Collapidation by arson in Duluth

Weather beaten in Bena

Collapidated filling station

Lake Street and Park Avenue, south Minneapolis

Collapidated hunting camp, Cass County

Collapidated service station in Kerrick, Minnesota

From the archives: In the UP, even the spelling is collapidated

From the archives: Collapidated hunting camp, Cass County, Minnesota

Collapidation in Marietta

The Red Owl grocery store developed acute structural problems.

Collapidated: An introduction

I first heard the term "collapidated" from my former neighbor/crony, Hesler. A parking lot attendant he befriended--an older guy who liked to eat turtles--used it in reference to a decaying building.

To me, the word is more expressive than collapse or dilapidation, more than the sum of its parts.

Collapidation is all around. Given the trajectory of the economy--and the culture--we are likely entering an era of unsurpassed collapidation. Hence the photoblog.

This example of old school collapidation comes from Marietta, Minnesota, a beautiful, half-dead town near the South Dakota border, where things are allowed to fall apart.