Warning sign that was once present at the Centralia site.
It was stolen so many times that the state stopped replacing it. (photo from the web)
Centralia, PA, is a pretty well known location, although - silly me - until we traveled there in June of 2013, I had never heard of it. We happened to be camping up in Pennsylvania and Mim realized that we weren't too far from Centralia so we spent the better part of a day exploring the area.
Centralia, PA is pretty much a ghost town, due to a mine fire that started in 1962 and continues to burn to this day. Most of the area is overgrown with vegetation; if you didn't know it was once a town, you might think it was just a random field. However, when you start driving or walking around the area, you will see sites like this:
This is smoke from the mine fire below. Throughout the area you can see various billows rising from the ground. Put your hand on the ground and you will feel the heat.
This is an abandoned road that runs through the Centralia area.
Although most of the Centralia is completely gone, there are 10 residents who still remain in the town.
It was strange walking through the abandoned roads. I can't say that it was creepy exactly; even though the place is pretty much deserted, I had a feeling of peace as we walked around the area.
Unfortunately it seems that people like to dump trash on the site that was once a great town. I refused to take a picture of the liter, but suffice to say there were several bags of refuse, a mattress, and a plastic patio chair. Why do people have to be so disrespectful? Even though the area is abandoned and there's not much there, to me places like this are still sacred and should be treated as such (okay, rant over).
This picture, actually from Wikipedia, shows the part of Route 61 that once led to Centralia and is now abandoned.
(photo from the web)
This tree has signs on it that say "Wood Street" and "Fire." One of the remaining residents got tired of people knocking on his door and asking where to find Wood Street, so he nailed these signs to a tree, showing folks the way. (I did not take this picture; I found it on the internet. We did see the signs, however at the time we didn't realize what they were for, or else we would have taken a few shots ourselves).
A couple more shots of the ground in Centralia.
There is actually one church that remains in Centralia, St. Mary's, and services are still held there each Sunday.
(photo from the web)
There are also four cemeteries in Centralia. We visited one, which is Russian Orthodox, and took a few pictures:
If you would like to learn more about Centralia, PA, I highly recommend the book Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire by David DeKok. Mr. DeKok spent years researching the history of Centralia, the mine fire, and the reasons why the fire was never put out (spoiler alert: it's due to bureaucratic red tape more than anything else).
Centralia before the fire. (photo from the web)
I do give a lot of credit to the residents who remain in Centralia, although I don't know how safe it actually is. This entire situation was definitely mishandled by The Powers That Be and the State of Pennsylvania.
They say the fire could burn for another 250 years at least. The fire extended into the neighboring town of Byrnesville and that had to be abandoned too.
As cool as this site is, I only hope that no one is ever seriously injured or killed as a result of the fire that keeps burning underground, and that no more towns are wiped off of the map because of it.
Interesting fact: I couldn't get reception on my phone in the town where we were camping, or even in the surrounding area..and yet I had no trouble getting a signal in Centralia!
Some trivia: Centralia, PA was the inspiration for the film adaptation of the game Silent Hill...
Very spooky stuff indeed!
Until Next Time...
Miss Myo
xoxoxoxo
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