Real reviews from real travelers.
Centralia Pages by calcaf38
| Page Views: 289 Last Visit to Centralia: April, 2007 | The Pennsylvania Town That Went Up In Smoke by calcaf38 - last update: Apr 28, 2007 |
Abandoned Town Over an Eternal Fire As my VT friends know, I have an affection for somewhat ghoulish destinations. I have a whole page dedicated to the Eastern State Penitentiary, and the dream of my life is to visit Le Camp de la Transportation, in St. Laurent du Maroni. Don't ask.
I was always surprised that there was no dedicated page on VT about Centralia, the notorious small mining town in Pennsylvania. If you do a bit of search on the web, you will see that Centralia is quite a cult destination for the Urban Ruins crowd.
Back in 1962, a fire in the town dump ignited a vein of coal. The underground fire could not be extinguished. Efforts at controlling the fire were abandoned in 1981, when the subsiding ground almost swallowed a teenager. The residents voted to let the State of Pennsylvania buy their property. Since then, the town has been progressively evacuated.
To discourage vandalism, the abandoned buildings have been carefully demolished and cleared. At this time, there is little left to see in Centralia. When I first drove through, in 1984, it still looked somewhat like your average bleak Pennsylvania town. Not anymore.
Today, there are but a few houses left of the town. I have read somewhere that the remaining residents are technically squatters, tolerated by the state.
As for the fire, it is expected to burn for at least one thousand years. |
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| Pros: | "Interesting, and open to all sorts of symbolism" | | Cons: | "Hardly uplifting" | | In A Nutshell: | "An easy drive to a minor gate of hell" |
calcaf38's Centralia Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path
Tips: 10 - Photos: 20 | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for calcaf38 about Centralia | | | | |
mtncorg Mon May 19, 2008 15:45 UTC
Here is a fascinating Keystone destination - looks a bit like the Big Island of Hawaii; the lava flows that is. | angiebabe Sun Mar 9, 2008 10:44 UTC
amazing. havent heard of this town. shame about all that coal...!thanks for your tips. do they think anywhere in the town area could collapse? | glabah Mon Dec 31, 2007 09:29 UTC
When I saw Centralia listed, I was thinking of the Washington city - not this one. I remember hearing of this disaster when I was a kid, now I know the rest. | Purpleshade Sun Sep 9, 2007 01:49 UTC
I shouldn't think it would do you much good to breathe in those fumes! Lesley |
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