Centralia, Pennsylvania

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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] as a result of a 40-year-old mine fire burning beneath the borough. Centralia is now the least-populous municipality in Pennsylvania, with two fewer residents than the borough of S.N.P.J..

Contents

[edit] History

Johnathan Faust opened Bull's Head Tavern in Centralia in 1841, and Centralia was incorporated in 1856. 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. It was known as Centreville until 1865, when the name was changed to Centralia and the post office was established. 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.

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.

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 the borough. [1]

[edit] Mine fire

Section of PA Route 61 closed due to mine fire
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Section of PA Route 61 closed due to mine fire

An exposed vein of coal ignited in 1962 due to a trash fire in the borough landfill, located in an abandoned mine pit in the southeast portion of 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.

During the 1970s, people 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 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82.2°C). Attention to the fire began to increase, culminating in 1981 when 12-year-old Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened beneath his feet. He was saved after a relative pulled him out of the hole, eighty feet deep. The incident brought national attention to Centralia. In 1984, Congress allocated more than $42 million for relocation efforts. Most of the residents accepted buyout offers and moved to nearby Mount Carmel and Ashland.

A few families opted to stay despite warnings from state officials. In 1992, Pennsylvania claimed eminent domain on all properties in the borough, condemning all the buildings within the borough. A subsequent legal battle waged by residents with the state failed. In 2002 the US Postal Service revoked the borough's Zip Code, 17927.

[edit] Centralia today

Gas escapes from the ground above the fire.
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Gas escapes from the ground above the fire.
Local warning sign
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Local warning sign

A handful of occupied homes remain in Centralia. Most of the buildings have been razed, and at casual glance the area now appears to be a meadow with several paved streets through it, and some areas are being filled with new-growth forest. Most of Centralia's roads and sidewalks are overgrown with brush, although many areas appear mowed.[2] 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.

The only signs 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. Additional smoke and steam can be seen coming from an abandoned portion of Pennsylvania Route 61, which was closed in the 1990s after several large cracks appeared on the road, as well as from the area just behind the hilltop cemetery, and from various other cracks in the ground scattered about the area. 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]

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not renew the relocation contract at the end of 2005, and the fate of the remaining residents is uncertain.[3]

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]

[edit] 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. 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.

[edit] Geography

Centralia is located at 40°48′12″N, 76°20′30″W (40.803291, -76.341741).GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2000 census,GR2 there were twenty-one people, ten households, and seven families residing in the borough. As of late 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.

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 female householder with no husband present, 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.

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. None of the population is below the poverty line.

[edit] Centralia in media

  • 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.
  • This town is the inspiration to the Centralia a CD by the Canadian band Dream Quest
  • This town is included in a short documentary on the Broken Saints DVD set.
  • Bill Bryson, in his humorous travel guide to the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods, 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.
  • A brief scene in Resident Evil 5 by Capcom is scheduled to be located in Centralia.
  • The town is the inspiration for the 1991 cult film Nothing But Trouble, written by Dan Aykroyd.
  • Centralia was the inspiration for the movie adaptation of the game Silent Hill.[1]
  • A short documentary on Centralia was produced in 2003 by Penn State film student Garrett Rhodes.[2]
  • The Squonk Opera wrote and performed a musical called Inferno, re-interpreting Dante Alighieri's Inferno as a trip into Centralia.
  • Centralia is the hometown of the main character in "Dirty Blonde" by Lisa Scottoline.
  • Centralia is documented in photographs and oral histories in "Slow Burn: A Photodocument of Centralia, Pennsylvania" by Renee Jacobs (University of Pennsylvania Press/1986)
  • 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 Morgan's book entitled Weird Pennsylvania.


[edit] Sources

  1. ^ a b c d Krajick, Kevin. Fire in the hole, in Smithsonian Magazine, May 2005
  2. ^ TerraServer aerial image of the town, taken in April 1999
  3. ^ Reading Eagle, January 3, 2006

[edit] Other references

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Municipalities and Communities of Columbia County, Pennsylvania
(County Seat: Bloomsburg)
Towns Bloomsburg
Boroughs Ashland | Benton | Berwick | Briar Creek | Catawissa | Centralia | Millville | Orangeville | Stillwater
Townships Beaver | Benton | Briar Creek | Catawissa | Cleveland | Conyngham | Fishing Creek | Franklin | Greenwood | Hemlock | Jackson | Locust | Madison | Main | Mifflin | Montour | Mount Pleasant | North Centre | Orange | Pine | Roaring Creek | Scott | South Centre | Sugarloaf
Communities and CDPs Almedia | Aristes | Buckhorn | Espy | Eyers Grove | Fernville | Foundryville | Iola | Jamison City | Jerseytown | Jonestown | Lightstreet | Lime Ridge | Locustdale | Mainville | Mifflinville | Numidia | Rohrsburg | Rupert | Slabtown | Waller | Wilburton Number One | Wilburton Number Two
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