Abandoned America: Faded factories across the USA

There's something about ruins that touches travelers deeply. Perhaps it’s the visual reminder that just as our lives aren’t permanent, neither is our built environment. Or maybe it’s because some of the world’s great tourist attractions, like the Parthenon and the Pyramids of Giza, were once abandoned.

But it’s not just grand landmarks that appeal. It can also be random sites and structures that grab your eye as you’re driving by. The website Abandoned America documents the USA’s fading locations with haunting photos of places in various states of decay. USA TODAY asked photographer Matthew Christopher to share some of his best shots of places where industry once thrived but now rusts. Take the photo tour in the slideshow above, and see more from Abandoned America in the books Dismantling the Dream and The Age of Consequences.