Day 18 Horseheads NY – Niagara Falls ON

Emily,

Day 18 was the day I got to visit a town I have been obsessed with since the terrifying experience of playing and watching Silent Hill. Today was the day we were visiting the town of Centralia.

On the way there, we drove through the National Military Park at Oak Ridge so of course I had to see Sallie the Pitbull. If there is a dog statue I’m making a detour and seeing it, I need to pay my respects and all that!

Sallie the Pitbull, the 11th infantry mascot

Back in it’s prime, Centralia was a mining town from the 1800s up until 1962. Unfortunately the mining abruptly stopped due to a fire which is still burning today. Throughout the town you can find vents where the smoke escapes which gives the town it’s signature eery atmosphere.

If you know Silent Hill, you can certainly see where the inspiration for the story of came from. The church was especially spooky for us because it is very similar to the one in the film. As in the film, the church has a dominant presence in the town as it looks over everything, which as you can see from my photo above, is the same in Centralia.

Centralia reached it’s peak in population in 1890 at 2761 which is a drastic difference from the 5 people that live there today. Although very much a ghost town, we did see a few people around, I’m pretty sure we were the only tourists though.

Sadly the famous Graffiti Highway was covered over in 2020 and is no longer accessible. For those of you that don’t know, this highway was closed to traffic in 1991 and through the years was visited by locals and tourists who would add a piece of graffiti. What made it so unique were the cracks in the road where the smoke from beneath came through. Whatever your views on graffiti, this was a unique piece of history for Centralia and a staple of the town. I personally think its a shame and they should of left it, but what do you think?

Before leaving Centralia, I was determined to find an active vent to see up close and after a bit of driving we finally found one.

Our next stop was to see the Big Mine Run open geyser. This is the only geyser in Pennsylvania and is caused by the pressure of the open mines beneath.

Sadly, this was our last touristy spot in the US for this trip. Other than coffee and lunch, our next stop wasn’t until we got to our hotel in Niagara Falls.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel and it was incredible. As we were checking in, they offered a better room for a discount. We hesitated for a second as our inner scrimper nearly took over but then we thought, when are we ever going to do this again? So we gave ourselves a Christmas treat and got the better room with the bigger view. Money comes and goes but experiences and memories stay with you forever. We’re never going to look back at our lives and wish we’d saved that little bit of money rather than of had an amazing experience right?

As always thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this post please let me know by leaving a like, comment or buying me a coffee it really helps me out!

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Published by Emily

A strong love and passion for travel, dogs, coffee, dogs and motorbikes. Yes, I did say dogs twice.

51 Comments

  1. I first learned about Centralia reading a book by Bill Bryson and have always found it fascinating. One can’t help wondering how long that coal will continue to burn and how far it will spread underground. Thanks for this photo journey!

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  3. This is my first time reading about Centralia… it looks like such a unique place! Unbelievable how long that coal has been burning! And a shame about the graffiti highway… what a cool thing to close off.

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