Centralia : A Ghost Town Burning for over 50 Years

   

Abandon part of Route 61

     Centralia is one of the best-known ghost towns of Pennsylvania. It was even inspiration for the Silent Hill motion picture. At its peak over 2500 residents once lived in the old coal-mining town; now less than 5 people occupy the town. Incorporated as a borough in 1866, it was inhabited primarily by coal miners. The borough grew to have a few hotels, over 20 salons and 14 general stores. Anthracite coal mining continued in the town form the late 1860's until 1962. Anthracite coal was highly valued in the steel industry since it would burn hotter and longer than other types of coal. Unfortunately the towns lively hood would be its downfall. Anthracite coal is also hard to ignite, and harder to extinguish.

Overgrown Intersection in Town

     In 1962, firefighters were burning local trash near a cemetery on the outside of town. They had been doing this for years, however, this time where they choose to burn the trash had a vein of coal near the surface and it caught fire. The ground fire was put out easily, but little did they know the fire had spread underground. For a few years attempts to research and put out the fire had made things worse, providing air to the fire. In the 1980's it was estimated to cost nearly 600 million dollars to

contain the fire that was burning in the 3000-acre coalfield. The US government could not justify the cost and eminent domain was evicted in the early 1990s. Some residents had left when the fire started and the town slowly started to fade away. It is estimated that the coal will burn for another 250 years and no plans have been made to extinguish it.

    Centralia has now become a frequented place for visitors and urban explorers. The town remains very unsafe with fractures in the earth, sinkholes, toxic gases, and temperatures reaching over 500 degrees only a foot underground. Even with all the dangers, on almost any day a handful of people can be seen walking through the grass covered roads. Three cemeteries and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church still remain but not much else. A stretch of

Route 61 has been made detoured due to the earth twisting the pavement. Now graffiti litters the black top that used to be a 4-lane highway.

     I chose to brave the dangers in the summer of 2009 with a few friends. We arrived in the ghost town which is just a short drive east from Ashland PA. No homes remained when we visited. A few sidewalks and remains of stairs remained along the unkempt roads. We visited the 3 cemeteries on the south side of town. From almost any point in the town the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church overlooks the ghost town from the hill above. Our last stop was the

abandon part of Rt. 61. Gases could be seen coming from the cracked pavement and the road was warped and twisted. We walked about a mile along the road and took time to read the graffiti and then made our way back home.

      Please use extreme caution if you chose to visit this location. Multiple warning signs are posted around the area.

Blocked portion of Route 61

Steam was rising from the cracked pavement