26 Forgotten Villages Around the World Being Reclaimed by Nature

17. The Abandoned Mines of Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA

Centralia, Pennsylvania, is a town slowly being consumed by an underground coal fire that has been burning since 1962. Once a thriving community, most of its residents have relocated due to the toxic fumes and unstable ground. Today, Centralia is a ghost town, with abandoned houses and a cracked highway serving as eerie reminders of its past. The persistent fire, a symbol of unchecked industrial forces, makes Centralia a unique and unsettling example of a town being reclaimed by a natural disaster of human origin.