(There's better pics but this one sets the mood)
A raging mine fire has been burning under Centralia since 1962. Residents were relocated and the town abandoned almost overnight. (not exactly overnight...)
https://mysteryarchives.com/2021/03/16/ ... lent-hill/ Informative read and historical pics of interest. Good pictures also in video but narrator t.a.l.k.s. .. r.ea.lly.. s.low..ly.. EDIT okay maybe not that bad, just don't watch it if you're impatient like me
It has great history and pics.https://uncoveringpa.com/visiting-centralia Written for people wanting to visit Centralia
"The full extent of the problem wasn’t known until 1979 when a gas station owner in Centralia measured the temperature of the gas in his underground containers to be more than 100° above normal. The situation escalated further when a 150-foot deep sinkhole opened beneath a 12-year old boy."
https://destinationsunknown.com/travel- ... centralia/
"In 1984, the government authorized the relocation of the remaining residents to nearby towns, and the remaining structures destroyed. Oddly, the infrastructure (roads and sidewalks) were left in-tact; all you see are remnants of a town that used to exist.
In 2002, the US Post Office revoked Centralia’s zip code, and today an estimated ten people are living there (down from its peak of 2,400 residents in the 1940’s)."
While the town doesn’t technically exist, it is very much still a dark tourism destination for many people."