Albert Einstein once said, "time is an illusion," but for many buildings in South Jersey that you drive past every day, the reality is that time has left them behind.

As often happens, my mind wanders while I'm driving and I find myself thinking about completely random things that, honestly, most people would never think about.

The other day, I began to take notice of how here in South Jersey, it's not all that uncommon for you to be in a hugely busy, developed area yet right across the street, something totally vacant will be just sitting there. Like, for a really long time.

Or, on the other hand, in a highly-populated area like this is, you can get away from it all and find remnants of the past just sitting on the side of a road.

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With that in mind, I took a drive down the Black Horse Pike (it's a good cross-section of the region) and I documented places that time has left behind. Old stores, empty shopping centers, faded signs that still stand with no businesses behind them -- things like that.

23 Pictures Show How Time Has Forgotten About Places in South Jersey

Time moves quickly -- sometimes so fast that it leaves formerly busy stores and buildings behind. Let's take a trip down the Black Horse Pike from Turnersville down to West Atlantic City and see what you may drive past every day and never think about.

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Stores and restaurants come and go from shopping malls all the time. Recently, we asked which ones you wish were part of Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing.

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