Indiana's abandoned landscape extends far beyond Gary — the state carries a psychiatric hospital that held 2,500 patients in Indianapolis, a 1970s water park covered in graffiti near Bloomington, a 1920s steel mill New Deal post office abandoned since the 1970s and entire small-town commercial corridors emptied by the decline of Midwest manufacturing. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Indiana, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
Why Indiana Is a Hidden Gem for Abandoned Buildings & Urban Exploration
Indiana's urbex landscape spans the industrial collapse of the Lake Michigan corridor around Gary and Hammond, the deinstitutionalization of large psychiatric campuses in Indianapolis and Logansport, and the rural decay of small farming towns emptied by agricultural consolidation. The state offers remarkable variety within a compact geography.
1. Central State Hospital – 1889 Psychiatric Campus That Held 2,500 Patients, Closed 1994 Under Abuse Allegations, Indianapolis (Known Location)
Originally opened in 1889 as the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane, Central State Hospital in Indianapolis grew to hold 2,500 patients at its peak — a complete self-contained campus with its own farm, bakery, pathology department and recreational facilities. Patient abuse allegations and financial difficulties led to its closure in 1994. The sprawling campus buildings have been in various states of abandonment since — some demolished, others still standing with original ward fixtures, corridor tile floors and the institutional architecture of the 1890s-1920s construction eras visible. One of the most historically significant abandoned places in Indiana for institutional urbex.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Central State Hospital Indiana
2. Zoom Flume Water Park – 1970s Concrete Slide Park Covered in Graffiti, Bloomington (Known Location)
A popular water park near Lake Monroe in Bloomington during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Zoom Flume was abandoned when attendance collapsed and the cost of maintenance became unviable. The concrete slide structures — some rising two stories above the ground — have been covered floor-to-ceiling in graffiti art over the decades since closure, making this one of the most colorful and most Instagram-documented abandoned places in Indiana. The combination of crumbling concrete, vivid murals and the nostalgia of a place where generations of Hoosiers spent their summers makes it genuinely distinctive urbex.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
3. Gary Federal Building and Post Office – 1936 New Deal Government Building Abandoned Since the 1970s, Downtown Gary (Exclusively on Our Map)
Built in 1936 as part of FDR's New Deal public works program to employ thousands of unemployed Americans, the Gary Federal Building buzzed with postal and federal activity during the city's post-WWII peak before the steel industry's collapse emptied downtown Gary. Its doors closed for good in the 1970s. The Modernist geometric exterior typical of New Deal federal architecture, the stripped interior and forty years of exposure to Lake Michigan weather make this one of the most atmospherically loaded abandoned places in Indiana outside of the churches and union station already covered. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Abandoned Indiana Limestone Quarry – 1900s Cutting Sheds and Derrick Infrastructure Still Standing, Lawrence County (Exclusively on Our Map)
Indiana limestone built America — the Empire State Building, the Pentagon and the National Cathedral are all cut from Lawrence County stone. The cutting sheds, derrick infrastructure and quarry equipment from the early 20th century boom still stand across the landscape of Lawrence County, many in various states of abandonment as quarry consolidation eliminated the smaller operations. One of the best abandoned places in Indiana for industrial heritage photography — the distinctive scale of limestone cutting architecture and the dramatic quarry landscapes create images found nowhere else in the Midwest. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Abandoned Indiana Steel Mill Workers' Housing – 1910s Company Rows with Original Interiors, Hammond-East Chicago Corridor (Exclusively on Our Map)
A block of 1910s brick worker housing built by the steel industry for its Lake Michigan corridor workforce — original wood floors intact, period wallpaper still visible on upper floor walls and the compact layout of company housing built for immigrant steelworkers from Poland, Hungary and Croatia. When the mills closed, entire streets in the Hammond-East Chicago corridor emptied faster than they could be repurposed; some blocks were left. One of the most human-scale abandoned places in Indiana — far from the industrial grandeur of the Gary churches, these are the homes of the people who fed the furnaces. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
Safety Tips for Urban Exploration in Indiana
- Structural instability: Indiana's abandoned buildings have been exposed to Midwest freeze-thaw cycles for decades — always test floors and avoid upper levels after winter or rain
- Gary environment: always explore Gary sites in daylight, in groups and with awareness of your surroundings
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and let someone know your location
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ – Abandoned Places in Indiana
What is the most famous abandoned place in Indiana (outside Gary)?
Central State Hospital in Indianapolis — a psychiatric campus opened in 1889 that held 2,500 patients before closing in 1994 under abuse allegations. Several campus buildings still stand in various states of abandonment across the Indianapolis west side.
What is the Zoom Flume in Bloomington?
A concrete water park built near Lake Monroe in the 1970s, abandoned when attendance collapsed and now covered floor-to-ceiling in graffiti art. One of the most heavily photographed and most Instagram-documented abandoned places in Indiana.
What made Indiana limestone famous?
Lawrence County's oolitic limestone is one of the finest building stones in the world — used to construct the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, the National Cathedral and many of Washington DC's most important federal buildings. The cutting sheds and quarry infrastructure of the early 20th century boom are scattered across Lawrence County in various states of abandonment.
🎯 Summary
Indiana's abandoned buildings range from a psychiatric hospital that held 2,500 patients to graffiti-covered water park slides in the Bloomington woods and limestone quarry cutting sheds that supplied the stone for America's most important federal buildings. Each of these 5 abandoned places in Indiana captures a different layer of a state whose industrial, institutional and agricultural history left behind far more than its flyover reputation suggests.
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