Centralia (Pennsylvania)
Columbia County
42-12312
Centralia is a municipality (English Borough ) in the eastern coal region of Pennsylvania. She is known especially for a existing since 1962 coal fire under the city area, which makes this region virtually uninhabitable: The population fell from over 1,000 in 1981 to 10 inhabitants in 2010.
Geographical location
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.6 km ², excluding land.
Within Centralia is the eastern end of Pennsylvania State Route 61; Pennsylvania State Route 42 leads in a north-south direction through Centralia.
History
Early colonization phase
Johnathan Faust opened Bull's Head Tavern in 1841. 1854 drew the construction and mining engineer Alexander W. Rea here. This was an employee of the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company. He put on a road network. The place was named Centreville, he wore until 1865 because of its location. In the year, the U.S. Postal Service opened a post office and is the name Centralia has been set. 1866 Centralia was incorporated as a borough.
The anthracite coal industry was the largest employer in the community. The mining industry was operated until the 1960s, when most companies shutdowns. Wilder mining took place until 1982 and open pit is operated sporadically today. An underground mine about five kilometers to the west employs about 40 workers.
The community was also a focal point of the activity of the Irish miners federal Molly Maguires during the 1860s and 1870s. Alexander Rea, founder of the town, was one of the victims of the secret society. He was assassinated on October 17, 1868 outside the city. For the crime, three people were convicted and hanged on March 25, 1878 in Bloomsburg at the county seat of the county. During this time, more murders and arson occurred.
The place was approached by two railroads, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the latter was the more important. Rail traffic was stopped in 1966. The place had its own schools, including a high school. In Centralia, there were once seven churches, five hotels, two theaters, 27 saloons, a bank, post office and 14 retail shops. At the time, lived on the anthracite coal industry in the Centralia, the town had a population of up to 2000 residents. More 500-600 inhabitants lived in a municipality adjacent areas.
Coal fire
On the origin of the coal fire, there are several theories. One assumes that the fire resulted from the deliberate lighting of the municipal landfill. Five members of the volunteer fire department Centralia were commissioned by the City Council to "clean up " before Memorial Day, the landfill by burning. Previously, the landfill had been transferred to a charred pit mining. The fire jumped according to this theory over to the coal at the edges of the pit and have spread from there under the city. The landfill should have actually sealed by a layer of clay against the coal seams, but this work had not been completed.
Alternatively, the fire may have self- ignited. Coal fires often start by spontaneous combustion. Come carbon and oxygen in contact, is formed by oxidation heat. If this is not discharged, the coal ignited after some time.
The federal authorities have undertaken since the mid-1960s some attempts to smother the fire. 1965 workers drilled holes in the bottom and pumped 122,500 tons of fly ash and 90,200 cubic meters of sand into it. Using heavy equipment and trucks they drove from 46,200 cubic meters of land and tried to stop the fire by a wall of 14,600 cubic meters of clay, but what could not contain its spread. It skips all barriers and eats its way further through the coal-bearing strata. More than 70 million U.S. dollars, the government of today for extinguishing tests, but without success.
The fire in Centralia is one of 112 active coal fires in the United States.
Future
The authorities are not planning to fight the fire more. Scientists estimate that the existing anthracite coal underground can nourish another 100 years to 200 years in an area of about 15 km ² the fire.
Trivia
- Centralia was the inspiration for the fictional town of " Silent Hill " in the eponymous video game adaptation Silent Hill.
- In a sequence of future without people is shown by the example of Centralia, what the world will look like 25 years after the man.
- As a result ... and the burning city of youth book series The Three Investigators Centralia is the scene of the main story.
- The American singer / songwriter William Fitzsimmons released on his album " Lions " a song about Centralia.