Series statement from publisher's website.

Photographs of empty spaces provide us with an alternative view of the world without us. The images of empty spaces that were once lively capture a departure from our norms and instead project alternative realities emptied of our presence. In Washington, D.C., a province rich with our nation's history, anything abandoned is either hastily torn down, tagged, or senselessly vandalized. Still, some forlorn structures remain and hold timeless beauty, or better yet, have a second chance at life along with the preservation of history. The author's collection of abandonments, forgotten or repurposed, includes several historic schools, a famous psychiatric hospital, a veterans' home, some industrial sites, and a few artful public statements about our society. Additionally, she includes the surreal deserted representation of Washington, D.C., in the time of COVID-19. With streets devoid of its usual grid-locked traffic and pedestrians, haunting images of familiar places become unfamiliar. Like a collection of abandoned photos, Washington D.C.'s surroundings, only recently integral to daily habits, now seem fragile and tenuous. Washington, D.C.'s deserted public spaces expose the new and sudden solitary human condition amplified beyond the silence of the environment.

Around the world, Washington, DC, is known for its powerful government, majestic monuments, and world-renowned museums. Secret Washington, DC: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure reminds us that the fabric of the city isn’t solely embedded in its callous political parties, exhausting lawmaking policies, and rampant tourism. Rather, it’s woven through its rich and complex history, mysterious relics, underground societies, forgotten and abandoned buildings, and controversial scandals. From the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield and Francis Scott Key’s son, to crimes of passion and rage at the US Capitol, Secret Washington, DC uncovers many of the dark and untold truths of how our nation emerged. At the same time, it shines a bright light on the capital’s numerous signs of creativity and innovation through the exploration of quirky art installations like Foamhenge and Barbie Pond on Avenue Q, to oddly shaped and decorated homes like the Mushroom House and the Vanadu Art House. Local author and educator JoAnn Hill will introduce you to the other side of Washington, DC: a treasure trove of mystique, peculiarities, and hidden history just waiting to be explored.

Series statement taken from publisher's website.

"In Abandoned, Julie Miller offers a fascinating, frustrating, and often heartbreaking history of a once devastating problem that wracked New York City. Filled with anecdotes and personal stories, Miller traces the shift in attitudes toward foundlings from ignorance, apathy, and sometimes pity to recognition of their plight as a sign of urban moral decline in need of systematic intervention."--Back cover.

No Name has entered the City of Pittsburgh, finding it abandoned. Eventually, he receives a message from Washington DC, supposedly from the President of the USA. He advises No Name that there is still hope and asks him to come to Washington DC. No Name feels that he is not long being in Pittsburgh and ponders going to Washington DC.

"As the First Family sleeps, something spooky goes bump in the night. History knows the White House as the symbol of the American presidency. Could it also be America's most haunted house? Learn more about the White House's most talked-about ghosts and about other paranormal activity running wild in the nation's capital. Between these pages, readers will find just the right amount of scariness for a cold, dark night"--

Explore the haunting imagery of Abandoned West Virginia and see a world most will never realize. West Virginia grips serious history, and its former life will leave an imprint on one's soul, as well as force meditations about discontented spirits lurking inside some of its forsaken palaces of misfortune. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and West Virginia State Penitentiary hold tales of too many tragic scenes played out behind bolted doors and removed from public view. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park still retains silent rusted rides as monuments to its raw past. Harpers Ferry bellows Civil War chronicles with every step on its cobblestone streets. Peek at the pages of derelict homes and wonder about the abandoned memories of its former occupants. We live in a hyper-structured world and faithfully adhere to repetitive patterns of life. Our inner explorer, however, constricts with excessive order, and we often view our environment but do not see what is around us. Step into the unfamiliar and discover the legends and lore of West Virginia, and perhaps fathom that some restless spirits might still prowl within their forlorn domains.

Stenciled on many of the deactivated facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the evocative phrase “abandoned in place” indicates the structures that have been deserted. Some structures, too solid for any known method of demolition, stand empty and unused in the wake of the early period of US space exploration. Now Roland Miller’s color photographs document the NASA, Air Force, and Army facilities across the nation that once played a crucial role in the space race. Rapidly succumbing to the elements and demolition, most of the blockhouses, launch towers, tunnels, test stands, and control rooms featured in Abandoned in Place are located at secure military or NASA facilities with little or no public access. Some have been repurposed, but over half of the facilities photographed no longer exist. The haunting images collected here impart artistic insight while preserving an important period in history.

Includes a new foreword to the paperback edition.