Centralia, PA 2011

Centralia is a borough and near-ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has declined from 1,000 in 1980 to 5 residents in 2020[7] because a coal mine fire has been burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia, part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area, is the least-populated municipality in Pennsylvania.[8] It is completely surrounded by Conyngham Township.

All real estate in the borough was claimed under eminent domain in 1992 and condemned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Centralia's ZIP code was discontinued by the Postal Service in 2002.[6] State and local officials reached an agreement with the seven remaining residents on October 29, 2013, allowing them to remain in Centralia until their deaths, after which the rights to their houses will be taken through eminent domain.[9]