Chevy & GMC Vans

After reading the post about Centralia, PA by Cobra I thought I should check it out. It is close by and I've never been there. So me and a couple of my boys took a day trip today and checked it out. Along with some nice views of the fall colors. For those that don't know, Centralia was an old mining town that the city accidentally caught on fire. Seems they decided to burn some refuse at a landfill. Don't want to much garbage around you know. Unfortunately the fire was set in a strip mine which had coal near the surface. Well, it caught fire. Long story short, the fire is still going 20 years later. The town basically had to be torn down building by building over the last 20 years due to fire or poisened air. I believe there are only 16 families left. Here are some pics.

The third pic I'm standing somewhere above the landfill area. I'm looking down on the city of Ashland. A city that was very much like Centralia. In the next pic I turned around and took a shot of Centralia. Both views used to look similar. Not anymore!









The next three pics are a common scene throughout the town as the coal under the town burns away.







The next three are part of Rt61 that has been closed. The road used to be basically flat. But due to the gasses and heat underneath it heaved and broke apart and smoke still rises through.

oh that's pretty cool hard to believe the whole thing but facts are sometimes stranger then fiction.
did you happen to see the cemetery? was it all green and normal?

Cobra, see the pic where you can see my kids van above? It is parked next to the cemetary. There are two that I could find. Both in good shape. The latest burial I saw in the one we walked through (the smaller one) was 2005. Speaking of cemeteries, it was sad to see a lot of the graves. Between 1910 and 1935 you saw a lot of children deaths. Many of them siblings. I saw four in one family spanning only 6 years or so.

Very interesting Bill, although I've heard of this place for awhile now ,you are the 1st person I know who has now been to it,lol thanks for the story and pics.

I'm not surprised that a lot of children passed away curiosity is a dangerous thing not to mention not being aware of your surroundings sad to see though

Cobra wrote:I'm not surprised that a lot of children passed away curiosity is a dangerous thing not to mention not being aware of your surroundings sad to see though

I was talking children that didn't make it to their first birthday.

ok that i wasn't expecting

eerie but interesting place

thanks for posting Bill