Abandoned St. Eugene Mine

Located on the shores of Moyie Lake, the town of Moyie BC was once famous for the huge St. Eugene Mine, which can still be seen from the highway. In the 1890s a valuable deposit of Lead and Silver ore was discovered on the slopes above the south end of the lake. Soon a mine and not long after a town was established at this location. The ore was discovered by a native fellow, who was encouraged to search for this type of material by a local Catholic Priest (from the St. Eugene Mission – hence the mine's name). The claims here were staked by and were owned by the church for a short time before the property was sold to a mining syndicate under the name St. Eugene Consolidated Mining Company Limited. Later the giant Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (Cominco – now called Teck) bought the property.

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Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site

Leitch Collieries was one of the largest and most ambitious coal mines in the early history of the Crowsnest Pass. Established in 1907, it was the only coal company in the Pass completely Canadian owned and operated. A ‘colliery’ is a coal mining and processing plant. All of the major mines in the Crowsnest Pass had surface operations where coal was cleaned and graded prior to loading it onto railway cars for shipping, and some operated coke ovens, where coal was superheated without allowing it to burn, producing coke used in the steel industry. The collieries in the Crowsnest Pass were big operations with large impressive structures of stone, brick and wood, each with their own power-generating stations and even their own towns. Leitch Collieries even had its own sandstone quarry, used in the construction of its facilities. Despite less than ten years of active mining, the facilities at Leitch Collieries were impressive structures built to last. Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site is located on Highway 3, about 3.5km east of Bellevue. Designated as a Provincial Historic Site, its remaining structures were stabilized, walking trails established and informative displays were installed. Interpretive staff are on site between May 15 and Labour Day. This fascinating site provides a good insight into the large support plant needed for a major coal mining operation a century ago.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTgwIdbJHPU

Website: http://www.leitchcollieries.ca/

Location: Crowsnest Pass, Alberta

SANDON BC GHOST TOWN

Sandon is a ghost town in southern British Columbia, Canada, home to Western Canada's oldest continuously operating hydroelectric station. Sandon has also become a graveyard for a fleet of abandoned transit buses which originally operated throughout Canada, but now call Sandon their final resting place.

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Location: Sandon, BC

ABANDONED ALEXANDRA BRIDGE

Located along the mighty Fraser River, Alexandra Bridge served as an important link connecting the Cariboo region to Fort Langley. After World War I, the dawn of the automotive era saw a reinvestment in roads in the province including the re-opening of the Fraser Canyon to road traffic in the form of the new Cariboo Highway . This second Alexandra Suspension Bridge still exists today, though it ceased to be used for automobile traffic in 1964. Today, the old Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park provides a place for visitors to the area to stop and see an important piece of history in the area while also enjoying the incredible views of the Fraser Canyon.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuVHselzF60

Website: https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/alexandra/

Location: Yale, BC V0K 2S0

ABANDONED GOLD NUGGET MOTEL (Yale, British Columbia)

The Gold Nugget Motel and Digger's Gold Nugget Restaurant sit abandoned by the highway in Yale British Columbia. Like many tourist stops, these were abandoned after traffic began to bypass the Gold Rush Train in favor of the new Coquihalla Highway. The hotel suffered a fire in April 2021, but fortunately the only two occupants at the time escaped unharmed.

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Royston Shipwrecks: One of North America's Largest Ship Graveyards

The Royston Wrecks are the remnants of 14 old ships once used as a breakwater to protect the log booming grounds of Comox Harbour.

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Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsN3rpup8jQ

Location: Hilton Rd, Royston, BC V9N 9T4

ABANDONED HEADQUARTERS MILL

The abandoned Headquarters Mill was built as a rough timber mill in 1912-1913. Despite being fully equipped, however, the mill was never used for reasons that remain unclear. Some say the mill was only built so that the company could gain certain concessions from the provincial government. The recession of 1913 may have led the company to abandon it. Parts from the mill were later used to build a new mill in Courtenay.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnx43b7cwOU

Location: Comox-Strathcona C, BC V9J 1N5

Lost Attractions: Stanley Park Zoo

The Stanley Park Zoo has a long history stretching from when the park first opened until it closed in the 1990s. Today the Polar Bear exhibit sites untouched and abandoned, the last reminder of this chapter of the Stanley Park's history.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMSiOwcSWU4

ABANDONED STONE BUTTER CHURCH

The abandoned Stone Butter Church in Duncan BC is 150 years old and has sat unused for most of its existence. This church was highlighted in a 1931 Ripley's Believe It or Not article which made claims of hauntings, and that those involved in it's construction all died under mysterious circumstances.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKbhAFwpLpQ

Abandoned Mini Golf Course (Coombs BC)

Coombs BC, best known for the Old Country Market and Goats on a Roof, was once home to a Captain Billy's Adventure Golf. Years later, this abandoned mini golf course still stands in a state of decay and is gradually taken back by nature.

