Getting My Butt To Centralia
Alright, so visiting that Centralia time capsule kept popping up in weird corners of the internet. I decided it was time for a road trip. Step one? Basic research. Google Maps wasn’t kidding about Centralia being tiny. Pinpointed the time capsule location near that big St. Ignatius Cemetery.
The Drive Was Half The Adventure
Packed my beat-up hiking boots, a thick jacket (heard Pennsylvania woods get muddy), and the biggest thermos of coffee I own. Hit the road early Sunday morning. GPS took me down Route 61 – yep, the infamous graffiti highway section, all blocked off now. Felt eerie just driving past the barricades. Saw plenty of “No Trespassing” signs plastered everywhere reminding folks this place ain’t Disneyland.
- Parking: Cruised around near the cemetery entrance. Found a kinda pull-off spot on Locust Avenue, basically just wide gravel shoulder. Didn’t see any official parking lots – you gotta wing it.
- Finding the Spot: Walked uphill behind St. Ignatius. Path was overgrown and slick with last night’s rain. Took a good 5-10 minutes of squelching through mud, watching my step around uneven ground.
- There It Was: Just before the woods really closed in, saw it. A big concrete slab sticking out of the ground, maybe 3 feet high. Kinda plain honestly, but it was the thing.
Standing At The Capsule
Checked it out. That slab has a plaque bolted onto the front listing names, the date buried (1966!), and that it should be opened again in… 2016? Wait, 2016? Huh. Seems folks kinda forgot about it or something. Makes you wonder.
Tried pushing the darn thing – obviously didn’t budge. It felt solid, cold, and strangely permanent sitting there in the quiet. Read the plaque again. Took a few minutes just standing there. Mostly thinking about how weird it was that this chunk of history was just sitting hidden behind a graveyard.
The Extra Mile (Literally)
Heard whispers online about the local fire department maybe having an exhibit too. Drove the extra few minutes into Ashland, the next town over. Found the Pioneer Tunnel folks – they run a little coal mine tour. Turns out, they DON’T have the capsule itself, which makes sense, but sometimes have info. Unfortunately, they were closed tight that Sunday. Swing and a miss.
Bottom Line
So yeah, finding the capsule isn’t a fancy hike or museum tour. It’s more like stumbling onto a piece of local lore tucked away and half-forgotten. You walk a muddy hill behind an old cemetery, find a concrete block in the woods, and wonder why 2016 came and went without anyone digging it up. Don’t expect grandeur. Expect quiet, mud on your boots, and maybe feeling a little like you found a secret that isn’t quite yours. Worth it for the adventure? For me, totally. Saw an old guy smoking near his pickup truck on the way out – didn’t ask, just waved. He barely nodded. Felt fitting.
