Imagine one day in Dallastown everyone has to pack up and leave. How would that make you feel? 

That’s what happened to Centralia, and it has become a unique travel destination. 

Centralia is an abandoned town located in the coal region of Columbia County, PA. One day everyone had to pack their bags and leave as the town was closed due to dangers of living above an abandoned coal mine that caught fire. The first reported time of fire according to, The Centralia Mine Fire Frequently Asked Questions/Answers, was May 27, 1962.

Many people visit Centralia each year hoping to see a ghost town, abandoned buildings and the famous “graffiti highway.”

A week ago I took the chance to go myself and check around the environment and see how really it looks and the impact it had on me.

I first noticed the warn roads and interesting feeling of a once prospering town into a gloomy foggy waste land.

It opened my eyes a lot to that things are never permanent and you have to cherish what you have.

Seeing the once lived in town made me also realise how truly scary but magnificent it really is. It also was very interesting to see how much garbage was around and it wasn’t all new, a lot has been there for years.

Next one big thing may catch your eyes are the ruins.  All that can be seen are either barely any houses left, dirt where they used to be or just grass. At certain times you can see smoke still coming out of the ground and feel a warmth over yourself. 

Finally a must see is the highway, covered in graffiti and art.

Soon it will be gone forever.

In 2020 they started the process of covering all the highway in an effort to keep people from gathering, especially during the pandemic. 

Along with Centralia comes a lot of beautiful and astounding nature around. You might not think that in an abandoned town the nature might be beautiful but the overgrown trees and bushes mixed with the green grass and tan dirt makes it surely different. 

Traveling down the road makes you feel straight out of The Walking Dead or an apocalypse.

According to Pete Leas, my grandpa and a Lancaster citizen, it wasn’t always this way. “…it wasn’t what it is now, the trees and everything didn’t feel as alive.” 

It may sound off but the overgrown nature of the area makes people really notice nature more than how it was back then. 

Many people, including some Dallastown teachers have found themselves visiting Centralia over the years.

According to Dallastown school counselor, Laura Dixon, “It’s my understanding that Route 61 has now been covered with dirt.  It’s really a shame because the whole area is an interesting piece of PA’s history, but instead of protecting it, people ruined it.”

DHS science teacher Mr. Tapp stated, “In 1980 or so, we drove through on our way to NYC. The town was still intact then, and I remember seeing smoke pouring out of the ground..” It shows that not everyone just up and went and a lot of people really did need time to think over everything and took time for them to realize the danger they were in.

This may be the last summer many can really go to see the old history without just reading about it. Many of the other attractions people went for also have been removed or covered up and you can no longer see the smoke that comes out of the ground.

The only things really remaining are the streets that lead to nothing and the overgrown nature in a field where a town used to be.