Stories from the Guestbook

I've been collecting the stories people have sent me and will be posting some of them here as well as throughtout the website. If you've got any interesting recollections, observations or insights about these places, or "Modern Ruins" in general, please write.

I've also collected a few quotes from authors on the subject. You can also page through the entire guestbook.

Ellis Island
"My ancestors came through those very doors you photographed. when I saw those photographs it was like... I could half way empathize with them for two seconds. Although I will never know the feelings they felt when they saw this glorious place of refuge from Hitler, because of your photographs I will at least know what the first scenes of America my great-grand parents beheld."

"The first time I ever saw where my grandfather landed. I could picture this man from Italy with all his dreams. He is gone now and many of his great grandchildren are college graduates and have added to the might of this great country. Thanks Phil for this view and thanks gramps for the foresight."

The Airplane Graveyard
"Every pilot I have ever talked to wants to visit but never does. It's kind of like an elephant graveyard, mysterious, exciting, a place where all kids dreams go. I think that's why not many of the pilots I've talked to have ever really tried to visit. I saw a documentary on the aircraft graveyard. They showed a part where they cut up the B-52's, all my pilot buddies were silent, I think if each of them were alone, they would have been crying."

"It shows the incredible creativity as well as the incredible destruction man is capable of."

"The airplane graveyard is just so erie, you almost can't help but feel sadness to such powerful machines be stripped of their beauty."

The Alcoa Factory
"So you've taken pictures of the Alcoa factory that was my childhood fascination? Did you sneak through a window, and look up at fallen dust blanketed stairs? Did you hear loud thumping in the dark? Those were the sounds of the criminals who lived in that factory and plotted their crimes through out the night. I was always very quiet in there, and always got out very fast. But even when I was outside, surrounded by faded, scragally grasses and bright yellow danger signs I could still feel the life that had once come to work every day. I could still smell the sweat and see the small paths left by heavy boots in the ground. But hey, I was only eight and I really did believe that each time I left that edifice, there was a man watching me leave from the top window. He was probably an ex-worker who lost his livelihood when he lost his job, and that was probably his oil soiled, stiffened, leather glove that I had just stepped on, so I began to run as fast as I could.... maybe that's why I spend my time in the places that time has passed by."

The 1964/65 New York World's Fair
"I remember vividly the 64-64 World's Fair. I still drive by on occasion, at one point I did stop and walked into the NY Pavilion. It took me back to the time as a boy I was able to locate my hometown of Kingston on the floor map, during that magic summer of 1964. The image was still there!"

"I was 10 years old when the Fair was on. I was just blown away by the Fair and managed to go about 20 times. I remember being so excited at either the Hawaii or Florida Pavilion that I threw up on a moving sidewalk. It amazes me that so many other people besides myself still think about the fair."

"The World's Fair was so magical to me, I cried when it closed (and when they demolished Belgian Village!) I always wanted to go see the 'ruins' but thought it might be too depressing. So I got to see them through your photos. Wonderful, wonderful...do you have more?"

"I was 7 years old when I first visited the fair. Your photos have brought back many wonderful memories. Perhaps the most treasured is my dad giving me 50 cents to make a wax dino. It is strange that this simple act by my father would turn out to be the measuring stick for me to judge my most treasured childhood memories. We were not poor, so the money aspect was not significant, possibly it was the feeling that my father could be as excited by a toy the way I was."

Coney Island
"I remember Steeplechase Park when I was a young kid and enjoyed and loved that park. Still to this day I tell stories about Steeplechase to my young cousins in Brooklyn. I tell them they missed one of the great wonders of Coney Island. I remember having a round ticket and the ride attendant man use to punch out each hole with a paper circle puncher, for each ride. It was a nice place at one time. I miss it. I am forty six years old and watched steeplechase come down, it was a very sad day in my heart."

"I work as a train conductor at the Stillwell Avenue Station and get to look at the remaining community everyday. Although there is obvious decline, there is still a charm and beauty to Coney Island like nowhere else."