MNeagle
24th November 2011, 07:46 PM
The story of the ruined city of Pompeii is one of the best-known examples of a city that suddenly ceased to exist. One moment it was a thriving metropolis, then an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried the city in volcanic ash. It was accidentally rediscovered in 1749 and excavated, revealing a time capsule of city life during the era of the Roman Empire.
It’s not just ancient cities that vanish, however. The following collection includes a city that disappeared just this past August. Even as the seven billion residents of Earth begin to run out of physical space to populate, there are virtual places to be abandoned – former online frontiers such as Geocities: The Deleted City.
Slideshow: Cities That Vanished (http://www.cnbc.com/id/45228520?__source=yahoorealestate|citiesthatvanish ed|&par=yahoorealestate)http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/cnbc_cities_vanished.jpg (http://www.cnbc.com/id/45228520?__source=yahoorealestate|citiesthatvanish ed|&par=yahoorealestate)
There are many different ways a city can disappear: It can fall victim to catastrophe, become submerged by rising water or simply be zoned out of existence. In some cases, no one knows why a once-thriving city was wiped off the map.
Here are five of the most fascinating vanished cities, located across the globe:
Centralia, Pennsylvania (http://realestate.yahoo.com/Pennsylvania)
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/centralia_penn_v2.jpgCentralia, Penn., a former coal-mining town, became a victim of toxic conditions - it's nearly empty.
Photo: Derik Moore
In 1962, a fire ignited underneath the anthracite coal-mining town of Centralia, Pa., which still burns to this day across 400 subterranean acres. This became problematic for the residents of Centralia, particularly in 1979 when the mayor/local gas station owner noticed the temperature of the gas in his underground tank had reached 172 degrees Fahrenheit. If that wasn’t enough impetus to leave town, in 1982 a 12-year-old boy fell into a 150-foot deep sinkhole that opened beneath him in his backyard. He was rescued and survived, but the steam billowing from the hole contained a lethal amount of carbon monoxide.
Congress voted to issue funds to residents for relocation, but today a few stubborn holdouts still live in Centralia. All that remains of the town are a few houses, structures and trailers, graveyards, some benches for a bus that never comes and great mounds of bulldozed buildings. State Route 61 has been rerouted because the old section, pictured here, is split and emitting smoke. Author Bill Bryson visited Centralia in the book “A Walk in the Woods,” and the abandoned town inspired the setting for the videogame and movie “Silent Hill.”
Reschensee, Italy
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/reschensee_italy_v2.jpgThe advent of a lake in 1950 put Reschensee, Italy, with its 14th century church, underwater.
Photo: Adrian Michael | Creative Commons
Many lakes and reservoirs hide the remains of forgotten settlements underwater, but rarely is there as obvious a reminder as the bell tower of the 14th century church at Reschensee, or Lake Reschen, in South Tyrol, Italy. A total of 1,290 acres of land was submerged to form the lake in 1950, obliterating the villages of Graun, part of Reschen, and others.
If the example of Lake Reschen dredges up memories of other submerged settlements, it’s to be expected. Underwater towns are so common, they even have their own sub-genre in crime novels: Reservoir Noir.
Ruddock, Wagram and Frenier, Louisiana (http://realestate.yahoo.com/Louisiana)
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/frenier_la_v2.jpgRuddock, Wagram and Frenier, LA were destroyed by a hurricane in 1915.
Photo: frenierla.com
Three small towns in Louisiana comprised mostly of German immigrant cabbage farmers used to exist by the southwest edge of Lake Pontchartrain. The train delivered their groceries and the towns were so sleepy that the name of Wagram was renamed Napton. As is often the case on the Gulf Coast, however, all that changed with a hurricane. The towns’ legacy takes on a voodoo twist with the legend that their destruction was foretold. A resident named Julia Brown used to sit on her porch and sing about how when she died, she’d take everyone with her. Brown died just before the town was hit by a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 29, 1915. The townspeople were holding her funeral when the hurricane hit. The story goes that Brown’s coffin floated out into the swamp, and the three towns were destroyed in the storm.