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HAYNES HISTORIC RANCH

Visiting the abandoned remains of the Haynes Historic Ranch. Beginning in about 1865 John Carmichael Haynes began to acquire large amounts of ranch land in the Osoyoos and Oliver area. It was one of the first cattle ranches in the Okanagan Valley and he eventually amassed about 22,000 acres. Haynes also was judge as well as customs officer for the Osoyoos/US border crossing. These buildings, on the east side of the Okanagan River date from the pioneer cattle ranching era. The house dates from 1860, built for Judge John Carmichael Haynes, who died in 1888. A later addition in 1875, and again in the last years of use, it was last inhabited in 1963.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBeiZ2kWaik

Location: Okanagan-Similkameen A, BC V0H 1V7

Abandoned WWII Buildings: Point Grey Battery

The remains of the abandoned WWII buildings are still visible at Point Grey on the grounds of the University of British Columbia. Port Grey Battery was a World War II defense installation constructed to help secure the Vancouver harbor from incoming ships. The location of the Port Grey Battery is now home to the UBC Museum of Anthropology, but the historic remains can still be found just outside and down below on Tower Beach.

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Nearly Abandoned International Village Mall

Located on prime real estate in Downtown Vancouver sits the nearly abandoned International Village Mall. This dying mall is has space for over sixty stores, but is mostly empty except for a movie theaters, a half filled food court, a few shops and electronics kiosks and a Catfe.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ekJl7ZTtTQ

Website: http://www.internationalvillagemall.ca/

Location: 88 W Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6B 6N9

GAS WORKS PARK

Gas Works Park in Seattle Washington is a public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant, located on the north shore of Lake Union at the south end of the Wallingford neighborhood. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 2013.

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Website: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/gas-works-park

Location: 2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103, United States

Whistler Train Wreck and Brandywine Falls

Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, near Whistler, British Columbia provides visitors with a view of the 70-meter (230 ft) falls created when Brandywine Creek plummets into a deep gorge formed by millions of years of erosion.

Whistler Train Wreck is a popular tourist spot, where the remains of a sixty year old train derailment sits among the ancient trees and near the banks of the Cheakamus River. Seven boxcars have covered in colourful graffiti and then surrounded by hiking and mountain bike trails.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8OGDQCwoxs

Parkhurst Ghost Town

Parkhurst BC Abandoned Town, former logging settlement on the shores of Green Lake near Whistler BC, is littered with historical artefacts including collapsed buildings, abandoned cars, old stoves, and even an intact cabin. The town has been uninhabited since the 1960s and is slowly being reclaimed by the forest.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuPW7fPpC2M

Abandoned Homes

I ran across these abandoned houses and decided to find out what was inside. Turns out there was more to the story as this was once the location of a well known roadside cafe, but also the site where a major motion picture was filmed!

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJVeZOShQp0

Old Mill Site Park

Old Mill Site Park is along the north end of the Shoreline Trail in Port Moody, approximately half-way between Port Moody Rec Center and Old Orchard Park. This park features the remains of the McNair Cedar Mill, destroyed by fire in 1959. Visitors can still access the brick and concrete foundations at low tide. The city refers to these as "relics" of a previous era. Old Mill Site Park can also be reached as part of the Shoreline Trail that winds along the coast of the Burrard Inlet in Port Moody from Rocky Point Park to Old Orchard Park.

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Rat Portage Mill Site

In 1903 the Rat Portage company bought the rights to the lumber mill at the Harrison Mills BC Townsite after a fire deserted the original buildings and machinery. When the new mill was opened in 1909, it was one of BC's largest sawmills. However, after World War 1 Rat Portage decided to pull out of the town altogether, to concentrate on its mill in Vancouver. The machinery was sold and the buildings left vacant, until a fire in 1930 claimed most of what was left.

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Remains of Worlds Longest Floating Bridge

In 1963, the Washington State Department of Transportation achieved a Guinness World Record when it constructed the worlds longest floating bridge which connected the cities of Bellevue and Seattle. The SR 520 Bridge, completed in August 1963 and measuring 2.39 miles in length, with a floating section stretching for almost 1.5 miles.

The bridge carried four lanes of traffic, separated by a curb that was later replaced with a simple Jersey barrier. At the center was a drawspan that opened for large vessels traversing the lake.

After serving Washington State for over 50 years it had begun to show it's age. The original Evergreen Point Floating Bridge was designed before the implementation of modern earthquake engineering standards, with vulnerabilities in its hollow support structures that could have failed in a major earthquake. Additionally, vibrations caused by storm surges and strong winds were able to compromise the aging drawspan, anchor cables and pontoons, which could lead to structural failure in a major storm. This required the bridge to close to traffic during sustained wind gusts of 50 miles per hour or higher for more than 15 minutes.

Although the original bridge carried two lanes of traffic in each direction, it did not include shoulders or pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The lack of a shoulder led to traffic congestion in the event of an accident, which would block one or two lanes in a given direction and block emergency services from accessing the bridge.

The new bridge was dedicated on April 2, 2016, and was certified by Guinness World Records as the new world's longest floating bridge at a length of 7,708.49 feet long, 130 feet longer than the bridge it replaced.

The bridge was deconstructed into sections 110 metres long with 25-centimetre thick walls and pontoons. It was supposed to be floated to an industrial site in Kenmore for disposal and recycling.However, the city rejected the plan, citing the possible release of toxins in the pontoon's concrete. The sections were acquired by True North Operations Group with the goal of re-purposing the pontoons as temporary or permanent docks or off-loading facilities, piers or offshore storage.

Four years later, the majority of the pontoons continue to sit unused in the Pitt River.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJNk3IQ10-Q