"Nature's Memorial": 30 Landmarks Reclaimed By Nature

Bodie was once a booming Californian gold-mining town in the 19th century. It represented the hard work and promise associated with the American West, attracting miners from across the country.
 
However, Bodie’s decline began in the 1880s when the once-bountiful mines began to deplete. A 1932 fire that burned 90% of the town led to a further mass exodus (per National Trust for Historic Preservation).
 
Now, weathered wooden buildings decay in place, with grass growing through floorboards, and a variety of species making use of the now-empty homes.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine once supported cities, farms, and generations of people who made their money from nuclear power production.
 
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the entire region was evacuated in the days following the disaster, never to return
 
Despite lingering radioactivity, the area has flourished in the decades since. Forests reclaim streets, animals roam without endangerment, and unchecked vegetation slowly takes buildings apart.

In the 17th century, Fort Charles was a defensive structure used to protect one of the Caribbean’s busiest colonial ports. It’s one of the largest and oldest Jamaican fortifications ever built.
 
Per the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, a 1692 earthquake sank some of the fort, and further weather-related damage and rising sea levels led to a complete disuse of the site.
 
The abandonment gave the natural world a chance to reclaim its land, with coastal plants penetrating stone, sand encroaching inward, and sea air eroding manmade masonry.

Al Madam was one of many modern desert villages constructed to house local families on the edge of Sharjah’s sand dunes when the city became a tourism hotspot.
 
The reasons for its sudden abandonment vary wildly. According to House & Garden, some believe it was due to further modernization, whereas others speculate about supernatural events.
 
Whatever the reason, Al Madam has been reclaimed by the desert. Sand spills over and into houses, and constant winds reshape streets into natural desert contours.

Kolmanskop was once a wealthy diamond-mining settlement built in the Namib Desert, boasting European-style homes, hospitals, and other structures in extreme isolation.
 
Sadly, as with many such establishments, Kolmanskop was abandoned in the 1950s after diamond resources declined and mining operations shifted elsewhere, with residents following (per National Geographic).
 
Where humanity fails, nature will flourish, and the entire settlement has transformed. Wind-driven sand pours through doorways into rooms and bathtubs, with furniture buried underneath unstoppable dunes.

Tensions may be high between North and South Korea, but there’s one peaceful stretch between the two: the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). It’s a 160-mile-long zone with heavy fortifications and off-limits areas.
 
The BBC describes it as a “no-man’s land” designed to act as a buffer for both Koreas. It’s a physical and metaphorical border symbolizing estrangement and conflict.
 
As far as war zones go, the DMZ is one of the most nature-rich.

It’s a thriving ecosystem with over 6,000 animal species, plus wetlands and forests. The lack of human interference has given nature free rein.

Six Flags New Orleans was a major theme park built as a regional entertainment destination in 2000. It was one of many, and very successful with the American public.
 
Unfortunately, damage caused by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina proved impossible to rectify. Per Atlas Obscura, the park was flooded with water, quickly evacuated, and too expensive to clean up.
 
Over two decades later, nature has done what humans could not. Vines climb rollercoasters, tree and dry grass growth continue unchecked, and weather further rusts the structures left.

Gulliver’s Kingdom is another now-abandoned theme park, but far less successful than the likes of Six Flags. Everything from its "suicide forest" location to its poor business plan was a failure.
 
The Japan Times blamed “nonperforming loans” for the closure, and when the site was auctioned off, the park was demolished, save for the 147-foot-long Gulliver.
 
That haunting statue now reclines among growing grass, as vegetation reclaiming previously-commercial land in the shadow of Mount Fuji.

Calakmul was one of the world’s largest Maya cities ever built, rivaling Tikal in political influence. It was a dominant superpower between 500 and 700 AD.
 
But by 900-910 AD, it had been abandoned. According to The Eye Mexico, the impetus is believed to be prolonged periods of drought and deforestation, plus the collapse of Maya Civilization.
 
The city was lost for a long time due to the dense jungle engulfing it. It’s surrounded by lush greenery, and roots are slowly growing through stone steps leading up to the peak.

The SS Yongala was a luxury passenger ship that was later repurposed for wartime transport along Australia’s coast. It was large, fast, and an excellent seafaring vessel.
 
Technically, the ship wasn’t abandoned; it sank. The BBC describes how a cyclone in 1911 wrecked the SS Yongala and killed all 122 people on board. For 50 years, it was lost.
 
The wreck's location was confirmed in 1958, though it wasn't formally identified as the Yongala until 1974, by which point the sunken vessel had become home to a host of marine life.

Coral reefs, fish, turtles, and larger aquatic mammals all dwell within, breathing new life into a former catastrophe.