Very little is left today, and most of it is underwater. Frenier, pictured here, is a slight blip on the map at the edge of the lake, and an old graveyard remains above water at the site of a Native American burial mound. Local Sheriff Wayne Norwood established a private museum of artifacts from the towns, which he finds when diving.
It’s not just ancient cities that vanish, however. The following collection includes a city that disappeared just this past August. Even as the seven billion residents of Earth begin to run out of physical space to populate, there are virtual places to be abandoned – former online frontiers such as Geocities: The Deleted City.
Slideshow: Cities That Vanished (http://www.cnbc.com/id/45228520?__source=yahoorealestate|citiesthatvanish ed|&par=yahoorealestate)http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/cnbc_cities_vanished.jpg (http://www.cnbc.com/id/45228520?__source=yahoorealestate|citiesthatvanish ed|&par=yahoorealestate)
There are many different ways a city can disappear: It can fall victim to catastrophe, become submerged by rising water or simply be zoned out of existence. In some cases, no one knows why a once-thriving city was wiped off the map.
Here are five of the most fascinating vanished cities, located across the globe:
Centralia, Pennsylvania (http://realestate.yahoo.com/Pennsylvania)
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/centralia_penn_v2.jpgCentralia, Penn., a former coal-mining town, became a victim of toxic conditions - it's nearly empty.
Photo: Derik Moore
In 1962, a fire ignited underneath the anthracite coal-mining town of Centralia, Pa., which still burns to this day across 400 subterranean acres. This became problematic for the residents of Centralia, particularly in 1979 when the mayor/local gas station owner noticed the temperature of the gas in his underground tank had reached 172 degrees Fahrenheit. If that wasn’t enough impetus to leave town, in 1982 a 12-year-old boy fell into a 150-foot deep sinkhole that opened beneath him in his backyard. He was rescued and survived, but the steam billowing from the hole contained a lethal amount of carbon monoxide.
Congress voted to issue funds to residents for relocation, but today a few stubborn holdouts still live in Centralia. All that remains of the town are a few houses, structures and trailers, graveyards, some benches for a bus that never comes and great mounds of bulldozed buildings. State Route 61 has been rerouted because the old section, pictured here, is split and emitting smoke. Author Bill Bryson visited Centralia in the book “A Walk in the Woods,” and the abandoned town inspired the setting for the videogame and movie “Silent Hill.”
Reschensee, Italy
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/reschensee_italy_v2.jpgThe advent of a lake in 1950 put Reschensee, Italy, with its 14th century church, underwater.
Photo: Adrian Michael | Creative Commons
Many lakes and reservoirs hide the remains of forgotten settlements underwater, but rarely is there as obvious a reminder as the bell tower of the 14th century church at Reschensee, or Lake Reschen, in South Tyrol, Italy. A total of 1,290 acres of land was submerged to form the lake in 1950, obliterating the villages of Graun, part of Reschen, and others.
If the example of Lake Reschen dredges up memories of other submerged settlements, it’s to be expected. Underwater towns are so common, they even have their own sub-genre in crime novels: Reservoir Noir.
Ruddock, Wagram and Frenier, Louisiana (http://realestate.yahoo.com/Louisiana)
http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/re/gr2/frenier_la_v2.jpgRuddock, Wagram and Frenier, LA were destroyed by a hurricane in 1915.
Photo: frenierla.com
Three small towns in Louisiana comprised mostly of German immigrant cabbage farmers used to exist by the southwest edge of Lake Pontchartrain. The train delivered their groceries and the towns were so sleepy that the name of Wagram was renamed Napton. As is often the case on the Gulf Coast, however, all that changed with a hurricane. The towns’ legacy takes on a voodoo twist with the legend that their destruction was foretold. A resident named Julia Brown used to sit on her porch and sing about how when she died, she’d take everyone with her. Brown died just before the town was hit by a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 29, 1915. The townspeople were holding her funeral when the hurricane hit. The story goes that Brown’s coffin floated out into the swamp, and the three towns were destroyed in the storm.
Very little is left today, and most of it is underwater. Frenier, pictured here, is a slight blip on the map at the edge of the lake, and an old graveyard remains above water at the site of a Native American burial mound. Local Sheriff Wayne Norwood established a private museum of artifacts from the towns, which he finds when diving.