Centralia is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005^[1] and 9 in 2007,^[2] as a result of a 46-year-old mine fire burning beneath the borough. Centralia is now the least-populous municipality in Pennsylvania, with four fewer residents than the borough of S.N.P.J. Image File history File links Map_of_Pennsylvania_highlighting_Columbia_County. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1280x1700, 46 KB) Other versions Image:Map of Columbia County, Pennsylvania. ... In Pennsylvania boroughs are one form of subdivisions of the counties. ... Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... A mine fire is a fire that starts in a coal mine and burns underground. ... S.N.P.J. is a borough located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. ...

History

Early history

Johnathan Faust opened Bull's Head Tavern in 1841 in what was then Roaring Creek Township. In 1854, Alexander W. Rea, a civil and mining engineer for the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company, moved to the site and laid out streets and lots for development. The town was known as Centreville until 1865, when the post office was established and the name was changed to Centralia. Centralia was incorporated as a borough in 1866. The anthracite coal industry was the principal employer in the community. Coal mining continued in Centralia until the 1960s, when most of the companies went out of business. Bootleg mining continued until 1982. Strip and open-pit mining is still active in the area, and there is an underground mine employing about 40 employees three miles to the west. Roaring Creek Township is a township located in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. ... Small-town post office and town hall in Lockhart, Alabama A post office is a facility (in most countries, a government one) where the public can purchase postage stamps for mailing correspondence or merchandise, and also drop off or pick up packages or other special-delivery items. ... Anthracite coal Anthracite (Greek Ανθρακίτης, literally a form of coal, from Anthrax [Άνθραξ], coal) is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster. ... Surface coal mining in Wyoming. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... Bootleg mining is illegal coal mining. ... Strip mining is the practice of mining a seam of mineral ore by first removing all of the soil and rock that lies on top of it. ... El Chino, located near Silver City, New Mexico, is an open-pit copper mine Open-pit mining, or opencast mining, refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow. ...

Where PA Route 61 Cuts off due to the Mine Fire

The borough was also a hotbed of Molly Maguires activity during the 1860s and 1870s. The borough's founder, Alexander Rea, was one of the victims of the secret order when he was murdered just outside of the borough on October 17, 1868. Three individuals were convicted of the crime and hanged in the county seat of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania on March 25, 1878. Several other murders and arsons also occurred during this period. For the movie, see The Molly Maguires (film). ... // The First Transcontinental Railroad in the USA was built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869. ... // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Bloomsburg is a town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Wilkes Barre along the Susquehanna River. ... is the 84th day of the year (85th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

The borough was served by two railroads, the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Valley, with the Lehigh Valley being the principal carrier. Rail service ended in 1966. The borough operated its own school district with elementary schools and a high school within its precincts. There were also two Catholic parochial schools in the borough. The borough once had seven churches, five hotels, twenty-seven saloons, two theatres, a bank, post office, and fourteen general and grocery stores. During most of the borough's history, when coal mining activity was being conducted, the town had a population in excess of 2,000 residents. Another 500 to 600 residents lived in unincorporated areas immediately adjacent to Centralia.^[1] 1884 map of the Pennsylvania, Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroads The Reading Railroad (AAR reporting mark RDG), officially known as the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states. ... 1884 map of the Pennsylvania, Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroads The Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company (AAR reporting mark LV) was incorporated April 21, 1846 in Pennsylvania. ... A parochial school (or faith school) is a type of private school which engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. ...

Mine fire

Section of PA Route 61 closed due to mine fire.

PA 61 at the southern terminus of PA 42.

The Municipal Building of Centralia, Pennsylvania.

In May 1962, Centralia Borough Council hired five members of the volunteer fire company to clean up the town landfill, located in an abandoned strip mine pit next to the Odd Fellows Cemetery. This had been done prior to Memorial Day in previous years, but in previous years the landfill was in a different location. The firemen, as they had in the past, set the dump on fire, let it burn for a time, and then extinguished the fire, or so they thought. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2048x1536, 1026 KB) Higher resolution photograph of the Route 61 crack, in Centralia PA. I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2048x1536, 1026 KB) Higher resolution photograph of the Route 61 crack, in Centralia PA. I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

However, in her 2007 book about Centralia, Joan Quigley asserts that the fire began on May 27 when one of the two commercial haulers serving the borough "hurled hot ashes onto the dump."^[3] Quigley cites "interviews with volunteer firemen, the former fire chief, borough officials, and several eyewitnesses, as well as contemporaneous borough council minutes" as her sources for this explanation of the fire.

