Exhibit 5a | Creative Disobedience

A while back I wrote a post about the dangers that miners face due to the laws that our president has backed reducing mine safety. One of the largest of these dangers is the threat of fires in the mines. I came across a large gallery of photos from Centralia, PA which are an excellent addition to my collection of abandoned buildings and urban decay.

Once a prosperous mining town, Centralia has been reduced to a modern day ghost town as the result of an underground coal mine fire that has been burning for decades. If you haven’t heard of Centralia before, I’d highly suggest checking out the gallery and read some of the history. It’s one of the strangest  things I’ve ever seen – the air is filled with the smell of sulfur as the fire vents smoke and steam from the ground like a thick fog. The fire has been burning since 1962 when a trash fire ignited an exposed coal vein. The area has deteriorated over the years, and most of the residents have now been relocated. The US Postal service has even revoked it’s zip code.

This complete feeds my fascination with urban decay. Great stuff!