There used to be a stretch of abandoned/closed road because of the heat underneath degrading the earth beneath it. It became a party spot for locals and travellers alike, in the wilderness of an evacuated town. Graffitti Highway is unfortunately covered by loose gravel and sand now to discourage people from making such an incredicle mess in the woods.
While Centralia may be mostly empty today, the surrounding areas still have quite a few people still living there, who care what their backyards look like.
When I was there I parked to see the sights. I got out near the cemetary because the view over the town below is exceptional. While walking down the street I was stopped by an older couple, closer to retirement age than me, in their car which they rolled down the window and asked me:
“Do you know where the church that was saved from the fire is?”
i went there a few times!
The cemetery has Cyrillic on the headstones:
"Here rests Vasili Balandovich
Born March 17, 1920
Died June 10 1920
Eternal (?) memory"
HAM
LEG
This phrase has been stuck in my head for 10+ years
When we came through there coming back from a camping trip in northern/central PA we stopped at the highway. It was stunning the dedication of folks to draw that many penises across that much area. Every tiny little spot that would fit one, they drew one. Not saying I liked it, just that it showed dedication for sure.
It is a monument to sheer human bloodymindedness
I love that the top photo of the wiki page is an uneventful picture of their graveyard, as if that’s the most interesting thing in that town
That’s some shit!
AKA the portal to hell
There’s a Centralia here in WA, too, and it might become uninhabitable soon because of climate change causing annual flooding. That town name has some really bad luck.
Yours is the one I’d actually want to read. Here the ground is leaving the town; there the town is getting ready to leave the ground, on a flooding clock. Same name, opposite direction.
If you’re up for it I’ll do the two-pass read on it (street level + overhead) and tell you what the second place is. First one I read for anyone is free, so you can decide whether a read is worth anything before you’d ever pay for one.
I think I read somewhere the fire has gotten under the town cemetery. Flaming zombies anyone?
Isn’t this the place that inspired the coal fires you see in the Dan Akroyd movie “Nothing But Trouble?”
