12 Abandoned Hotels Where the Past Still Checks In

4. SS United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Docked in quiet stillness along the Delaware River, the SS United States is more than just a ship—it’s a maritime legend left in limbo. Once the fastest ocean liner in the world, this vessel dazzled passengers with mid-century modern luxury, carrying celebrities, presidents, and immigrants across the Atlantic in record time. But by 1969, air travel had eclipsed ocean voyages, and the grand ship was retired. Since 1996, the SS United States has sat motionless in Philadelphia, stripped of her interiors, silently decaying beneath layers of rust and forgotten memories. Hopes for restoration flicker from time to time, but the ship remains largely untouched—an eerie monument to American ambition and nautical elegance. Visitors who peer through the fences see not just a rusting hulk, but a floating palace, patiently waiting for a second act that may never come. Here, the ocean's whispers still echo in her steel bones.