Eastland Mall took up 84 acres of hilltop in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, with parking for 6,000 cars. None of it is there now. A warehouse and a van lot occupy the land.
It opened in 1963 as Eastland Shopping Plaza, with 55 stores on two levels and a Gimbels anchor. The upper shops opened onto a walk that was out in the weather, so in 1973 the center put a roof over it and became Eastland Mall.
Gimbels shut down in September 1986. The department store the mall had been built around was gone, and flea-market tables filled its space, beginning a run at Eastland that lasted more than 15 years. The library on the lower level left in 1995…