IT’S CHRISTMAS IN CENTRALIA

Christmas.. some time in the mid 80s..
The Reagan Era..
Deep in the battle between those who wanted to leave the town due to the mine fire and those who did not.

SWAMP CHILD MEMORIES

I was just a child down in the ‘swamp’ at my grandmother’s house for Christmas.. There was snow falling.. I have very real and true memories of my cousin and I sitting on my gram’s swing under her grape vine.. we spoke about what I hoped Santa would bring me.. we were cold in the December air but still decided to stay outside, as 20 or so people inside the tiny row home were laughing, talking, and arguing late into that Christmas night.

Later in the evening, as the clock would come close to striking midnight– whatever year this memory existed from– my family and I attended a crowded St. Ignatius midnight mass.. Sure, a few people smelled like wine and boilo.. sure, we sat near the back in order to be out first when the mass ended. I still remember my little body standing erect on the kneeler, tippy-toed, and staring at the roof at the immense wooden beams that held the church up… I thought the priest’s voice was the sound of God.

New fallen snow outside did not put a damper on anything, but only reflected the spirit of the holiday season that was upon us.. That year, whatever this 1980s date was, was Christmas in Centralia.. All was fine.

We know the rest of the story..
A town besieged by an underground mine would soon meet its troubling fate.

A TALE OF TWO CHURCHES

So much of what happened in Centralia was shrouded in what happened at St. Ignatius.. this church, this steeple on the hill, was the towering reminder of history for Centralia throughout its life.

No matter where you were in the Centralia, you saw two churches.. St. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox–which still stands--and St. Ignatius, the building dead center in the middle of the famed fire.

The choir at St. Ignatius did justice to the Christmas season…

We came, all ye faithful..
We sang to the King of Glory..
We joyed to the world..
We talked about me.. and my drum…

There was majesty in that fine building, there was history.

100+ years of it to be exact! It was built on solid rock with a cemetery behind it.

Hallowed halls of history

This is what it looked like inside thanks to old pictures that still exist:

This beautiful building would soon succumb to the demise of the town.. all others felt the wrath.. But it had a few more Christmases to go..

x x x x

In 1984, things were getting tense in Centralia.

The mine fire marred the spirit of the holiday season..

That year, the AP reported this on December 24, 1984:

Soon the singing would stop.. the Christmas carols in new fallen snow would end.

The new Christmas in Centralia had become tense.. structures were being razed..

A little church was next..

This was reported on July 29, 1997 by the AP:

Local legend says that St. Ignatius Church was destined to be the last standing structure in Centralia.

While it was not the last, it certainly may have been the most important?

Later in 1997, as the contracts were let out to destroy the Church so many Christmases were celebrated in throughout the years, this appeared in the Pottsville Republican HERALD in November — just about as another Christmas season was beginning in Centralia:

The poignant words printed at the time in the fishwrapper:

In a town where there isn’t much noise anymore, the sound of a buzz saw echoed Wednesday from inside the gaping hole in the white church’s out-side wall.

Pews were removed from the church.. Sold to someone in Lansdowne for $1200!

The bell was removed from the church.. Sold to someone for $1000 from Connecticut!

The Church that held memories of all Christmases past suddenly was vacant..

One of the last photos from inside prior to demolition:

One of the final images of the church prior to its finality:

On a cold day, the Church was destroyed.. from those who watched and legend, it took exceptionally long for the steeple and cold and frozen-over cross to come down.

But it did fall… And with it every joyful song from Christmas past…

There is this amazing tale of this church’s downfall: When crews began their work on destroying this historic building, they had trouble.

The night before, a March ice storm glazed over the entire church–the most notable portion that was untouchable was the steeple and cross. They had to literally chop away at the ice for hours before they were able to get the steeple down. And when it fell, it stayed in tact.

The team who crushed this church also had a decades’ long resume doing the same to others. Schools, churches..

In the case of Centralia, an entire neighborhood.

They were good at their work. In 2013, while destroying another church someone paid them to, the building crushed the owner of the company and he perished.

X X X

The memories of my childhood and so many others who grew up in Centralia will recall a vibrant St. Ignatius, filled with people of conviction and hope.. promise and soon peril.

This is what a Christmas in Centralia would have looked like just a few decades ago:

A red light.. a Church… a school across the street.. and new fallen snow. Nothing says the holiday season better than that!

X X X

GHOSTS OF CENTRALIA CHRISTMASES PAST

The modern era still reminds us of those ghostly Christmases past.. Back when I was a child and I sat with my cousin on the swing in my grandmother’s back yard.

After all, for all these decades since destruction, Centralia presents its annual Christmas decor.. this year my photo was taken on December 14 2019.. rain was changing to snow in a foggy atmosphere as the temperature hovered around 33 degrees.