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The world you live in. Credit: PlanesWalk

Planeswalk; 20180331

In 1962, a trash fire started in a strip mine beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania. Since then, an eternal hellish blaze has been eating away at the coal seam beneath the ground. This perpetual hellfire devours whatever lies above its domain. The sinkholes give way revealing holes of unknown depth; sometimes the humans get lucky and they escape with only a broken ankle, small wildlife is sometimes swallowed whole by the greedy maws, or worse yet, larger wildlife that are unable to crawl out, left to either starve or suffocate from the fumes.

In 1993, a section of Route 61 was closed due to damage from the fire, and a new road was built to bypass the destroyed section. People intrigued by the perpetual fire often visited that section of roadway and some chose to use it as a canvas.

Centralia had 1,000 residents in 1980. That number dwindled down to 63 in 1990. In 2010, just 10 residents remained. The number is even fewer now. As they leave, their property goes to the public domain. The state government is slowly trying to erase Centralia; buying up houses and immediately tearing them down, removing even the foundations and curbs making it look like it never existed. They went so far as to take away the name, removing the name ‘Centralia’ from all of the signs in nearby towns. The name was even removed from the city municipal building. The county records office is slowly removing the town from history, often trashing records of the destroyed properties. The remaining residents haven’t received postal mail since 2002, there is no zip code there anymore.

Centralia exists without a lot of modern conveniences, including law enforcement. For the last 20 years or so, tourists have taken advantage of the lack of regular policing to trespass on the “Graffiti Highway”. This resulted in a plethora of “No Trespassing” signs being erected, yet people still walked on the closed roadway. State police started issuing citations. Still, some were undeterred.

As of February 2018, the section of what was Route 61 in Centralia no longer belongs to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The agency vacated ownership, allowing it to revert to adjacent property owners. This also means the state police no longer issue citations for trespassing.

I went there to visit the “Graffiti Highway”, to see what those that went before me left behind. The ever-changing art project of humanity on a canvas three-quarters of a mile long. I wasn’t expecting it to also be such an otherworldly experience. Walking on the tree-lined roadway, among art old and new, the cool breeze through my feathers... yet it felt more like walking through a crowded city street. The essence of everyone who travelled that road and the residents who have since passed on, to feel what they felt, was almost overwhelming. Words of wisdom imparted in hastily applied spray paint scattered amongst the colourful creatures.

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#centralia #silent hill #photography #ethereal #planeswalk

Planeswalk: The Laughing Magician