The fire remained burning in the lower depths of the garbage and eventually spread through a hole in the rock pit into the abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia. Attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful, and it continued to burn throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Adverse health effects were reported by several people due to the carbon monoxide produced. R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , Flash point Flammable gas Related Compounds Related oxides carbon dioxide; carbon suboxide; dicarbon monoxide; carbon trioxide Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ...

In 1979, locals became aware of the scale of the problem when a gas-station owner inserted a stick into one of his underground tanks to check the fuel level. When he withdrew it, it seemed hot, so he lowered a thermometer down on a string and was shocked to discover that the temperature of the gasoline in the tank was 172 °F (77.8 °C). State-wide attention to the fire began to increase, culminating in 1981 when 12-year-old Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole four feet wide by 150 feet (46 m) deep that suddenly opened beneath his feet. He was saved after his older cousin pulled him from the mouth of the hole before he could plunge to his probable death. The incident brought national attention to Centralia as an investigatory group (including a state representative, a state senator, and a mine safety director) were coincidentally on a walking tour of Domboski's neighborhood at the time of his near-death incident. For other uses, see Fahrenheit (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Celsius (disambiguation). ...

In 1984, Congress allocated more than $42 million for relocation efforts. Most of the residents accepted buyout offers and moved to the nearby communities of Mount Carmel and Ashland. A few families opted to stay despite warnings from state officials. Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... United States Pennsylvania Northumberland 0. ... Ashland is a borough located in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania. ...

In 1992, Pennsylvania claimed eminent domain on all properties in the borough, condemning all the buildings within. A subsequent legal effort by residents to have the decision reversed failed. In 2002, the United States Postal Service revoked Centralia's ZIP code, 17927. Eminent domain (United States), compulsory purchase (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia) or expropriation (Canada, South Africa) in common law legal systems is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizens private property, expropriate property, or rights in property, without the owner... USPS and Usps redirect here. ... Mr. ... 17927 is the defunct ZIP code of Centralia, a borough of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States, where an underground mine fire has been burning for over 40 years. ...

Today

Gas escapes from the ground above the fire.

Local warning sign

A 1999 photo showing the abandoned highway, and its replacement

A handful of occupied homes remain in Centralia. Most of the buildings have been razed, and at a casual glance the area now appears to be a meadow with several paved streets through it. Some areas are being filled with new-growth forest. Most of Centralia's roads and sidewalks are overgrown with brush, although some areas appear to be mowed.^[4] The remaining church in the borough holds weekly Saturday night services, and the borough's four cemeteries are still well-maintained. Centralia's cemeteries now have a far greater population than the town, including one on the hilltop that has smoke rising around and out of it. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (768x1024, 453 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (768x1024, 453 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1008x969, 228 KB) Higher resolution image of the sign at the begining of Route 61. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1008x969, 228 KB) Higher resolution image of the sign at the begining of Route 61. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,000 × 800 pixels, file size: 175 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A view showing the old and new alignments of Pennsylvania Route 61 near Centralia, and a good picture of the clearing that was once Byrnesville. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,000 × 800 pixels, file size: 175 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A view showing the old and new alignments of Pennsylvania Route 61 near Centralia, and a good picture of the clearing that was once Byrnesville. ...

The only indications of the fire, which underlies some 400 acres (1.6 km²), spreading along four fronts, are low round metal steam vents in the south of the borough, and several signs warning of underground fire, unstable ground, and carbon monoxide. Additional smoke and steam can be seen coming from an abandoned portion of Pennsylvania Route 61, the area just behind the hilltop cemetery, and various other cracks in the ground scattered about the area. Route 61 was repaired several times until its final closing. The current route was a detour around the damaged portion during the repairs and became a permanent route in the mid 90's, thus abandonment occurred to the old route with permanent barriers being placed at both ends of the former route. However, the underground fire is still burning and will continue to do so for the indefinite future. There are no current plans to extinguish the fire, which is consuming an eight-mile seam containing enough coal to fuel it for 250 years.^[1] R-phrases , , , , S-phrases , , , , Flash point Flammable gas Related Compounds Related oxides carbon dioxide; carbon suboxide; dicarbon monoxide; carbon trioxide Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... Pennsylvania Route 61 is a Pennsylvania highway which covers a distance of 76 miles (122 kilometres). ...

