Wadesville, PennsylvaniaRainbow Hose Company
For a number of years I've been making photographs in the modern ghost town of Centralia, PA. Centralia has been almost entirely evacuated because of an uncontrolled underground coal fire that has undermined much of the town and poisoned the air with combustion fumes. Some of these pictures will appear in a small exhibit of my work entitled "Coal Country" at the Camera Works Gallery in Scranton, PA, opening this September 7.
A visitor to my web site who saw the Centralia work told me to look for the remains of Wadesville, PA, less than ten miles away. I've only begun to research but there doesn't seem to be any catastrophe, natural or otherwise, at the Wadesville site. The adjacent strip mine just wants to expand, and the town is in the way. I was able to spend a little time at Wadesville this past April and for the next few days I'll post some of my preliminary work from the town.
3 comments:
Carl:
It's so good to see that you're back to posting. I hope you are on your way to full strength.
I could write an essay on how your work has changed how I see photography.
I came to your website by way of your Pentax K10 reviews in onlinephotographer. After years (many years) of carrying around big film cameras, always requiring a tripod and often a darkcloth, I looked at your quiet, intimate images and saw what I was missing. You helped me rediscover what it is to be a photographer. Thank you.
(and I love the K10. I owe you one.)
dwross
Nice photos. My ex's Dad hails from Wadesville as do a majority of her relatives. The sign on the "Hosie" (colloquial name for the fire house) was fairly accurate. The town was surviving (more than most "patch" towns), but the coal company wanted that coal under the homes. It truly is/was a "company town". The residents put up their homes on coal company land; but they were also given the option to dismantle the home and rebuild elsewhere. The residents received monetary compensation, but some thought they were going to hold out for the "golden ticket". That never materialized. I would like to see you post the firehouse picture at: http://boardorganizer.proboards.com/index.cgi?
This is the forum for the Schuylkill (County, PA) Historical Fire Society (SHFS0 for short.
Used to walk down the hill when I was very small to get a beer for my dad. Hill was so steep going back up had to sip on the beer to be able to get back up.
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