{"id":8136,"date":"2020-04-14T09:41:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T13:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/?p=8136"},"modified":"2020-04-17T10:48:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T14:48:44","slug":"erasing-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/erasing-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasing History?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Highway draws to a close<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the beginning of 2018, the ownership rights to the local attraction, Centralia Graffiti Highway, fell into the hands of neighboring property owners, including Pagnotti Enterprises.\u00a0 The State of Pennsylvania gave up rights to the road once it was determined the road would never be safe again to use as a highway.\u00a0 Although the easement was lifted, Graffiti Highway continued to attract visitors from all areas.\u00a0 About three quarters of a mile in length, the highway was covered with public art, colorful drawings, words, and images.\u00a0 Interested parties would ignore the \u2018no trespassing\u2019 signs to experience the obviously unique spectacle.\u00a0 Pagnotti Enterprises, which now owns a majority of the road, has made a bold decision that some feel is disrespectful to the legacy of Centralia.\u00a0 Others see Pagnotti Enterprises\u2019 choice to pave over the road as a solution to the overpopulation of visitors to the area.<\/p>\n

For those not familiar with the history of Centralia, an abandoned coal mine beneath the town has been burning since 1962. \u00a0Since that time, Centralia\u2019s residents<\/a> shrank from 1,400 to 8.\u00a0 Deeming the area unsafe to live, the state initiated a relocation project to move the remaining residents away from the hazardous town. \u00a0By the early 90\u2019s, Centralia was stripped of its zip code, and eviction efforts continued.\u00a0 In 1993, the road was officially closed to all traffic.\u00a0 Following a federal lawsuit settled in 2013, the remaining five households were awarded $349,500 and the promise that they could stay in their homes until death.<\/p>\n

Considering the long history<\/a> of the town and the road, locals in neighboring communities protested Pagnotti Enterprises\u2019 urge to lay a fresh layer of asphalt.\u00a0 A haunting representation of what the town once was, the colors plastered over the highway served as a reminder of Centralia\u2019s past.\u00a0 Others found comfort and relief in the paving, which took place this month.\u00a0In particular, law enforcement officers anticipate a large decrease in visitors to the highway.\u00a0 Some of the hijinks of the past include visitors breaking into the homes in the ghost town, throwing parties in the cemetery, and creating a public annoyance.\u00a0 It is the hope that this decision will prove beneficial to the preservation of the town\u2019s history and decline in crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the beginning of 2018, the ownership rights to the local attraction, Centralia Graffiti Highway, fell into the hands of neighboring property owners, including Pagnotti Enterprises.\u00a0 The State of Pennsylvania…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2738,2737,2546,219,2605],"class_list":["post-8136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-settlements","tag-decline-in-crime","tag-easement","tag-eviction","tag-ownership","tag-real-estate"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8136"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8145,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136\/revisions\/8145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lawyer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}