In 1962 a mine fire began under Centralia, PA. Today the town is gone.
Believe it or not, Centralia Pennsylvania once had a gas and service station. This was owned and operated by John Coddington and his family. Unfortunately for the Coddingtons, their gas station was located directly...
Alexander W. Rea was the founder of Centralia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, much of his story and early life have been lost to history. There are also no known pictures of Rea either. That said, here...
Along with its own post office, Centralia PA once had a postal ZIP code: 17927. Today, that code is no longer in use within the borough. It would be over dramatic to say that...
Bootleg mining was one of the unique issues that complicated efforts to deal with the Centralia, Pennsylvania mine fire. As the name suggests, bootleg mining is not an law abiding, state sanctioned form of...
By 1980 it was clear that Centralia, Pennsylvania was having a problem with mine gases. Soon, canaries would be called upon to save the day. The problem gases included carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and...
By the late 1970s, the mine fire which started on the outskirts of Centralia, Pennsylvania was moving under the town itself. This caused numerous problems including ground subsidence and deadly gas emissions. The town’s...
Saint Ignatius Church was one of the several places of worship impacted by the Centralia mine fire. Located at the southern end of the town, it was inside the burn zone and was directly...
By far one of the most popular sights in Centralia, Pennsylvania is an abandoned section of Route 61. Found just south of the town, the one mile stretch of road was closed due to...
For Centralia, Pennsylvania, coal was both its fortune and its downfall. There are actually two types of coal in Pennsylvania – anthracite and bituminous. Anthracite is the type of coal which is located in...
Centralia PA Early History Before the town of Centralia, PA existed, there was a vast expanse of mountain wilderness inhabited by tribes of Native Americans. That changed in 1749 when the Native Americans living...
