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An in-depth View
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Historical Photos
Mine Fire History
Visiting Centralia
Mine Fire Chronology
Satellite, Aerial Photos
360 Virtual Tours
Downtown Panoramic
Centralia Multimedia
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Memories of Centralia


Panoramic Virtual Tours:

Mine Fire Hot Spot
Downtown Centralia Mainstreet Centralia Damaged Hillside

 
 
   
Knoebels Amusement Park (only 15 miles from Centralia!) 
Ghost Towns
Area 51 - Groom Lake
Abandoned PA Turnpike
Defunct Amusement Parks
Abandoned Places

  

Photo Updates:


Centralia in HDR

July 2006 360? Virtual Tour of Downtown Centralia PA

Centralia's Neighbor:
Byrnesville, Pa

Zeisloft's Mobil
Gas Station

July 5th 2008
Centralia PA

Centralia PA 2008
January Photos and 
commentary by
Donald Davis


2006 Photos


2005 Photos
of Centralia


 

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2004 Photos
of Centralia


2003 photos

of Centralia

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2002 photos

of Centralia


360 Degree Virtual Tours of Centralia PA
 

Fire In The Hole
by Kristie Betts
A fictional story based on Centralia
 

The Little
Town That Was

by Donald Hollinger

 

RESIDENTS TO SAVE THE BOROUGH OF CENTRALIA - FACT SHEET #6 - MARCH 1984 - This "Fact Sheet" was transcribed from a photocopied, original March 1984 newsletter from a Centralia organization called "Residents To Save The Borough Of Centralia".  Read the News Letter here


130th Anniversary
of the 1877 Shamokin Uprising and the Great Railroad Strike .. Read More

 

Centralia Today
A Photo Documentary
of Centralia today.

 

Mine Emergency Response Program
Details from the
Saskatchewan
Mine Rescue Manual
 

















 

Centralia Memorial Day 2006

Dino Vervitsiotis sends in the following pictures he took on over the Memorial Day weekend of 2006.

Even though I've been a resident of PA my entire life and I grew up in coal country (Lackawanna County) I'd never even though of visiting Centralia until visiting your site a few months ago. I finally got a chance to go for Memorial Day weekend this year and I snapped a few pictures mostly of the closed section of Rt. 61 and the hillside near the cemeteries. It was pretty hot so there wasn't much visible smoke, but I did manage to get a shot of one of the residents painting the Centralia benches! He was very friendly and he agreed to chat with me for a few minutes and let me snap a picture of him at work.  The complete set is here and you are more than welcome to use any pictures you like on your site.   Thanks for the inspiration and information! - Dino

Residents of Centralia go about their daily lives. I spoke briefly with this man who was kind enough to let me photograph him putting a new coat of paint on one of the few benches around town 

 

Warning sign just south of the closed section of Rt 61 (you can see the large mound of dirt and a small bit of the section in the lower left of the picture) 

 

 

Mines are not playgrounds! 

 

Looking south towards the mound of dirt that blocks off this section of Rt. 61. You can see the glint of my car windshield in the center right. 

 

Standing at the base of the dirt mound looking north down the closed section of Rt. 61. If you didn't know what was further ahead you might wonder why the road is closed. 

 

 

Your first indication that something isn't quite right. 

 

It might not look so bad, but the road surface on the right side of the picture is about 3 ft lower than on the left. 

 

 

As the ground collapses below the road these cracks form. This section was repaired in the 90s before the road was finally closed 

 

 

Looking south on the closed section of Rt 61 

 

Close up of one of the bigger cracks 

 

Smoke, barely visible, still bellows up from the cracks in the road.

 

 

Another, closer shot of the cracks in the southbound lanes of the closed section of Rt 61.

 

 

Another deceptively large crack in the road, this one in the northbound lanes.

 

 

 

 

More smoke coming from the hillside opposite the closed section of Rt 61 

 

More smoke and discolored ground 

 

A tree that has been bleached white by the heat and foul smelling chemical vapors given off by the coal burning under the hillside 

 

 

Looking down on the empty, overgrown street grid of the town that was Centralia 

 

 

Smoke is barely visible in this closer shot

 

 

Pure white trees and discolored ground near an opening in the ground. The fire burning through the coal seam under this hillside may continue burning for 250 years and eventually threaten the town of Ashland, 2 miles to the south. 

 

Not even grass grows over the hot spots on the hill above town 

 

Empty streets, the top of a house and barely visible on the right is the municipal building 

 

 

One of the few remaining houses in Centralia 

 

2 of the approximately 10 houses left. The brick columns are needed to reinforce the house because it used to be part of a row 

 

 

An empty street grid is all that's left of the main part of town 

 

 

The Municipal Building/Police Station/Fire House, still occupied and in use

 

 

A basketball hoop with a seemingly brand new net on one of the abandoned streets in town 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photos continued, follow this link...

   

 
  Mine Fire History Mine Fire History Historical Photos
  Pictures From Today Mine Fire Chronology Visiting Centralia
  Centralia Then & Now 360? Virtual Tours Scientific Study
  Satellite, Aerial Photos Downtown Panoramic Centralia Books

  

Other Interesting Things

 

 


 

So you want to Visit Centralia PA?  What you should know before you go to Centralia PA.

 

The Real Disaster Is Above Ground: A Mine Fire and Social Conflict

 


















 

What's near Centralia?

Plan your visit around one of Pennsylvania's best kept secrets located only 15 miles up the road from Centralia...


Knoebels
Amusement Park

Click Below for
 more details...

Knoebels
Amusement Park

 


Silent Hill & Centralia
Centralia PA inspires screenwriter Roger Avary during the making of the movie Silent Hill.
Read More Here...

 

Remembering ...
Byrnesville PA
By Mike Reilley

 
  Books about Centralia
  Maps of Centralia
  Around Town Today
  Local Attractions
 
  Personal Notes
  Additional Reading
  Haunted Centralia?
 
  Gerry McWilliams and
  the album "Centralia"
  
  Silent Hill Inspiration
  Other Mine Fires
  Search Centralia
  Centralia Sites/Books
  
Panoramic Virtual Tours:
Mine Fire Hot Spot
Downtown Centralia Mainstreet Centralia Damaged Hillside
  
 
  Centralia Infrared


Centralia PA in B&W Infrared
Infrared Photography
by Donald Davis

Video Tour
in Infrared of
Centralia PA
by Donald Davis

  

The Little Town That Was
by Donald Hollinger
 
  
Made in U.S.A. - 1987 movie that was filmed on location in Centralia PA See the opening Scene that started in Centralia during the peek of the mine fire disaster

 
 

 

Is Centralia Haunted?
Explore the possibility

 
The Real Disaster Is Above Ground: A Mine Fire and Social Conflict
 
  

Is there Hope
for Centralia?

Maybe...

Through the use of Nitrogen-Enhanced foam the Pinnacle mine fire was extinguished by Cummins Industries, Inc.  Cummins proposes to tackle the Centralia Mine fire and bring an end to the 
40 plus year fire.

Read this White Paper which evaluates the effectiveness of remotely applied nitrogen-enhanced foam to aid in efforts to isolate and suppress a mine fire.