A Ghost Town in the Making - Centralia, Pa

The neighboring town of Ashland
is what Centralia used to look like.

Main Street, Centralia, Pa was once
the heart of a bustling small town.

Downtown Centralia was once home to over 2,000 residents, several churches, 2 theaters, several stores, a bank, and a post office, but little remains today.  Centralia Borough was created in 1866 as a coal mining town, and the local coal mines were the largest employer for most of the town's history.  However, what gave life to the town would also be its undoing.  In 1962 the town council had made the decision to reduce the waste in one of its landfills by burning it when the weather and wind conditions would be favorable.  So it was in May of that year that members of the volunteer fire department set the trash alight, as they had done in previous years.  Unfortunately, this particular landfill was located in an abandoned strip mining pit, and the fire spread to an exposed vein of coal.

Centralia, Pa, as seen from the air

An attempt was made to contain the fire by digging a large trench around it and filling it with water.  Residents think this idea would have worked, if only the town had authorized weekend and holiday pay.  It was on Memorial Day weekend that the fire escaped from  the nearly completed trench while the workers were home with their families.  Had they worked through the holiday the town may have been saved.

One of the last homes left standing
was once part of a large row of houses.

The town reached national attention in 1981 when 12 year old Todd Domboski was nearly swallowed by the Earth in his back yard.  He had been playing with an older cousin when the ground collapsed beneath his feet, leaving him clinging to the lawn while his lower body hung precariously over a sink hole over 100 feet deep.  Quick aid by his cousin saved his life, for had the fall not killed him, the lethal levels of carbon monoxide at the bottom of the pit surely would have.

The Smoking Highway, Centralia, Pa

The old Pa Route 61, just south of Centralia, has suffered from the coal fire that has burned beneath the town since 1962.  Having been repaired several times, and still deteriorating at an alarming rate, nearly one mile of it was finally closed in 1993, the state installed earthen berms at either end, and traffic was rerouted to a new road to the west of the original highway.   The old road was left intact, however, and is now a popular place to explore.

Disclaimer: It is not the intent of StrangePA, its creators or contributers to encourage or recommend the exploration of any grounds under which an active mine fire is burning, or to which gasses, smoke, steam, or any combination thereof may at any time be vented. We do not assert that such activities are in any way safe, and cannot be held responsible for damages resulting from dangerous gasses, heat, fire, or sudden collapse of ground, or any other incident which may occur in such areas.
 

The original Route 61 is behind an earthen berm
while the detour created in 1993 is to the left.