Centralia, Pennsylvania: America’s Burning Ghost Town

We explore the remains of Centralia, Pennsylvania: America’s Burning Ghost Town. We see what the town is like today.

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[Texasman]

Holy cow! I’ve never heard of this place before but it’s looks amazing!! I love how you added in old news footage in the video. Really cool to time travel back in time. Thanks for another great video keep Up the good work!

[rhondaz]

I have heard of, and seen videos of Centralia before. Centralia's fate is so sad, overwhelming, and yet fascinating, especially since some underground fires still rage on. Your video was absolutely topnotch, Nick. You captured the pathos of the present, and gave us perfect matchups with the past, before this ongoing tragedy occurred. It's ironic, but fortunate, that the cemetery and Church still exist. I can see why what's left draws people, decades later. It amazes me that a small amount of residents still live there, and the traffic you referenced, as well. Thank you for sharing this with us, Nick. The interviews, the background music, and your whole presentation were so interesting, informative, very well done, and struck the right amount of absolute seriousness, and empathy such a disaster deserves...

[TravelswithNick]

Hey y’all! PLZ 👍 this vid! It’s FREE & helps spread to more people. TY!!

[briantrudell]

Very cool to see this today. I remember this story, thanks for taking us along 😊

[aimeemoore]

Unbelievable great video. You kinda look like the guy from ghost adventures Billy Tolley

[bob-kejc]

Great video and footage. In NY myself love to road trip there one day

[kathywebb]

A mining company owns the land around Graffiti Highway. They buried it because people were racing around on ATVs and partying, and they didn’t want the legal liability.

[melodybox]

The best video ever about Centralia! 👍

[johnbutler]

I live about 30 to 40 minutes from Centralia, I haven't been up in that area in a long time. but it is one creepy area to be in, especially at night and in the wintertime. you see the smoke coming up from the ground in the wintertime. also in areas where there's no snow at all and spots that are smoking. it's terrible shame, how it destroyed that town and area you see old photographs of streets with lots of houses, now it's nothing but empty fields and old foundations where homes used to be. I saw a video on TikTok, where it said the fire it could take 250 years for that fire to burn out.

[jimmyjams]

There are several of these underground mine fires going on here. Laurel Run not too far away has active smoke as well but use extreme caution as that location is full of holes. The ground we get increasingly unstable in these area, so keep that mine. There was a large subsidence not all the long ago nearby that almost ate up some apartments.

[josephcredito]

I grew up 4 miles from Centralia in another mining town called Mt. Carmel. I have many dear memories of the friends that grew up there. I played Little League baseball in an area behind the old school. Sadly watched decades of families move away from the State buyout program. A few homes remain until the last die off. The enormous amount of coal beneath Centralia could heat every home in America for 100 years alone. I hope I'm alive to see what they do with these reserves. God Bless every soul that lived and died there.

[markfrench]

I wonder if John Lokitis still lives there.

[butter]

If you follow the path from the cemetery away from Centralia there is an outcrop of shale that has very good fern fossils.

[tmwizkid]

The reason for all the signs at the church is because back in 2020, as people were flocking to graffiti highway, they were also trying to break into the church to thinking it was abandoned and when the priest confronted them, they threatened him.

[mghc]

So I was there about 15 yrs ago before the whole graffiti highway and there was smoke coming out all over the place…is it not as much anymore with it billowing out everywhere, because yeah yrs back it was way more terrifying and dangerous

[G.E.M.D.]

I haven't been there since 2009 nice video

[j_snap_f-]

Ever since 1962 is when it all started. But yeah your definitely right! It's crazy to think that a fire which was started in 1962 is still continously burning today in 2024, and will be for another several hundred years to come...at least that's what they say. There is a documentary called "The Town That Was". It's beyond words how tragedy struck that town that was once there. Always think that only if they would had simply just buried the trash in that landfill by the cemetery, instead of lighting it on fire...Centralia would probably be there still alive and well today? It's another tragic catastrophe! 😪

[tumsfestival]

The stone wall with the steps in the middle (stairs to nowhere) is where Centralia High School was located. I think there's still a little bit left of some old basketball courts in that area.

[tomcatyyz]

I remember when this was a functioning town. It's nuts how fast nature reclaims her own...

[rickwhitson]

They are a channel on here. Random adventures 2.0. He lives the next over from there. He done a stealth camp there. This is good stuff