One of the few remaining houses was notable for the five chimney-like support buttresses along each of two opposite sides of the house, where the house was previously supported by a row of adjacent buildings before they were demolished. This home was demolished in September 2007.^[5]

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not renew the relocation contract at the end of 2005, and the fate of the remaining residents is uncertain.^[6]

It is expected that many former residents will return in 2016 to open a time capsule buried in 1966 next to the veterans' memorial.^[1] For other uses, see Time capsule (disambiguation). ...

Mineral rights

Several current and former Centralia residents believe the state's eminent domain claim was a ploy to gain the mineral rights to the anthracite coal beneath the borough. Residents estimate its value to be in the billions of dollars, although the exact amount of coal is not known, especially considering that it has been burning for 45 years. Commonwealth officials have stated that Pennsylvania does not own the mineral rights and has no interest in acquiring them, and no further mining has been done in the area. Mineral rights, mining rights, oil rights or drilling rights, are the rights to remove minerals, oil, or sometimes water, that may be contained in and under some land. ... Anthracite coal Anthracite (Greek Ανθρακίτης, literally a form of coal, from Anthrax [Άνθραξ], coal) is a hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster. ...

Geography

Centralia is located at 40°48′12″N, 76°20′30″W (40.803291, -76.341741).^[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²), all land. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... A square mile is an English unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (≈1,609 m) in length. ... A square metre (US spelling: square meter) is by definition the area enclosed by a square with sides each 1 metre long. ...

Demographics

As of the 2000 census,^[8] there were 21 people, 10 households, and 7 families residing in the borough. As of March 2004, there were eighteen people residing in nine dwellings. The population density was 87.5 people per square mile (33.8/km²). There were sixteen housing units at an average density of 66.7 people per square mile (25.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 100% white. 2000 US Census logo The Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April _ May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Israeli-Palestinian conflict Occupation of Iraq Same-sex marriage... The United States Census Bureau uses the federal governments definitions of race when performing a census. ...

There were ten households out of which one (10%) had children under the age of 18 living with them, five (50%) were married couples living together, one had a single female householder, and three (30%) were non-families. Three of the households were made up of individuals and one had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10, and the average family size was 2.57. Matrimony redirects here. ...

In the borough the population was spread out with one (5%) resident under the age of 18, one from 18 to 24, four (19%) from 25 to 44, seven (33%) from 45 to 64, and eight (38%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 62 years. There were ten females and eleven males with one male under the age of 18.

The median income for a household in the borough was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $28,750. The per capita income for the borough was $16,083. 0% of the population is below the poverty line. The per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their total personal income, divided by the total population. ... Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ...

In the media

Literature

• Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, describes a visit to the town.
• Jennifer Finney Boylan's novel The Planets (written under the name James Boylan) and its sequel The Constellations are both set in Centralia.
• The town seems to be the direct inspiration for the setting of Dean Koontz's short novel Strange Highways.
• Centralia is the hometown of the main character in "Dirty Blonde" by Lisa Scottoline.
• In the 2003 book, Bubbles Ablaze, by Sarah Strohmeyer, Centralia is the inspiration for the fictional town of Limbo, Pennsylvania.
• Information on the story of Centralia can also be found in Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran's book entitled Weird Pennsylvania.
• Centralia was the subject of a humorous albeit factual article ("Don't Go There") in National Lampoon magazine, March 1991.
• The main character in Joyce Carol Oates' The Tattooed Girl (Alma Busch) is from Centralia.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply The A.T., is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. ... A Walk in the Woods is a book by Bill Bryson describing his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with his childhood friend Katz. ... William Bill McGuire Bryson, OBE, (born December 8, 1951) is a best-selling American-born author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects. ... Jennifer Finney Boylan (born 22 June 1958) is an American author and professor at Colby College. ... Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania) is an American writer. ... Picture of Lisa Scottoline from her website. ... January 1973 cover of National Lampoon National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that began in 1970 as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon. ... Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American author and the Roger S. Berlind 52 Professor in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing at Princeton University, where she has taught since 1978. ...

