The collapse of Pennsylvania’s once prosperous industries has transformed the landscape into a desolate wasteland. On the drive to Birchwood, we saw town after town filled with abandoned storefronts and houses as a result of economic decline. Some of these sites may be heavily patrolled and guarded by cops and veterans, especially in Pennsylvania. Our time at Birchwood was cut short for this reason, so while there is a lot to explore in Pennsylvania, we prefer upstate NY and NJ sites more since they tend to be more chill. Birchwood had been a couples resort and a popular site for honeymooners. In the late 90s the resort struggled to stay open and began hosting fetish parties and events called spanking parties. A few years later Birchwood went out of business and has been abandoned ever since.
When we arrived at Birchwood, we noticed that the resort was on both sides of the road and there were no gates. We started on the left side of the road and entered the first building. It was easy to get inside because all of the doors were open. We found ourselves in the old bar/restaurant where there was graffiti all over the walls and the structural integrity had fallen into decay. Some reminiscence remained such as a grand piano, bar stools and tables. One thing we saw that was particularly creepy was a satanic star symbol made of salt on the floor of the bar. I was careful not to disturb it in order to avoid being cursed or haunted. Outside behind the building was an outdoor swimming pool filled with lawn chairs and umbrellas. We even saw little tadpoles swimming around. Past the swimming pool we crossed the tall grass towards the cabins surrounding a pond.
The cabins appeared to be couple suits, some of which were dilapidated while others were in decent condition. In one of the cabin’s bedrooms we found written inside of the dresser drawers names and messages that were left behind by past lovers who were once guests at the resort. In the last cabin we entered we saw in the bathroom what appeared to be a jacuzzi covered with blood. To say I was freaked out to see this is an understatement. We left the cabin and although we were creeped out by the bloody jacuzzi we decided to keep exploring. We entered a partially dilapidated house and found sprawled out on the floor lots of papers and books. At closer examination we discovered that they were Chinese to English learning materials and we figured that the resort had hired their workers from China.
The last building we explored was the Gymnasium. As I mentioned earlier, the resort extends to both sides of the road and the gym was across the way. Here we found an indoor pool, exercise equipment and a big indoor basketball court. At this point we were approached by guards and asked to leave. Although our adventure was interrupted, we got a good sense of Birchwood and what it was once like. I still wonder about the salt pentagram and bloody jacuzzi we found and wonder if they are related occurrences. What is the story behind what we saw at Birchwood? We may never know.
URBAN EXPLORING ABANDONED BUILDINGS 