Diary of Abandonment
Diary of Abandonment
A visual journal of forgotten America.
About the Creator
Laura Stotts is the creator of Diary of Abandonment, a project documenting historic homes, cemeteries, forgotten places, and the people connected to them.
For more than a decade, she has traveled the backroads of America, crossing the country several times and witnessing firsthand how much of it has been left behind. Her work combines photography, historical research, and genealogy, and eventually led into her cemetery preservation and launch of Grave Conditions, her headstone preservation business. Together, her work has become a visual journal of the pieces of American history too easily forgotten.
About the Creator
Through photography and historical research, her work focuses on the places where those stories remain. Laura Stotts is the creator of Diary of Abandonment, a project centered on historic homes, cemeteries, and overlooked places that still hold pieces of America’s past.
For more than a decade, she has explored rural landscapes, following the traces of lives once lived. Through photography, genealogy, cemetery preservation, and public presentations, her fieldwork connects these sites to the people behind them, encouraging others to preserve their own family history before it’s lost.
Fieldwork
What began in photography has grown to include genealogy, preservation, and living history. Each layer builds on the last, connecting places to the people who lived there and deepening an understanding of the past and its connection to the present.
Photography
Documenting old homes, farmsteads, log cabins, and historic sites across rural America, preserving architectural details, craftsmanship, and the character of places connected to family history.
Photography
Documenting old homes, farmsteads, log cabins, and historic sites across rural America, preserving architectural details, craftsmanship, and the character of places connected to family history.
Genealogy
Focused on genealogy and historical research, exploring family histories and the lasting connections between people, place, and memory, and how those connections shape what remains today.
Genealogy
Focused on genealogy and historical research, exploring family histories and the lasting connections between people, place, and memory, and how those connections shape what remains today.
Preservation
Dedicated to cemetery preservation and headstone care, with hands-on cleaning, restoring, and photographing markers to update online records with accurate, current images.
Preservation
Dedicated to cemetery preservation and headstone care, with hands-on cleaning, restoring, and photographing markers to update online records with accurate, current images.
Living History
Hands-on involvement through reenactments, serving as a docent, volunteering with historical societies, and supporting Veterans to help preserve and share living history.
Living History
Hands-on involvement through reenactments, serving as a docent, volunteering with historical societies, and supporting Veterans to help preserve and share living history.
Featured in
-
The Keeper of Our Stories - Fall 2026 Issue
An 18 page feature story on how a childhood fascination with empty buildings became a decade-long search for the people who left them behind.
-
North Carolina photographer captures nostalgic beauty of abandoned homes
Laura Stotts was featured in The Epoch Times for her photography of abandoned homes, where her images spark widespread emotional response from readers who connected with the memories and histories reflected in the spaces.
-
Tuskegee Airman Story
Coverage of Laura Stotts’ genealogical research connecting a 101 year old WWII veteran to the legacy of a Tuskegee Airman.
Rescuing Abandoned Houses
Exploring efforts to document and preserve disappearing historic homes and the stories they hold.
Photographer & Genealogist Feature
Highlighting cemetery preservation and genealogical research uncovering overlooked local history.
Facebook Hack Story
A North Carolina creator shares the impact of losing a platform to a Facebook hacking scam.
-
Woman loses Facebook business account to person posing as social media influencer
Coverage of a Facebook hackking scam and its impact on a North Carolina creator, also covered by WBTV news.
-
WW II veteran discovers possible connection with Charlotte Tuskegee Airman
Featured on Queen City News after research uncovered a possible connection between a WWII veteran’s mission and a Charlotte Tuskegee Airman who went missing during the war, suggesting their paths may have crossed decades earlier.
-
Photographer discovers letter from World War II sent to Lincolnton
A handwritten 1944 WWII found inside a thrift store dictionary led to efforts to locate the author’s family and return a piece of history.
-
Diary of Abandonment: Dilapidated Houses & a Divine Calling
An in-depth interview centered on the deeper meaning behind the work, where photography and family history intersect with personal experiences of trauma, addition, and healing
-
Laura Stotts, the creative force behind Diary of Abandonment
A conversation exploring the journey behind Diary of Abandonment, documenting forgotten homesteads, rusted vehicles, and the stories uncovered through genealogy, personal history, and rural exploration.
-
Laura Stotts: Forgotten Houses, WWII Letters, and What Abandonment Teaches Us
Interview with North Carolina photographer Laura Stotts on documenting abandoned places, artifacts left behind, and the personal stories they still hold.
Stay Connected
Not everything makes it to social media.
Updates, field notes, and new work shared occasionally.
Upcoming Events Calendar
-
![]()
Libertyfest VA250
September 25, 2026
3:00 PM
Sinking Spring Cemetery, Abingdon, VA
-
![]()
Genealogy Conference
November 14, 2026
1:00 PM
Morganton, North Carolina
-
![]()
Women's Conference
Date TBD
10:30 AM
Hickory, NC
Follow Along
Fieldwork, discoveries, and the stories behind them, shared in real time.
Support the Work
This project has always been about connection—between memory and place, and between the living and those who came before. If this work resonates with you, support helps continue the journey of traveling, researching, and preserving pieces of America’s past through photography and storytelling.
Support the Work
This project has always been about connection—between memory and place, and between the living and those who came before. If this work resonates with you, support helps continue the journey of traveling, researching, and preserving pieces of America’s past through photography and storytelling.