The Eye of the Needle
If you’re a history enthusiast, you already know a thing or two about the Eye of the Needle in Fort Benton, Montana. You know, the popular sandstone arch whose solitary setting by the riverside formed a doorway that lured visitors in?
Source: Tumblr
Unfortunately, coming generations will not know the thrills of visiting this location as it collapsed in 1997 after Memorial Day Weekend. To date, no one knows if it was vandalized or fell naturally.
Mount Humboldt
The Mount Humboldt glacier in the Northern Andes is another amazing tourist site that we’re sorry to let you know no longer exists. In its glory days, it was the ski spot no one wanted to miss, with blooming businesses and skiing infrastructure.
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It’s all gone now, and scientists say it will remain this way, with no ice left for the next decade in the best-case scenario. We have climate change to blame for this.
The Original Penn Station
Did you know that the current Pennsylvania Station isn’t the first one that was built? The original one, constructed in 1910, was an architectural masterpiece with domed ceilings, beautiful columns, and archways to behold. It was a busy traffic hub until the late 1950s when intercity travel declined.
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The structure, on whose site Madison Square now sits, was brought down in 1963 in the heat of so much controversy.
Mukurob “Finger of God”
Many years ago, in the Namib Desert in Namibia, there stood Mukurob, a sandstone rock formation nicknamed “Finger of God.” And no, it had nothing to do with God’s actual finger.
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However, it was a spectacular monument that seemed to defy gravity by having a 39-foot high, 14.5-foot wide, and 450-ton weighing structure supported by a mere 9.8-foot long, 4.9-foot wide base. Sadly, the famous tourist attraction collapsed unexpectedly on December 7, 1988.
Pig Beach
As its name implies, Pig Beach was an inhibited island with lots of feral pigs gracing its sands. It’s still a wonder how the pigs arrived at this island in the Bahamas, but legends have it that they were to be eaten by certain sailors who didn’t return.
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As the number of tourists to this location increases, the number of pigs has halved due to dietary changes. If nothing is done about this, there’ll be no Pig Beach in the near future.
Disney’s River Country
The first water park Walt Disney ever built had an ancient watering hole theme with fake rocks and a make-believe mountain. As you can guess, it no longer exists due to decades of neglect, deterioration, and decay.
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However, it was a sight for sore eyes when it opened in the late 1970s, so much so that we really wish it were still here.
Basking Ridge Oak Tree
It’s not every day you get to see a tree over 600 years old and existed at the same time as Columbus. That’s why the Basking Ridge Oak Tree, one of the oldest in North America, was such a big deal for tourists.
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Unfortunately, the tree gave in to old age and harsh weather in 2016 and was eventually cut down in 2017.
The Ancient Town of Norcia
Norcia was an Italian town that housed the Basilica of Saint Benedict, the Cathedral of St. Mary Argentina, the original walls of the Roman City, and numerous historic buildings. Unfortunately, they were all brought down by an earthquake of 6.6 magnitude that hit the town on October 30th, 2016.
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New generations will know nothing of the fantastic tourist center the town was before the quake.
Wedding Cake Rock
The last spot on our list is Wedding Cake Rock in Australia. This unique rock structure is a pristine white cliff in the New South Wales Royal National Park shaped like a wedding cake. It’s a beautiful location that sees thousands of tourists visiting every month.
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Sadly, it’s also a delicate cliff gradually weakening as the visitors stand, sit, and walk on it, even after efforts to keep them off. It’s likely to collapse by the next decade.