CENTRALIA -- The pavement and graffiti are still there, but a section of what was state Route 61 in the Centralia area no longer belongs to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The agency this week vacated what is known as the "Graffiti Highway," most of which is in Conyngham Twp., allowing ownership to revert to adjacent property owners.
The three-quarters of a mile stretch of Route 61 has been closed since 1993 due to an underground coal fire that has been burning since 1962.
A decision was made last fall that the right-of-way would never again be used for highway purposes. Once that was done, the state began to take steps to vacate the easement, Jeffrey Wenner, right-of-way administrator for the PennDOT district in Montoursville, said Thursday.
"We did what we feel is in the best interests of the commonwealth," PennDOT spokesman David Thompson said.
When PennDOT vacates a right-of-way, ownership of a property goes to owners of adjoining properties. In this case, that is mostly the Pitreal Corp., a subsidiary of Pagnotti Enterprises of Wilkes-Barre, Wenner said. According to Bloomberg, Pagnotti Enterprises Inc. offers workers' compensation insurance services and anthracite coal mining preparation and sales.
A small part of land in the borough of Centralia went to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, which became an owner through a settlement of a federal lawsuit.
Attempts to reach a Pagnotti official to learn the company's plans for the highway were unsuccessful.
The strip of asphalt became known as the "Graffiti Highway" because of messages and art that have been placed on the surface over the past 25 years.
PennDOT, concerned about safety because of large cracks in the surface caused by the fire, posted no trespass signs. When they were ignored, state police last year began issuing citations and warnings.
That crackdown prompted an on-line petition signed by thousands that urged the state to keep open what was called one of Columbia County's greatest attractions and part of its history.
With the change in ownership, state police will no longer issue citations and warnings for trespassing, unless that's sought by the new owners, PennDOT said.
The underground fire started when fire company members, on May 27, 1962, started a fire to clean up the town dump before Memorial Day.
Firefighters thought they had extinguished the blaze but it spread through an opening in the pit to abandoned coal mines under the town.
That act led to the demise of Centralia, once a bustling coal mining town with as many as 2,7602 residents.
As the result of a study on how best to address the underground fire, more than 1,000 Centralia residents were moved out in the late 1980s in a $42 million federal relocation program.
With the population down to about 50, then-Gov. Robert Casey in 1992 authorized condemnation proceedings through the Columbia County Redevelopment Authority.
The Postal Service in 2002 discontinued Centralia's 17927 zip code and Gov. Ed Rendell in 2009 began the formal eviction of the few remaining residents.
Attempts to stop condemnation proceedings begun in 1993 ended in 2013 with a settlement of a federal lawsuit.
It resulted in DCED paying the seven remaining residents $349,500 for their properties with the stipulation they could remain in their homes until they die.
Although Centralia was incorporated as a borough in 1866, its history dates to 1749 when Native Americans sold the land to colonial agents for 500 pounds.
More than 100 former residents returned in 2016 to mark the 150th anniversary of its incorporation as a borough.