Centralia

Its population declined from 1,000 in 1980 to five residents in 2020[8] because a coal mine fire has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.

By contrast, other sources[15] claim that the fire had started the previous day, when a trash hauler dumped hot ash or coal discarded from coal burners into the open trash pit. The author of The Day the Earth Caved In noted that borough council minutes from June 4, 1962, referred to two fires at the dump and that five firefighters had submitted... See more

Only 16 homes were still standing by 2006, which was reduced to eleven by 2009 when Governor Ed Rendell began the formal eviction of the remaining Centralia residents. Only five homes remained by 2010.[23]

Several current and former Centralia residents believe the state's eminent domain claim was a plot to gain the mineral rights to the anthracite coal beneath the borough. Residents have asserted its value to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, although the exact amount of coal is not known.[29][23][35][36]

The town's four cemeteries—including one on the hilltop which has smoke rising around and out of it—are maintained in good condition.

The underground fire is still burning, and in 2006 it was reported that it is expected to do so for another 250 years.[20]

The town's residents and former residents decided to open a time capsule buried in 1966 a couple of years earlier than planned after someone had attempted to unearth and steal the capsule in May 2014. The capsule was not scheduled to be opened until 2016 (50 years after it was buried). Items found in the footlocker-sized capsule, which had been... See more