Centralia, PA

[Ben Ruset]

Yesterday I went out to visit Centralia, PA - crossing one thing off my bucket list of things to do in the process. For those who don't know, Centralia is the site of a underground coal fire that has been burning since the 1960s. Most of the residents have left (some willingly, some forced out) and only about 10 people remain. It's a very eerie place to visit - just seeing overgrown streets with no houses on either side, steam billowing up from the ground, and a section of highway that has been abandoned because it kept caving in. I couldn't help but compare Centralia to Carusoeville.

This is another set of HDR photos, so things may seem a bit surreal.

The entire album: Centralia, PA - 7/28/2011

Some highlights:


Untitled by benruset, on Flickr


Untitled by benruset, on Flickr


Highway to Hell by benruset, on Flickr


Untitled by benruset, on Flickr


Highway to Heaven by benruset, on Flickr


Sad Statue by benruset, on Flickr
(^^^ This is one of my favorite photos from the day.)


Fire by benruset, on Flickr

 

[manumuskin]

Your awful young for a bucket list but then again my eleven year old granddaughter just the other day was referring to hers.I have a semi bucket list but if I don't get it done by the time I kick it I'll just get r done when I get back.By the way awesome shots.Can't find any auto bracketing feature on my camera but I guess I can do this manually.I know how to change shutter speed to change my exposure so hopefully that will do it.I'll throw some questions at Whip and i may spring for the software.
Al

 

[Teegate]

A nice trip Ben! Thanks for the great photo's.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Sad.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Sad.

Yeah. The folks that are left want to stay, but the government owns their homes and they don't know if one day a sheriff is going to come and evict then. On the other hand, they don't have a mortgage or property tax payments.

 

[46er]

And it all was started by their fire dept burning trash. From what folks have told me that have visited, you have to be fairly careful where you go. All mentioned that the low areas are filled with noxious gases. This place is also on my list, but like Jockey Hollow, in the winter.

 

[dogg57]

And it all was started by their fire dept burning trash. From what folks have told me that have visited, you have to be fairly careful where you go. All mentioned that the low areas are filled with noxious gases. This place is also on my list, but like Jockey Hollow, in the winter.

Never knew that about the trash and fire company

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania

 

[46er]

A good video, slideshow, audio, whatever. Has some shots of Centralia and other Appalachian sights. That is another area that beckons exploration.

http://www.acontinuouslean.com/2010/08/28/sprinkle-coal-dust-on-my-grave/

Dogg, there are several books about what happened. The one below is one I've read and would recommend.

 

[gipsie]

One of my favorite places ever! I have been there many times and have seen the smoke coming out of holes in the ground in the old graveyard.....definitely surreal!

 

[John E.]

Great trip Ben. The fire was actually started by the residents burning their trash at the "town dump" which was a common thing to do. When the coal caught fire the fire department was called and put it out, however, it reignited after they left and got into the coal seam where it has been burning ever since. If you ever want to go up again, give me a shout and I would be happy to take you.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I understand this post was from several years ago. My wife and I have been wanting to go for years.

Anything we should be aware of?

 

[46er]

I have been there. Be careful where you go if you visit, some of the air is toxic. Do a search, lots of info.

Personally, I have no plans for a return trip

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/Visiting-Centralia.htm#Dangers_within_Centralia_PA

 

[this_is_nascar]

Thanks. I'll do the research prior to planning anything.

 

[enormiss]

RIP

https://www.phillyvoice.com/central...ia-county-wolf-pagnotti-enterprises-covid-19/

 

[Zach McGarvey]

My late friend Erik made a video for his song "Oh Pennsyltucky" here in 2014.

 

[bobpbx]

He mentioned Three Mile Island in the song. That was a tense time, I tell you. I think it was a few weeks of worry for us in NJ at that time.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Over the weekend, my wife and I also crossed this off our bucket list. It's sad to see the state of the grounds, and I never did get to see the graffiti highway painted with graffiti. Now it's just overturned dirt mounds and cement blocks. There were several quads riding through the town, trails and property.

Apparently, I'm unable to post photos, as the board is telling me something about low memory.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Testing

 

[Ben Ruset]

They have supposedly bulldozed the highway. I guess they figured it was too much of a draw (no pun intended) and didn't want people getting hurt.

Anyway, try resizing your photos and trying again.

 

[SpinyPiney]

I had a friend that bought a house in Shamokin for $5k back in the 90’s and I used to take my atv up to that area almost every weekend to ride back in the early aughts. Our quads couldn’t do any more damage than the coal companies hadn’t already done. It was bad back then too with the trash and dumping. A lot of places have no trash pick up unless you paid for it so everyone’s solution was to either burn it or take it to coal company property and dump it. A couple spots on the abandoned highway they would actually dump it into the larger cracks. We used to camp on Reading Anthracite Coal Co. property a lot too. We’d load up the quad racks go ride out to some remote campsites the locals had made and spend days there riding and swimming in some of the flooded quarry pits to clean off after a day of riding. You would literally be black from the dust and mud up there. At some point RAC realized they couldn’t beat them so they joined them and now they actually sell permits to ride their land and have a pretty extensive marked trail system from what I understand. It’s definitely a different world up there in regards to ORV use. I even remember riding through some of the towns with locals to get gas and hit up the convenience stores and waving to the local cop as we rode past.

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