The last nine inhabitants of the city of Centralia in Pennsylvania are well aware of the name of the author of the curse that befell them. It was once a large mining town built in the middle of the 19th century. It was designed and erected by Alexander Ria, civilian mining engineer at Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company. There were two railway lines running through the city, it had seven churches, five hotels and even two theaters. The beginning of the end of the city was the assassination of its founder.
Alexander Ria was killed on October 17, 1868. Three people were accused of this crime, and on March 25, 1878, they were hanged by a court sentence. But before his death, Ria cursed not only the murderers, but the whole city that destroyed him. He wished Centralia to burn in hellish fire.
Ria's curse reminded of itself a century later, in the 60s of the twentieth century. Deeper deposits of debris began to smolder from a poorly extinguished landfill located in an abandoned open pit mine, and eventually spread to the rest of the abandoned coal mines near Centralia. All attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful.
Since then, for half a century, the whole city has literally been on a hellish flame. A thick smoke is pouring from the ground, enveloping all the streets. Several people perished in the red-hot underworld when the asphalt fell under their feet, and most chose to leave the accursed city.
The underground fire still burns today, and how long it will last is unknown. No more attempts are made to extinguish the fire, and there are enough coal reserves underground to keep the fire going for at least 250 years.
Route 61, which ran through the cursed city, is abandoned and is gradually being destroyed; smoke and steam ooze through cracks in the pavement. There are practically no inhabited houses left in Centralia. Most of the buildings have been demolished and the area now looks like a meadow with several streets running through it. Most of the city is covered with thickets. By 2012, of the total population, only seven people remained here, and the US Post Office canceled the postal code of the former city. The only remaining church of the Holy Virgin Mary of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the city holds services every week. But the hellish fire still burns.
From the book: "The Cursed Places of the Planet." Author: Yuri Podolsky