Opened in 2000 on 140 acres of land in east New Orleans, rides at the Jazzland amusement park paid homage to music and the city's heritage. It was sold two years later to Six Flags and opened as Six Flags New Orleans with additional rides and areas with DC Comics and Loony Toons themes. Hurricane Katrina hit the park hard in August of 2005; the property flooded and was submerged for a month in up to 7 feet of water. The prolonged exposure to salt water rendered many of the rides unsafe, and Six Flags considered the park a total loss. A handful of the rides were saved and some salvageable items were removed, and after several unsuccessful plans to redevelop the area Six Flags was forced to vacate its lease and the property was taken over by the city in 2009.

Six Flags New Orleans is an overgrown apocalyptic swamp land. Wild bore, coyotes, and alligators now roam between the ticket booths and concession stands. Megalithic rusting coasters stand tall and frozen against the swampy marsh.When I first heard about the dilapidated state of Six Flags New Orleans, I just knew I had to go. We packed up our things and set out on a 16 hour journey to conquer what was one of the most challenging yet rewarding explorations I’ve had to date.

What do you do during a week in New Orleans? Visit the abandoned Six Flags New Orleans of course. I mean, don’t forget about the music, the French quarter and all other awesome things to do in New Orleans. It’s amazing, don’t miss out on that! But if you have the time you might want to take a detour to the abandoned theme park. It once opened as Jazzland park and later became six flags New Orleans. It was destroyed 12 years ago by hurricane Katrina. The park closed down for Katrina and never reopened. It’s surely one of the coolest and creepiest places for urban exploring. Most of the park is still underwater.

These photographs are of the ruins of structures, the first of which were constructed by the Standard Portland Cement Co. (which stopped operating about 1935, according to Rebecca Yerger’s 1999 article “Standard Portland Cement Comany,” published in the Napa Valley Register). In the later years of its operation, the cement works were operated by the Santa Cruz Portland Cement Co. The Basalt Rock Co. constructed more buildings, the three silos, and the rotunda on the property in the late 1940s through the early 1950s.