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All the United States Pennsylvania Aristes Centralia

Centralia

A toxic ghost town sitting atop a massive coal fire.

Aristes, Pennsylvania

Added By
Dave
Email
Been Here
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Added to list
  juche
  juche
Centralia   Travis Goodspeed / CC BY 2.0
  lisaundraplummer / Atlas Obscura User
  80schic84 / Atlas Obscura User
Ventilation pipe, Centralia PA   MarcErick / Atlas Obscura User
Smoke rising from a vent feeding the coal fire, which is expected to burn for another 250 years   Wikimedia
  Wikimedia
Residents post defiant responses to Centralia’s official condemnation by authorities.   Sarah Brumble
Oil and coal remnants pollute the water runoff   lisaundraplummer / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
Painted rock, Centralia, PA   MarcErick / Atlas Obscura User
Grafiti Highway has been buried. As of 5/2020   Hubertyanita / Atlas Obscura User
Vents   Hubertyanita / Atlas Obscura User
2007.   MandrewPatinkin / Atlas Obscura User
  aebyanks / Atlas Obscura User
  80schic84 / Atlas Obscura User
  80schic84 / Atlas Obscura User
  80schic84 / Atlas Obscura User
  80schic84 / Atlas Obscura User
The graffiti highway in October 2014.   Micaela / Atlas Obscura User
Welcome to Centrailia   UnusualCards / Atlas Obscura User
Graffiti highway in centralia   WaltingOfTheWoods / Atlas Obscura User
  sorcha1977 / Atlas Obscura User
  spoopysearchboi / Atlas Obscura User
Abandoned Highway Cracks   meshmanp / Atlas Obscura User
Exhaust Vents   meshmanp / Atlas Obscura User
Centralia Coalmine Fire [9 - 2024]   springer / Atlas Obscura User
A crack from the underground fire   Hubertyanita / Atlas Obscura User
The paint was fresh.  
Smoking Mine   CrescentKittie / Atlas Obscura User
Centralia’s North Cemetery.   Sarah Brumble
  Sarah Brumble
Been Here
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Added to list

About

Though its exact cause has been disputed, the fire underneath Centralia, Pennsylvania ignited sometime in 1962 and has been burning ever since.

The town sits on top of a rich vein of coal, and the fire has defied every attempt to extinguish it. National awareness of Centralia's unending environmental catastrophe came in 1981 when a 12-year-old boy fell into a 150-foot hole that suddenly appeared in his back yard. Most residents were relocated in 1984, and in 1992 the entire town was condemned. Most buildings were torn down, creating the Centralia that can still be seen today: a network of streets running through empty fields and, increasingly, new growth forest.

As of 2007, Centralia had nine residents. Driving through the streets, it's easy to identify them; light streaming through the windows of their neighbor-less homes, cars parked in their driveways, the Centralia's last residents seemed to continue life as normal despite being surrounded on all sides by smoking rubble.

Related Tags

Fiery Wonders Ghost Towns Disaster Areas

Know Before You Go

Besides the cemeteries and the cracked road, there is nothing here. Also, be warned that police have been running off visitors recently. The "graffiti highway" feature has been permanently covered with dirt and is no longer accessible.

Community Contributors

Added By

Dave

Edited By

littlebrumble, juche, shadowsandrust, mirandag...

  • littlebrumble
  • juche
  • shadowsandrust
  • mirandag
  • noblekeyser
  • meshmanp
  • spoopysearchboi
  • WaltingOfTheWoods
  • missingfilm
  • springer
  • UnusualCards
  • MandrewPatinkin
  • Micaela
  • 80schic84
  • aebyanks
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • MarcErick
  • Hubertyanita
  • Gary Saum
  • lisaundraplummer
  • sorcha1977
  • CrescentKittie

Published

May 24, 2009

Edit this listing

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania#1948_plane_crash
Centralia
Aristes, Pennsylvania, 17920
United States
40.804244, -76.340884

Nearby Places

Centralia Ghost Town Church

Centralia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Byrnesville

Ashland, Pennsylvania

miles away

Ashland Mother's Memorial

Ashland, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

United States

Places 417
Stories 28

Nearby Places

Centralia Ghost Town Church

Centralia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Byrnesville

Ashland, Pennsylvania

miles away

Ashland Mother's Memorial

Ashland, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

United States

Places 417
Stories 28

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