Centralia PA,
July 30, 2006
The following images are from a
Mid-summer trip to Centralia.
|
 |
 |
|
Above: Ashland, 2 mile before Centralia where 61 hangs
left up the hill. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Above & Below: Ashland, on the long drive up the hill. |
 |
 |
|
Up the long hill then turn right following Rt. 61 at the
top of the Ashland Hill. |
 |
 |
|
This is the 2 mile stretch of 4 lane highway that runs
between Ashland and Centralia. |
| Nearing Centralia you are bypassed around the
damaged section of Route 61 along Byrnesville
Road. Along this road on the north side of
the street is the Byrnesville wash house and lamp
house for Germantown Colliery. It was used by the
miners of the nearby mine to shower after a long
hard day in the mines prior to return to home for
the day. It also served as the boiler house. |
|
| In more recent years the Byrnesville wash
house was used to store ashes for the highway
treatment in winter weather. Today it is
abandoned. |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Where Byrnesville Road merges back with Rt. 61
at the top of a hill, you are in Centralia.
An immediate right onto an old gravel road will
take you back to the old protestant cemetery named
"Odd Fellows Cemetery".
It is near this location that the old strip mine,
which was used as a dump back in 1962, had caught
a coal seam on fire. The origins of the
Centralia mine fire. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Vent pipe within the cemetery. |
 |
|
|
|
 Ground Zero
Just beyond the
Cemetery, to the left, was the edge of the old strip
mine that had become the town dump in 1962. During
that year, with Labor day approaching soon, ceremonies
were scheduled to take place at the old Odd Fellows
Cemetery. A decision was made to clear the dump of
the unsightly debris in order to tidy up the area.
Back then it was
common practice to burn trash in order to get rid
of it or diminish its volume. The net effect
was a smoldering fire in the trash pit that was
thought to be extinguished after the initial
burning, but erupted ablaze again within a few
days. The fire was thought to be
extinguished once again but was not. By the
time the trash in the pit was dug up to expose the
smoldering debris, it was too late. A
gapping hole was found in the pit wall that lead
into a mine shaft. The coal was on fire
beneath the ground beyond the pit wall and the hole.
One of many old mining holes that was supposed
to be closed and filled with inert material prior
to its use as a municipal dump.
Today this area is nothing but flat land with a
few old pipes sticking out of the ground that no
longer vent gases and steam. The fire has
long since move on along several fronts.
Several hundred feet from here to the west on the
other side of Rt. 61 is the most evident display
of visible damage. |
|
| In this area is where the Mine fire originated
in 1962.
|
 |
 |
|
|
| Today this area is home to a weather station. |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
Looking east. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The fire is near the surface in this location.
The roots of this old stump have become pipelines
to the surface for the venting gases below. |
|
 |
 |
| Occupied homes in the distance. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
| Above left is where the St. Ignatius Church
stood. Right, the old church before it was
dismantled, a victim to the fire below. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Above and below, a subsidence hole along Apple
Street and Main Street. The hole had been
filled in and covered by a steel plate. |
|
|
 |
 |
Looking north on Apple Street. |
 |
 |
| Apple St. and Centre St. Looking West. |
|
| Continuing north on Apple St. |
|
| Apple St. to the rear of the Centralia
Municipal Building. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The surrounding pictures are the Centralia
Municipal Building which houses an ambulance, a
fire truck and a police station. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| East of the main intersection of Centre St.
and Locust St. (where 54, 61 and 42 intersect), is
this abandoned house. Vacant for a while
now, the structure has an eerie stillness about
it. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A musky, moldy smell comes out of the open
basement door. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Photo Updates:
