CENTRALIA

NAME: Centralia COUNTY: Columbia ROADS: 2WD GRID: 6 CLIMATE: Snow in winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Accessible year-round

COMMENTS: A few residents remain.Located along PA Route 61 about 1.5miles north of Ashland. REMAINS: A few isolated rowhouses.

Centralia was once a coal mining town with 1,100 residents.In 1962, the coal under the town caught fire as a resultof garbage being burned in an old mining pit. The fire stillburns today. Smoke rises from cracks in the ground. Thestate relocated most of the residents, but a few holdoutsremain today. Their isolated rowhouses stand scatteredaround the street grid, as the state demolished the housesof those who moved out. The houses are propped with brickcolumns on each side. The ground is hot to the touch inmany places. The town consists of a street grid withalmost all of the buildings gone, giving it an eerietwilight-zone feel. The government is currently tryingto evict the last few residents. The nearby town ofAshland is similar to the way Centralia was beforethe fire. Submitted by: Philip Allen

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