From decaying classrooms to dilapidated auditoriums, these abandoned schools from Chernobyl to Detroit are ghostly shells of their former selves.
There are millions of schools around the world, with more than 100,000 in the United States alone. These institutions are deeply embedded in countless communities around the globe. The typical student in America spends at least 12 years of his or her life inside school walls.
While some schools around the world have risen to prominence and stood the test of time, others haven’t been so lucky. It’s difficult to estimate how many abandoned schools exist worldwide, but they’re thought to number in the thousands, perhaps even the tens of thousands.
Though many closed due to natural disasters, bureaucratic mishandling, or a dwindling local population size, others have shut down for far more dramatic reasons — like a nuclear disaster or a brutal attack.
Dive into 44 images from some of the world’s creepiest abandoned schools.
The Haunting Abandoned Schools Of The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Some of the most haunting abandoned school photos have come from the Chernobyl region in Ukraine. These schools were deserted in haste following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.
On April 26, 1986, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded during what was supposed to be a standard safety test. This caused radiation to spread in the area and threatened the nearby locals.
In and near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, more than 350,000 people evacuated to avoid the negative impacts of nuclear fallout. Since the disaster, countless visitors have explored the ghost city, which was home to over a dozen primary schools and five secondary schools.
But the deserted classrooms of Soviet Ukraine were not preserved — because many visitors have damaged and looted the schools, leaving behind little besides empty desks, scattered books, and used gas masks.
One blogger who visited Pripyat's abandoned Middle School Number 3 in 2011 wrote, "I had never seen anything like this. The school's look and feel had little to do with the way things were in Pripyat pre-meltdown. Looters had ravaged the place. It was a microcosm of what the world would have been like downwind of a massive nuclear exchange."
The blogger continued, "At one time, Pripyat had 15 primary schools, 5 middle schools and one professional school. At Pripyat's Middle School Number 3 hundreds of teenagers had walked the now ruined halls. On the chalk boards, ghosts of lessons were still discernible. In the gym, I peered into the corners where first kisses had once been exchanged and hormones started to rage. Songs extolling the Soviet Union would have been sung here. All of this was now in the past. It was over, but it was also frozen."
Supposedly "Haunted" Abandoned Schools Around The World
Though untold numbers of schools stand abandoned around the world, most of them cannot claim a backstory as devastating as those in Pripyat. Still, many of them do come with their own creepy lore.
In Hong Kong, the declining birth rate has led to the closure of many primary schools, including the infamous Tat Tak School in Ping Shan.
The school first opened in 1931 to provide education for local villagers. During World War II, the school closed amidst the Japanese occupation. The school later reopened and eventually accepted a total of 700 students in the subsequent years, requiring the eventual construction of new school buildings in a new area to accommodate the larger number of pupils. In 1998, the school closed, reportedly following declining enrollment rates.
Since then, Tat Tak School has been rumored to be haunted. One infamous ghost story centered around the school's alleged headmistress, who purportedly died by suicide on school property while wearing a red dress. Her ghost is said to roam the halls, still clothed in the same outfit. Chillingly, the abandoned school is also said to sit atop a World War II burial ground, where local villagers were murdered during the Japanese occupation.
Meanwhile, another abandoned school in southern Japan has sat empty since the mid-1970s on Hashima Island. The island was once home to coal miners and their families, starting in the 1800s.
In its heyday, the island housed over 5,000 people. Naturally, the children who lived there attended the local primary and middle school.
The schools, both housed in the same building, first opened in 1958. The first, second, third, and fourth floors of the building were dedicated to the primary school, and the fifth, six, and seventh were for the middle school. At the top floor, the school also featured a gymnasium.
The mines on the island closed in 1974, meaning that everyone who lived there left too, leaving the school and the other buildings deserted. Rumors quickly spread that the island was haunted, including the abandoned school.
In the course of the island's history, around 1,000 laborers met a brutal end while working. The coal mining industry was incredibly dangerous, and many perished as a result of health issues or workplace accidents. Eerily, many visitors to the island have reported seeing the ghosts of deceased workers and hearing strange whispers coming from the many abandoned buildings.
The Creepiest Abandoned School In America
In the United States, not many abandoned schools come close to matching the eerie nature of Annie Lytle Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida.
Originally opened in 1918, the school educated young students for decades before the construction of nearby highways forced its closure in 1960.
Since then, it has sat abandoned and decaying in Jacksonville. The school has been the target of repeated vandalism, and in 1995, the building suffered a fire that severely damaged its auditorium roof.
Many locals believe this abandoned school is haunted. One urban legend tells of a cannibalistic principal who ate misbehaving students, and another describes a murderous janitor who boiled children alive. Recently, some have speculated that the building is a site used for Satanic rituals. However, no confirmed records of any of these incidents exist.
Of course, Annie Lytle Elementary School is far from the only abandoned school left to decay in America. Reasons for the deserted buildings range from underfunding to physical damage to structural issues, and they're sometimes the result of political, economic, and social change.
These haunting buildings both terrify and enthrall us, reminding us of our not-so-distant past and how quickly things can change.
After reading about abandoned schools, dive into the stories of nine abandoned asylums around the world. Then, learn about nine abandoned hospitals that will send a chill down your spine.