There’s something poignant about the buildings we’ve lost, the once-iconic landmarks that stood as proud symbols of their time, only to vanish due to progress, disaster, or neglect. These structures weren't just bricks and mortar; they were once bustling with life, quiet observers of hundreds of stories unfolding inside their walls.
Yet while they no longer decorate the cities and towns they once were an important part of, these places are still accessible to curious minds through photographs and paintings that survived much longer than they did. What can their grand facades and mighty walls teach us about the history they witnessed during their lifetime?
McDowell Street In Welch, West Virginia, 1946
(Source: Reddit)
Saint-Pierre De La Martinique, Entirely Destroyed By A Volcanic Eruption In 1902
(Source: Reddit)
Freeman Hospital In Joplin, MO. Currently Being Demolished After 20 Years Of Abandonment
(Source: Reddit)
Original Building Of The Detroit Institute Of Arts, Demolished In The 1950s
(Source: Reddit)
Chorley Park, Toronto, Demolished In 1959
(Source: Reddit)
Roney Plaza Hotel, Miami Beach. Demolished In 1968
(Source: Reddit)
Neues Schloss Stein, Lower Silesia, Poland. Demolished After A Fire In 1960
(Source: Reddit)
Wrigley Gum Factory, Illinois. Torn Down In 2012
(Source: Reddit)
La Fama Building, Medellín, Colombia
(Source: Reddit)
Kazan Cathedral Church, Torn Down By The Soviets In 1932
(Source: Reddit)
Unfinished And Abandoned Four Seasons Hotel In Maputo, Mozambique. Demolished In 2007
(Source: Reddit)
España Building In San Juan, Argentina. 1919-1944
(Source: Reddit)
Sibley Breaker, Pennsylvania. Destroyed By Fire In 1906
(Source: Reddit)
Nottoway Plantation Burning On May 15th, 2025
(Source: Reddit)
The Royal Opera House In Valletta, Malta. Destroyed In WW2
(Source: Reddit)
Kowloon Walled City, Once The Most Densely Populate Place On Earth. Demolished In 1994
(Source: Reddit)
Second Cliff House, Burned Down In 1907
(Source: Reddit)
The Original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel In NYC, Demolished In 1929 And Replaced By The Empire State Building
(Source: Reddit)
St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol. Destroyed In The Bristol Blitz In 1940
(Source: Reddit)
The Site Where The Flatiron Building Currently Seats
(Source: Reddit)
Los Angeles In 1918. Barely Anything In The Picture Survived To The Present Day
(Source: Reddit)
Austria Pavilion, 1909-1911. Buenos Aires, Argentina
(Source: Reddit)
Cornelius Vanderbilt II House, The Largest Private Residence Ever Built In Manhattan
(Source: Reddit)
Dormitory Of The Golestan Palace, Tehran
(Source: Reddit)
