For the second time in only weeks, a property in Girardville PA collapsed onto the town’s street.. This time on Ogden, where a row of vacant properties have remained for several years.. It is the latest example of the blight plight that is scourging the coal region area of Pennsylvania..
What caused this?
You can trace that back to a series of causations throughout the previous decades ever since Anthracite coal lost its fortunate sons making fortunes off of the industry and company stores in the area.. The wealth that existed in the coal region was voluminous and staggering: During its heyday towns that today feature only a handful of residents then had thousands more..
Nostalgic look backs are pointless in a time when a heroin, meth, and balt salt epidemic is adding misery to the vacancies and turmoil on streets across the area.
The Coal Region has sadly turned into towns that fear sundown–like so many across this nation that have had the same industry setbacks leading to countless empty properties of houses literally crumbling to the ground.
In 2010, census data was startling: 26.3% of its homes were vacant in Mahanoy City. That number undoubtedly is higher today.. Shamokin had a matching vacancy rate of 26.3% in that same census. Shenandoah neared 30%.
Numbers are similar in other adjacent towns.. Ashland nearing 30% or more.. Mount Carmel as well..
These towns with former old wealth now evaporated have homes for sale at $15,000 or less..
And in places like Girardville, certain stresses are giving way.. bricks and drywall fall. Twice in Guntown this year.
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In 2015, in the midst of the building crisis, the last vestige of the past was torn down. The St. Nicholas Breaker once held the distinction as the largest in the world, the size of a city block and capable of processing more than 12,000 tons of anthracite each day. It was torn to the ground and the rest… the rest was history as it so often is.
There are elements to the nostalgic relish of the past that are understandable. It is where so many communities originated and derived their sense of pride. But it is equally the albatross that is securely around our necks, weighing us down each time we collectively try to persuade the spirit to move beyond the 20th century fortunes and foibles and into a new age of something different. Whatever that different may be.
The landscape changes are stark. Stores shuttered for years are not just crumbling decay .. the memories have died with people who died years back. Now the empty structures are rat infested and filled with odors and environmental pollution. There are properties unsafe to inhabit and unsafe to even walk by!
There seems to be a perfect storm years in the making: The drug crisis going rural.. landlords from out of state shirking their moral and legal duties.. and manufacturing, coal, and garment industry closings leading to retail and restaurant closings..
People aren’t moving in.
When the homeowner dies.. the house seemingly goes dark.
And it’s not just the coal region
….Johnstown.
Allentown..
….New Wilmington DE..
…Memphis TN..
Macon County GA..
Of course. Flint Michigan.
Back in Pennsylvania, this is not without hope.
Governor Tom Wolf visited Shamokin a few weeks back and inspired hope with an investment program called Restore Pennsylvania.. And positives changes have been noted by this website and others in the political capitol of Schuylkill County. But we also need to be realistic about the challenges this area faces…
Many are heralding the plan.. and hoping for passage.
As one generation dies off, another one may come up with the solution…
For instance, the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area is thriving!
And this story featured on WBRE showcases the youth .. armed with phones and an APP .. attempting to be a part of a positive outcome as opposed to continued negative present..
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I have previously stolen a term from the horror genre to describe how I feel about the opioid epidemic….
A movie called THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was about a Texas serial killer who to this date is unknown.. We now have hundreds of towns that dread sundown across America including in our back yard.
The heroin epidemic isn’t slowing–sadly still no signs of even peaking… entire industries have changed, the economy has been effected, and medical professionals have had to alter their sense of purpose to shift into treating addicts who are brought in to hospitals seconds from death..
Somehow I feel that we dread sundown not only because of the drug abuse crisis but equally the blight that seems to focus its awful light on what we have suddenly awakened to.. While we celebrated our teams under Friday night lights, streets around us decayed. The past turned into history and the future became a mystery.
I have used this image before.. The poster for the movie.. the title and image somehow symbolize the current state of addiction. A faceless killer.. a quaint town.. a skyline with beauty.. and the fear of nightmare because of the urban and rural terrors of reality that await. And now somehow the stalker is not just the endless drug problem.. but the blight that comes with it.
So many are now forced to face fears…
Forced to look around them at what their reality has become..
And to keep their eyes open long after sundown creeps in.
