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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


 

IMG_0215b.jpg (116899 bytes)
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
 

















 

Gerry McWilliams "Centralia"

I was very inspired by the history of Centralia and wrote a song in 2001 which is also on a self-released CD by the same name. I have been a professional musician and teacher for over 20 years, and have played on numerous CDs, and in various acts including Blackthorn, Tommy Conwell, Amos Lee, Wanderlust, and more. I am attaching an mp3 file of my song for your listening. Hope you enjoy!

Gerry McWilliams

Gerry McWilliams "Centralia" Lyrics

There's a fire burnin' under ground
There's an old man sitting in a long lost town
There's a heart shaped peace sign on a tree
There's a ghost from the past coming after me

Centralia ..... Centralia .....

Next to the graveyard on the hill
There's a black cat sitting on a window sill
The air is thick with a burning smell
The Earth is scorched like a living hell

Centralia ..... Centralia .....

I'm going back to my hometown
I'm going back ... Centralia

Sucked dry from the mid day sun
Comin' in from highway 61
There's a fire on the dump on the edge of town
If you listen close you can hear the sound

Centralia ..... Centralia .....

 

 

  

Listen to Gerry McWilliams
"Centralia" using the
Player below

For a copy of the CD, contact Gerry himself, either through this email address:

or contact him through his Myspace account linked here.

"Centralia"  by Gerry McWilliams

A low fi record I did in 2001/02, everything was one or two takes analog 8 (really 7) track hardly any outboard gear mostly an sm57 plugged into the machine my 2 fave are rocking chair and the title cut coo coo bird is an old , and i mean old, standard a lot of 60s musicians covered it from owning the American anthology of folk music by Harry Smith... I tried to keep it as backwoods as possible this record is not quite bluegrass, not what one would think of as Americana, (which is what they used to call country rock, basically rockin out to cowboy chords like credence or petty, whatever, its just a label) but its got elements of both, with a dark dash of bad whiskey having grown up with trad irish in my house, these styles were fairly easy for me to pick up on...my next record after this was a more straight ahead bluegrass thing... Centralia was intended to be a bunch of demos, I engineered and produced.....Barrie Maguire mixed....Jim Cavanaugh played percussion...I played everything else Centralia has my 1st harmonica solo Rocking Chair my 1st (and maybe last) pedal steel.
peace
Gerry

Gerry McWilliams - Centralia
http://www.myspace.com/gerrymcwilliamscentralia

  

From the Free Publication
"The Compendium, Philadelphia's Music News"

REVIEWS
THE LOCAL MUSIC NETWORK COMPENDIUM
VOL 1 ISSUE 7 - Disc's & DEMOS
Local Music Network - www.localmusicnetwork.com

  
       Overall Rating  
  Musicianship
  Songwriting
  Originality

Now that’s what I’m talking about. This CD rules! Gerry McWilliams' Centralia is a really eclectic blend of bluegrass, southern rock, and country pop. From the opening string-slingin "Same Old" which almost sounds like Ry Cooder playing with the Violent Femmes, to the White Stripes-like blues of "Lonesome Dues", Centralia delivers the goods. You want Nico & Lou Reed? Well they’re on here too; just listen to "Rocking Chair".  Is Bob Dylan & Tom Petty more your cup of tea? Then skip to "You And Me Against The World". Gerry McWilliams', Centralia has all the elements of a great album. Short, to the point bluesy rockers that will leave you toe tappin.


  

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 
  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.