An old matchbook on photographer Pablo Iglesias Maurer's desk caught his eye. The postcard-like image of a resort complex built in the 1960s drew me in. It made Pablo wonder how the then-famous landmark looked now, and the answer inspired him to create the incredible photo series the Abandoned States.
The vintage photograph was titled How to Run a Successful Golf Course, but when Maurer arrived, it was clear that the owner of Penn Hills Resort had not followed that advice. He pointed the camera at the abandoned location in roughly the exact location and took a '5-decades-after' shot.
Pablo has been hooked ever since. He purchased more 1960s photo postcards from eBay. He began traveling across the country, capturing these once-beautiful structures from old photos that now stand abandoned, only as faint memories of what once was.
"Vintage postcards have a haze—the locations were never as beautiful as they appear." I, too, am having trouble getting the two images to line up. However, time blurs the distinction and brings everything into sharp focus."
Check out the incredible before and after photos below!
More Info & Images Credit - Twitter, DCist (h/t: Ufunk)
#1
More of Grossinger's indoor pool. The tiled floor was heated, and the entire building was air-conditioned. Beautiful mid-century "sputnik" chandeliers cast a ray of light on the swimmers below. There are exercise rooms, a gym, a salon, and various other amenities located beneath the pool. The pool has been closed since the late 1990s and has deteriorated beyond repair.
#2
Grossinger's Olympic-sized outdoor pool was built-in 1949 for $400,000 (approximately $5 million in today's market). The private cabanas, changing rooms, and lounges surrounding it are long gone.
#3
The browns, reds, and oranges of the carpet in this Poconos dining hall have turned green, the colour of the moss that has taken its place.
#4
The Homowack Lodge is now deserted on the outskirts of the fabled "Borscht Belt." On the lower level, perhaps the highlight of the establishment is a four-lane Brunswick bowling alley. It's had better days. The resort closed in the mid-2000s, but it reopened briefly as a Hasidic resort and then as a summer camp, which was forced to close after the New York Department of Environmental Conservation deemed it uninhabitable.
#5
Grossinger's indoor tennis facility The back of the postcard features an advertisement for Grossinger's rye bread, a local favourite during the resort's operation. Jenny Grossinger, resort royalty, explains the pitch: "The fun and fresh air people get here at Grossinger's gives them an appetite." They enjoy all of our products, but their favourite is our Grossinger's rye and pumpernickel bread. You can now get the same healthy, flavorful bread at your local grocery store. Try a loaf of bread. I'm confident you'll enjoy it."
#6
#7
We were sunbathing and swimming in the Poconos. The postmark was from 1967. "Dear Jonnie: If you were here, I would take you horseback riding – or we could go golfing." Take care until I see you. .D.r Waterman."
#8
After a fire destroyed the main building at this Poconos resort, a replacement was built in the early 1970s. A genuinely striking sight is a modernist spaceship tucked away deep in the woods.
#9
Grossinger's indoor pool, which opened in 1958. Florence Chadwick, the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, took the first dip in the pool which Elizabeth Taylor opened. "...The new indoor pool at Grossinger's was the zenith of the Catskills," writes Ross Padlock in his excellent "Lost Architecture of Paradise." Nothing like it had ever been built before, and nothing like it would ever be made again. It embodied everything great about the Catskills in the 1950s: extravagance, luxury, modernism, and celebrity."
#10
According to the caption on the back of this Pocono resort's postcard, this theatre is billed as the "resort world's most modern showplace," according to the caption on the back of this Pocono resort's postcard. With a capacity of 1200, it remains magnificent even when in disrepair. This postcard is also postmarked and completed. "I'm having a wonderful weekend here. Rowing a boat and playing shuffleboard are all for fun – the only exercise is rowing a boat and playing shuffleboard! It's nice to be ladylike and not be "rushing" around! We hope to see you soon."
#11
The cocktail lounge of a now-defunct Poconos resort. The caption on the back of the card reads, "Peaceful relaxation – healthful recreation."
#12
#13
The following text appears on the inside of the matchbook: "Swim n' Sun Indoor Swimming Pool at Penn Hills Lodge and Cottages." The finest modern resort in the Poconos."
#14
The "Jenny G Wing," inspired by Mies van der Rohe, opened in 1964 and was one of Grossinger's final structures. It was designed by renowned architect Morris Lapidus, who nearly single-handedly pioneered the "Miami Modern" hotel style and, more locally, designed the Capitol Skyline Hotel.
#15
Stairs lead down to an abandoned Poconos theatre. The curtain was last drawn here in the early 1990s.
#16
"Birchwood is the only resort with three swimming pool facilities, including an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a lake with a beach," says the postcard caption. At the foot of the Village Green, Eagle Lake is depicted here. Couples here enjoy the white-sand beach, chaise lounges, bicycles, and rowboats, and fishing off its shores... In six low-cost all-expense package plans, indoor swimming, aeroplane rides, movies, bowling, horseback riding, winter sports, and 40 other free activities!" More recently, the hangar at the resort's airstrip served a different purpose: cop killer Eric Frein made the hangar his home during a weeks-long search. He was eventually apprehended just a stone's throw from Eagle Lake.
#17
A lane attendant at the Catskills' Homowack Lodge.
#18
Looking down the side of that same 70’s structure. “Ultra-modern building houses the dining room, cocktail lounge, lobbies and offices.”
#19
A residential building at a Poconos resort is in disrepair. "Dear Bernie – Don't think we forgot about you – but we're having so much fun that postcards are a chore! This is the life, the place, and the people are lovely. We couldn't be happier or having more fun. See you soon! Love, Lou and Shiela.,
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