Film

• The town and its few remaining residents are the focus of Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland's 2007 feature-length documentary The Town That Was.
• The town is the inspiration for the 1991 cult film Nothing But Trouble, written by Dan Aykroyd.
• In the movie version of Silent Hill, the town of Silent Hill is suffering from a prolonged mine fire similar to Centralia, and aspects of this are shown throughout the movie, such as characters wandering through the Misty version of Silent Hill wearing mining gear.
• "Made In U.S.A." was partially filmed in Centralia and other local towns. The two main characters in the film were residents of Centralia.

Nothing but Trouble is a comedy film released in 1991. ... Daniel Edward Aykroyd CM (born July 1, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Canadian/American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and musician. ... This article is about the video game franchise. ... Made in U.S.A is a 1966 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. ...

Music

• This town is the inspiration to the Centralia, an album by the Canadian band Dream Quest.
• The progressive metal band Car Bomb named their 2007 album after the town.
• UK band Spy Versus Spy named a track on their Little Lights album "Waiting For Centralia To Sink.

Car Bomb is a progressive metal group from Long Island, NY that was initially formed in 2000. ... Spy vs. ...

Comics

• This town is included in a short documentary on the Broken Saints web comic DVD set.

The case of the FOX Home Video Special DVD edition of Broken Saints Broken Saints is an award winning, partially animated, Flash animated film series by Brooke Burgess, Ian Kirby and Andrew West. ...

Games

• Centralia was the pre-production codename and an influence of the movie adaptation of the game Silent Hill.^[9]

It has been suggested that Silent Hill 2 (film) be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the video game franchise. ...

Other

• The Squonk Opera wrote and performed a musical called Inferno, re-interpreting Dante Alighieri's Inferno as a trip into Centralia.
• Centralia is documented in photographs and oral histories in "Slow Burn: A Photodocument of Centralia, Pennsylvania" by Renee Jacobs (University of Pennsylvania Press/1986)
• Centralia was the subject of the opera Burn! which was performed at the Black Sheep Puppet Festival at the Brewhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in September 2001.

Squonk Opera is a group of interdisciplinary performing artists from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Dante redirects here. ... Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ... Pittsburgh redirects here. ...

Gallery

See also

Byrnesville, Pennsylvania Byrnesville, Pennsylvania, is a former town located in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. ...

References

Smithsonian is a monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution of the United States in Washington, DC External link Smithsonian webpage Categories: Smithsonian Institution | United States magazines | Stub ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Reading Eagle is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the United States. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title ) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Zasky, Jason. The Unforgettable Fire in Failure Magazine, January 2001
• DeKok, David. Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire, iUniverse.com, ISBN 0-595-09270-5
• Moran, Mark. Weird U.S., Barnes & Noble, ISBN 0-7607-5043-2
• Kroll-Smith, J. Stephen, and Couch, Stephen. The Real Disaster Is Above Ground: A Mine Fire and Social Conflict,Univ Pr of Kentucky, January 1990, ISBN-10: 0-8131-1667-8, ISBN-13: 978-0813116679
• Quiqley, Joan. The Day the Earth Caved in: An American Mining Tragedy, Random House, 2007, ISBN: 978-1-4000-6180-8

A typical Barnes & Noble bookstore. ... // Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ...

External links

• Centralia Mine Fire - Town Atop a Burning Coal Mine
• The Town That Was: Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland's Documentary Film about Centralia, PA
• O.T.I.S.: Odd Things I've Seen
• Offroaders.com Centralia photo album
• History of the Centralia Project
• Centralia Mine Fire
• Centralia Mine Fire
• Centralia, Pennsylvania is at coordinates 40°48′12″N 76°20′30″W / 40.803291, -76.341741 (Centralia, Pennsylvania)Coordinates: 40°48′12″N 76°20′30″W / 40.803291, -76.341741 (Centralia, Pennsylvania)
• Centralia An improvisational comedy group named after Centralia, Pennsylvania.
• Book excerpt on coal boot-legging
• Article on Centralia posted on Damn Interesting
• Many pictures, details, info on EastGhost
• Centralia/Conyngham history and genealogy site