terrific blog! You should do photography workshops locally like the guy from Abandoned America
Have you ever considered publishing an book or guest authoring on other sites?
Hi Melissa! I have done a little guest authoring in the past for blogs that are travel and fashion related. And I am putting together an ebook about one of the topics that I’ve covered on this blog, but I consider it to be strictly a promotional tool. Thanks for stopping by! ~Cheri.
Hi, Neat blog
Hello, I check your new stuff like every week.
Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
Are Rocky Glen and San Souci still there? Great school picnics there back in the 40s. Thanks for your interest in W-B, Hotel Sterling, and the mines,etc !
Hi Claire,
Claire,
Sorry to say that both Rocky Glen (closed 1988) and Sans Souci Park (closed 1970) are gone….I actually attended high school on the former location of San Souci Park!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog…
~~Cheri
You are welcome! I loved growing up in W-B and am interested in happenings there.
I think you might like The Zorki Chronicles. It takes place in the fictional town of Pocono Flats, PA, located near Centralia.
Thank you Bill…I will definitely check that out!
Haven’t seen you for a long time in Flickr. Hope you’re doing fine. Nice blog here and you’ve done wonderful jobs.
I certainly love this website. Stick with it!
from a history buff — If you want a real hunt – see what you can find out about Mountin park -the first park in the valley- wilkes barre
I’m so glad I found this page! Just want to encourage you to keep up the good work. I haven’t seen an update in quite a while and hope you’re working on something spectacular.
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us. I’m definitely loving this approach to history!
whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your posts. Keep up the great work!
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this site was great.
I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if
you aren’t already, Cheri. 😉 Cheers!
Croops Grove in Hunlocks Creek PA closed after the dance hall collapsed killing a little girl a law suit was filed against the property and because of litigation that has yet to be resolved from the lawsuit
the property can never be sold
Do you have anything on the Westmoreland Colliery from West Wyoming, Pa. It was situated on Fairview Street and dismantled in 1952.
I found this while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get
listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Appreciate it
Keep up the excellent work!
RIP Buckhill. I never got to explore you but wish I did.
Do you know anything about Fanti’s Park? I used to go there with my family in the early 1960s, and the Pittston Gazette ran ads for it in the 30s and 40s. Alas, there does not appear to be any sign that the park ever existed.
Hello,
I’m not familiar with Fanti’s Park so I posed the question to a few local historians and history buffs and this is what I’ve learned:
“According to the local newspapers, Fanti’s Park was located at Cumming’s Pond in East Dallas / Orange. Cumming’s Pond & Road is located off Demunds Road, near Dymond’s Farm Market. It seemed to be a popular place for clam bakes back in the day. Definitely a lost park.”
“Entrance to Fantis is on orange rd in orange across from the old orange dairy. I think there is a sign with a family name now.”
“Fantis was right past the golf course heading toward centermoreland.”
In my experience researching local lost parks, the majority of them – with the exception of Croop’s Glen, which turned out to be a lost, full functioning amusement park – the majority of them were more like Picnic Groves with things like pavilions with picnic tables and baseball diamonds. I’ll add Fanti’s to my list of things to watch for while doing research.
Thanks for your inquiry!
I can just re to be very very interesting I’ve lived here all my life and never knew that that Park was even there very good story
I loved Fanti’s! We lived in Orange in the 1950s, and I was just a kid, but my father would drive there and we’d go into the ‘main building’ which was a small bar and adjacent restaurant with only spaghetti on the menu, made by the family matriarch. The bar sat about 16 people and there was a pinball machine near the windows, which looked out on the pond. A small collection of boats for rent was available just outside the front door of the place, and fishermen and women would take them out. There were always plenty of fisher-people there, it seemed, both on the shore and on the lake. A small row of tiny cottages was available for campers and renters off in the woods, about 300 feet away from the main building. Behind the bar and restaurant was a building called “the barn” which featured dancing on Saturday nights. I remember people doing the jitterbug there.. The whole place was charming, and popular. The last time I was there was in 1972. There had been intermittent problems with the pond being overtaken by algae in the 1960s, and family members had died or moved away, so they closed sometime around 1974. I have heard that a “Woodstock” type event even took place there before it was closed. Somebody briefly re-opened the place later, but it wasn’t for more than a few weeks.
please write more about the abandoned resorts in the poconos their are more that aren’t on here yet
Do you have any information about Crystal Park?
love your work
hello! I really like your writing very much!
🙂
Captivating stories. Keep up the good work! Kennitha
You are an exceptionally talented photographer and writer. I love your work.
Bravo!
Please do one about Crystal Park!
Well thought of
Hy there, Cheri Sundra ! U R coolness
Love your site. Ironically, I currently work where you used to. Certainly helped stave off boredom and keep my eyes awake scrolling through your explorations. Love your writing. Thank you
Hi. Love these places!
Hello! I’ve been reading your web site for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the good work!