In the 50’s and 60’s, The Bombay Beach area of California was hugely popular among both tourists and locals. It was a beautiful, beachside town, full of people enjoying ocean sports and drinking tropical drinks at tiki bars. But a deteriorating ecosystem, coupled with no drainage outlets and plenty of pollution caused a plethora of dead sea life to continuously turn up on the beach. As you can imagine, no one wanted to stick around and lay in the sun next to a bunch of rotting fish carcasses.
Although some people still live in the area, gone is the Palms Motel, which was once a favorite among tourists. The building is still somewhat standing, along with several others in the area, but they’re all boarded up and the only guests are squatters.
Plymouth, Montserrat
Plymouth is the only ghost town in the world that also serves as a capital (of the island Montserrat.) The town’s residents were forced to evacuate in the mid-1990s when a series of volcanic eruptions in the area threatened their lives.
A few months later, they were allowed back when officials thought the danger had passed. But the Soufrière Hills Volcano wasn’t done spitting up just yet. A 1997 eruption killed 19 people and buried 80% of the town in ash. The southern end of the island is still labeled an exclusion zone, due to the unstable volcano.
Neversink, NY
Neversink is a sleepy little town in New York with a very ironic name. You see, part of Neversink actually did sink – a few parts, really. The towns reservoirs being built caused many of the communities to be completely submerged.
Interestingly enough, Neversink is a dry county and has been since 1935. This means that they don’t sell alcohol anywhere. Well, until 2015, when they partially lifted the ban so that restaurants could sell booze. Good luck finding any beer to bring home with you, though!
Akrotiri, Greece
Akrotiri is believed to have first been settled in the 5th millennium, BC, as a fishing village. It’s a prime location for boats made it a popular copper trading port. But during the late Minoan period, a volcanic eruption buried the entirety of the town in volcanic ash.
Some speculations exist to suggest the stories of the lost city of Atlantis are based on this beautiful place that today exists underneath the modern-day island of Santorini. Excavations have been done in certain areas of the island that have revealed things like marble sculptures of women, along with several buildings.
The American Adventure Theme Park, Derbyshire
The American Adventure Theme park opened up in Derbyshire, England, in the late 1980’s. It started out with a wild, wild west and cowboys vs. Indians theme. But the park didn’t do as well as the original owners hoped, and it closed after less than 3 months.
It reopened a couple of years later under new ownership and with more thrill rides, which seemed to do the trick in getting people to show up. It went through a few more owners and renovations before it closed for good in 2006.