Rural Decay - Blog Posts

Centralia, Pennsylvania. For most of its history, the town of Centralia was a prosperous coal mining town. Centralia was officially founded in 1842 by Alexander Rae. The first mines opened in the area in 1856, and by 1890 the town had a population of 2,761 and hosted seven churches, five hotels, twenty-seven saloons, fourteen general stores, two theaters, a bank, and a post office. During World War I, production declined as many of the young men enlisted in the military. After the Wall Street Crash in 1929, several of the area mines were closed. However, many illegal mining operations continued in various places. By the 1960's, official coal mining in Centralia had completely ceased, but illegal mining continued until 1982.

In 1962, the Centralia Town Council was deciding what to do with the town landfill. The landfill was established the previous year to discourage illegal dumping and was located inside an abandoned strip-mine pit next to the Odd Fellowes Cemetery. On May 27, firefighters set the landfill on fire and let it burn before extinguishing it. However, the fire was not fully put out - it managed to enter the labyrinth of abandoned coal tunnels that snaked underneath the town.

Residents began to notice something was wrong around 1979. By this point there just over 1,000 residents living in Centralia. That year gas station owner John Coddington inserted a dipstick into one of his underground gasoline tanks to check the fuel level. When he withdrew it, it felt hot. So, he inserted a thermometer into the tank and was shocked to discover the temperature of the gas in the tank was 172° Fahrenheit. Beginning in 1980 several locals began to suffer from health effects due to the gases produced by the fire. Statewide attention began to focus on Centralia when sinkholes began opening at various places in the area. In 1981, 12-year-old Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole in his grandmother's backyard that opened suddenly right beneath his feet. He saved himself be grabbing a tree root and was pulled to safety by his cousin Eric Wolfgang. The steam plume billowing from the hole was tested and found to contain lethal levels of carbon monoxide. At the same time, Governor Dick Thornburgh and State Rep. James Nelligen were visiting the area to assess the situation. In response to the worsening crisis, the U.S. Congress allocated $42 million for relocation effort. Most residents accepted the payments and moved out of town. Afterwards most of the town's structures were demolished. Some residents, however, refused to leave - with 63 residents remaining by 1990. In 1992, Governor Bob Casey invoked eminent domain on all properties within the town. The U.S. Postal Service discontinued Centralia's zip code in 2002.

There have been several legal attempts by the few remaining residents to stop the government from seizing their homes. The holdouts claim that the government wanted the mineral rights to all the coal deposits that remained untapped. In 2009, the state began formal eviction proceedings against the last few residents. These residents filed suit in 2010 claiming they were victims of fraud. By 2013, the residents settled, reaching an agreement that they could remain in their homes until their deaths, at which point the properties would be claimed under eminent domain. By 2020, only five residents still live in Centralia.

The fire underneath Centralia continues to burn. At its current burn rate, the fire could continue to burn for the next 250 years. Almost all the towns' structures have been demolished, and nature has mostly reclaimed the land. From above, the Centralia appears to be nothing more than a series of paved roads hidden within thick forest. There are numerous fissures all over the affected area spewing steam and toxic gas into the air. A section of Pennsylvania Route 61 passing through the Borough was closed after steam damaged and split the pavement repeatedly. There are many signs placed around warning of ground instability and toxic fumes.

The town has served as the model for numerous ghost towns in popular culture including Vampire Zero by David Wellington and Strange Highways by Dean Koontz. Most famously, the story of Centralia was used as research for the basis of the namesake town in the 2006 film 'Silent Hill' - a movie based the popular video game franchise of the same name.

Rural.. Abandoned.. Dreams lost.. Life........death ....           dennis

@liverlamp OMG it's like that one song 😋