Abandoned North Dakota: Glimpses of the Past

A curtain flutters in the window of an abandoned farmhouse. Textbooks from the 1940s lay scattered on the floor of a one-room schoolhouse. Receipts for a load of grain sit on the desk of a ghost town grain elevator. If you are a person who likes exploring these abandoned places with camera in hand, North Dakota is a target-rich environment. Drive down any gravel road, and soon you will come across a relic from the past. This is why author John Piepkorn loves North Dakota. John Piepkorn is a photographer who has had a lifelong interest in abandoned places. On multiple trips across North Dakota in the last twenty-five years, he has documented hundreds of places that were once filled with life. Today, those places stand empty. John has made an effort to document the churches, schools, and abandoned farms that dot the North Dakota landscape. Each place has a story to tell, and even in the decay, beauty can be found.