US Flight 93 Memorial and Centralia PA

With several days of 2014 vacation that must be used before the end of April, I knew I needed to "do something" with the time rather than just sit around the house - even though I almost always find things to do and there are several things that need to be done.

On my Google Keep list of places I'd like to see was Centralia, Pennsylvania.  I don't remember where I heard about it originally, but Centralia is an almost-ghost town.  In 1962, the town dump was burned (environmental challenges were treated differently then), which likely ignited a coal vein that burned underground.  The coal continued to burn, causing issues like super-heated gasoline in an underground tank, buckling of roads, and sink-holes - one of which almost swallowed and burned a child.
In the 1980's, the town was abandoned and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania now owns the town, even though there are still a handful of residents.
Wikipedia has a pretty good synopsis of the events.  There is an excellent documentary which gives much more information as well as putting a human face on the town.

While planning the trip, I noticed my planned route would put me through Shanksville, Pennsylvania where US Flight 93 was crashed on September 11, 2001 and the Flight 93 National Memorial now is.

I left dark and early on Sunday morning, hoping to miss most of the work-day traffic.  Traffic was indeed light, but it felt cold.  It was in the lower 40s, which is usually fairly easy to be reasonably comfortable, but for whatever reason, I was absolutely frigid.  There was a fairly stunning sunrise, which was also short lived, as I got into the Columbus, OH area.  The cloud line continued to stay just out of reach, preventing a significant warm-up.  Luckily, the Triumph Trophy has heated grips as it made all the difference.

Finally, somewhere in Eastern Ohio, the sun came out and things started to warm up much more.  I spent most of the morning on the interstate, but got off for a short time which was much more pleasant and allowed me to get a real Whoopie Pie at a gas stop.
Near the panhandle of West Virginia, I got back on the interstate and stayed on it until the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  It may be different now, but I vividly remember taking the turnpike when I had an internship in New Jersey in college, and I recall it was very expensive and painful with slow construction.

I got to the US Flight 93 National Memorial around noon.  The road there was pretty, even if the trees are still stark without leaves.  The Memorial is still under construction and on this April day, there were not many people there.

The Memorial is well done, if incomplete.  I'm curious what it will look like when it is done and may have to return one day.  There is a massive visiting center which is just walls, the beginnings of a group of planted trees and a wetlands area with a bridge.
It is possible to get quite close to the actual impact spot, which is marked with a boulder and small flags.

There is a wall with passenger names on it, although the many sections without names makes it look like it isn't finished.  There are nooks in the wall bordering the walkway where tributes can be left.
Overall, I found the Memorial quite sobering.  It brought back memories of that September day, with everyone at work staring at TV screens, hearing some information that turned out not to be true and other information we hoped wasn't true.

Back on the road, I stayed on 2-lane roads through most of Pennsylvania.  This area has some absolutely fantastic motorcycle roads.  However, many of them are marked at a ridiculously slow speed for trucks.  I didn't get behind any slow vehicles, and I absolutely would not want to either...

I made good time and got to Frackville in the late afternoon.  I didn't feel like sitting around the hotel room all evening, so I thought I'd head to Centralia and then go back on Monday morning - Monday morning being the plan to see what the almost-ghost town had to offer.
Frackville to Centralia takes about 10 minutes.  I had read that some people have had a hard time while looking around, but I'm not sure I believe it.  There were many cars parked all over, especially at the main interest points.  There were also people running all over in ATVs and off-road vehicles.  I talked with several people in the area, all of whom said that any smoke is rare and short-lived now.  There is a slight sulfur smell of burning coal, but it is almost in the background.
The most notable feature of Centralia is the graffiti highway.

Yep, that is a lot of vulgar graffiti.  The buckled highway looks pretty bad, but the ground is ambient temperature.  No more heat or smoke, at least not on this day.

Overall, my Centralia visit felt a bit voyeuristic and anticlimactic.  It felt voyeuristic since there are still a handful of people who live there.  I tried to be sensitive to the fact that people's homes were still there and felt bad that some treat it like it was a zoo.
It was a bit anticlimactic since there was no real evidence of the fire burning.  It was a bit like when I was in Wyoming after a forest fire had been in the area, except forest fires often initiate life and regrowth.  A dead town seems just like a dead town.  It reminded me of the suburban community that a family member moved into before the developer lost all his money.  In both situations, streets sit eerily empty.  Individual housing lots could still be made out.  There were still telephone poles and walkways, just no houses and no people.  I didn't even see much in the way of squirrels or the like running around.

I actually found the town more compelling than the graffiti highway or the vent tubes near the cemetery.  What was really sad was all the trash all over.  This isn't unique to Centralia, just more pronounced.  Trash all over really isn't unique to this part of Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania in genral; people are pigs.
Saint Ignatius looks down on the remnants of Centralia and the remaining denizens.  The view of the town and the area looks like it could have come right out of the movie The Deer Hunter.

Most coal that is mined is still used for electrical generation.  The irony of a town destroyed by coal, that now lies in the shadow of windmills should be noted.

After seeing Centralia, I decided there was no reason to go back in the morning.  I do believe that the experience would have been much different first thing on a Monday morning as I doubt there would be many other people there.  As expected, it really isn't a tourist destination, but I wouldn't want to go there on a busy June weekend.

Back at the hotel I had a great meal at the Dutch Kitchen before finishing the day with ice cream.

While resting at night, I couldn't help but wonder where Frackville got its name?  Fracking is a relatively recent phenomenon, but the town was founded in the 1860s.  I was also struck at how busy Frackville and nearby Ashville were.  Both of these towns are a picture of what Centralia might have become had Federal Government bureaucracy and Local Government ineptitude not been so prevalent in 1962.
Belated Edit:  According to Wikipedia and other sources, Frackville is named after Daniel Frack, an early setller.  Now that is quite a coincidence.