South of Centralia, lies a real abandoned town: no residents, no homes, not much sign of a town at all anymore. Brynesville was founded in 1856 and was named after the local Byrnes family. The town was used to house employees of the local coal mine that was nearby. In 1865 homes started to be built in the area of upper Byrnesville. There wasn't much to the town other than an elementary school, which dissipated in the early 1930's. The nearby towns and Ashland and Centralia were much larger and used for shopping and church purposes.
During the 1980's, fire and gases from the Centralia mine fire spread to the town and the federal government relocated the townspeople. At the time there were 75 people and 29 houses. The last resident was moved out in 1996.
There are a few remains of the town. Most noticeably is a large wash house used by miners to clean up after work. The wash house is now overgrown with weeds and graffiti and the roof is collapsing, offering a grave reminder of a town that was started and destroyed by the coal industry.
3 comments:
Wow! I've found that mining towns are some of the most haunted. I wonder if the place gets active at night. Cool pic's!
If you want to know more about what the mine fire did to Byrnesville and Centralia, check out my new book: Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire, by David DeKok. Available online from Amazon.com or possibly (if you live in eastern Pennsylvania) at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore.
I remember one of the last things there was a small Mary shrine in someone's back yard. Wonder if it's still there - it's been years since I've been down there.
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