Horner Memorial Nurses Home, Brownsville Pennsylvania-1985; the year that the town said farewell as the original Brownsville General Hospital and Horner Memorial Nurses’ Home were vacated and entirely abandoned, left victim to the elements. The hospital now sits in ruins, missing floors, entire rooms, and hallways, while beds remain as if people had just got up, simply walked out and never looked back. In 1940, 8,015 people lived in Brownsville. Its postwar growth led to the development of several cross-county-line suburbs which were mainly bedroom communities within commuting distance to Pittsburgh and the Steel Mills. In the mid-1970s after the OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973–74 triggered a recession, with the restructuring of the steel industry and loss of industrial jobs, Brownsville suffered a severe decline, along with much of the Rust Belt. Generally, the region has declined in population and vitality ever since.
By 2000, the population was 2,804, as younger people had moved away to areas with more jobs. In 2011, Brownsville has a handful of buildings that are condemned or boarded up. Abandoned buildings include the Union Station of the railroad, several banks, and other businesses. The sidewalks around the town are still intact and usable.
A of 2019 the Hospital is in pretty bad shape and pretty dangerous to walk around in as of, the Nurses’ Home is still intact structurally, both were fun to photograph, both of these images were from the Nurses’ Home.
Thanks for Stopping!
