Q: Should it be "where the church, high school, and post office each stand abandoned" OR "where the church, high school, and post office each stands abandoned"?
A: The former is correct, even though that tricky “each” demands you think about the individual locations. The Chicago Manual of Style (rule 5.250) says this:
As a noun serving as the subject of a clause, “each” takes a singular verb.
Each of them was present that day.
But when it serves as an emphatic appositive for a plural noun, the verb is plural.
They each have their virtues.
The newspapers each sell for $3.
In the instance you described, since “each” is emphatic and in apposition to the series (rather than being the subject itself), the verb should be plural. Contrast with a construction like:
Each building on that hill stands abandoned.
OR
Each of the buildings on that hill stands abandoned.
We hope this saves each of you some time. :-)
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