Byrnesville, PA

Last year we visited Centralia, PA (blog entry here: Centralia 2013).  We returned again this year, but before we hit Centralia, we visited the lesser known town of Byrnesville, PA.

Byrnesville in the past (photo by Mike Reilley - used with permission)

Byrnesville was a town located near Centralia and was torn down due to the mine fire. The last home was demolished in 1996.

Last home that remained in Byrnesville 

(photo by Mike Reilley - used with permission)

The only structure that really remains in Byrnesville today is a shrine to the Blessed Mother.  

We did pass the shrine on our trek to Centralia last year but at the time did not know what it was all about so we didn't stop.  This year, being more educated, we made it a point to visit and were so glad we did.

Not only did we get to see the shrine, we had the privilege of meeting Mr. Mike Reilley. His father is the one who built the shrine many years ago and Mike is the person who maintains the shrine today.

Here are some shots of the interior. The photos are members of the Reilley family who have passed on.

Mike was such a great guy!  We spoke to him for about a half an hour and he was more than happy to share stories with us about Brynesville and his experiences. It sounds like Byrnesville was the typical nice small town filled with working class, salt-of-the-earth folks. The kind of town where we would love to live!

Mike shared with us that he intended to become a coal miner but the day that he went to get a job, the mines were shut down. He told us about his family and explained that he was able to make a pretty good life after having to leave Byrnesville.

In addition to maintaining the shrine, Mike also has an amazing website all about Brynesville past and present. There are some fantastic stories and pictures there, including a shot of Mike's own house being torn down. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to watch that happening.

Mike's website can be found here: http://byrnesville.com/

He told us that there used to be statues on either side of the shrine, but people being the jerks they are (my words, not his) they were taken and smashed. (Once again, I don't know why people have to be that way. Makes absolutely no sense to me).

Undeterred, though, Mike still keeps up the shrine. He was kind enough to give me permission to use his photos, but I have only posted two here, as I urge my readers to go to Mike's actual website and see the pictures there. I can't even say enough how nice he was. I have often wondered how the people who were affected by the Centralia mine fire react to tourists. It must be jarring to have people driving through your town/area all the time, taking pictures of what was a real tragedy. Mike was super kind about it all and even told me that having people visit makes what he does all worthwhile. I really appreciated that.

It's very sad to think about the mine fire and how it changed the lives of so many people. I guess we are guilty of doing the touristy thing by going to Centralia and Byrnesville and taking pictures, however, the Crew and I do this with the utmost respect for the people of these towns. I think it's important to share these stories because you never know when something like this can happen again. It's so heartbreaking.

Again, please take the time to check out Mike Reilley's website. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Coming up next will be a post about our second visit to Centralia, so stay tuned!

Until Next Time,

Miss Myo

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Covered Bridge - Stillwater, PA

The Crew and I recently took a trip to Pennsylvania and saw many sites and went to many cool places. Therefore I also have lots of neat stories to tell and adventures to share!

The posts to come will be pretty long and detailed, but I decided to start with a quick one to whet the appetites of my readers. The Stillwater, PA Covered Bridge:

The Stillwater Covered Bridge was built in 1849 at a cost of $1,124.00 and it crosses Big Fishing Creek. It is Covered Bridge No. 134 and is one of 28 historic covered bridges in the Pennsylvania counties of Columbia and Montour.

The bridge is 151 feet long with a galvanized steel roof.  It has a Burr Arch Truss style, which is a combination arch and multiple kingpost truss design.

Apparently there has been damage done by snowmobiles on and around the bridge, despite this sign being prominently displayed:

There is also an abandoned church near the bridge.  Not sure of the name or denomination, but it was pretty cool!

You can find out more about this covered bridge - as well as the other historic covered bridges in the area - at this Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaCountyCoveredBridgeAssoc

This was a really neat little piece of history which demonstrates the fact that even the simplest of sights can be awesome places to visit!

Until Next Time,

Miss Myo

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Beavertown, PA

During the same trip in June of 2013 when the Crew and I visited Centralia, PA, we also had occasion to visit Beavertown, PA.

Beavertown was really our main reason for planning the trip to PA in the first place. As I previously mentioned, I am a huge fan of The Monkees. Davy Jones resided in Beavertown, PA for about twenty years or so, right up until he died on February 29, 2012. On June 15, 2013 a memorial was held in his honor and the Crew and I were able to attend!

Davy Jones

12/30/1945 - 02/29/2012

Beavertown isn't weird or anything, but it is quaint. The people couldn't have been nicer and the view...breathtaking!  The memorial event was held in a field behind the fire station and in the distance everywhere you looked there was nothing but mountains covered in trees. 

Davy Jones was not only a Monkee, he was also a jockey. And he loved horses. He had several and part of the purpose of the memorial was to raise money to take care of "the herd." Apparently it costs something like $1000 a month just to feed them. Contrary to popular belief, Davy was not a wealthy man and his daughters have set up a fund to support his beloved beasts, the Davy Jones Equine Memorial Fund: http://www.djemf.com/.

There were several musical acts at the event, all doing Davy songs, of course. They had a "bed race" mirroring the scene in the opening credits of The Monkees where Micky, Mike and Peter push Davy down a city street in a bed.

A local artist named Chuck LaMark is working on a statue of Davy, and he unveiled the prototype at the event. I know a lot of fans bashed the statue for not looking enough like Our Mr. Jones, but I think it was pretty awesome (certainly better than anything I would ever be able to create). Plus I've interacted with him a little on Facebook, and Mr. LaMark seems like a very nice guy.

The coolest thing at the event, though, had to be The Monkeemobile!  I never thought I would get to see it in person! Our kids, N & C are Monkee fans also and they were thrilled to see it as well (cool side note: my parents took me to see The Monkees in 1986 when I was 12. In November 2012, Mim and I got to take N & C to see The Monkees...I love that I was able to share something with them that my folks shared with me - deja vu all over again).  My good friend Patti attended the event also (we actually met through a fanfiction site where I post my Monkees stories) and it was so cool to get a chance to see her. She was excited about the Monkeemobile, too!

There she is, in all her glory...

Lastly, we stopped at Davy's house. It's a really nice home. Right now one of his daughters still owns it and I do hope that they are able to hold onto it. My only regret is that I didn't think to pick up a stone or acorn or something by the house to save, but I did get some good pictures.

At the end of the musical portion of the event, we all did a "sing along" to Daydream Believer. Members of a Monkees fan club called The Purple Flower Gang handed out bubbles for everyone to blow. It was very moving and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

It was a really great experience and if they do make this a yearly event I hope to be able to return at some point. And even if you aren't a Monkees fan, Beavertown, PA, is a beautiful little hamlet and definitely worth checking out.

This one's for you, Davy:

Until Next Time...

Miss Myo

xoxoxoxo

Centralia, PA

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