Inside Titusville, Florida's Space Shuttle Ghost Town

Once upon a time, people had a good reason to visit Titusville, Florida. The seat of Brevard County was a great place to watch the space shuttles take off, and shops were kept in business by the steady stream of tourists from around the world who came to watch astronauts leave it. Then in 2011, the space shuttle program ended, and the combination of the housing crisis, the economic downturn, and the loss of thousands of jobs devastated the region.

Some of the towns on Florida's "Space Coast" have since recovered—but Titusville, not so much. Motels remain empty and buildings have been stripped. The launchpad sits across Indian River like a modern-day ruin. It was a city built for NASA employees and tourists alike—now, without either, the city lies abandoned and filled with chintzy signage.