Centralia is a city located in Marion and Clinton Counties in Illinois. The population was 14,136 at the 2000 census. The town was founded because it was the point where the two original branches of the Illinois Central Railroad, built in 1856, converged. The town is named for the railroad.
On March 25, 1947 the Centralia No. 5 coalmine explosion near the town killed 111. The Mine Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor reported the explosion was caused when an underburdened shot or blown-out shot ignited coal dust. At the time of the explosion 142 men were in the mine. Sixty five men were killed by burns and violence and forty five by afterdamp. Eight men were rescued but one died from the effects of afterdamp.
The Centralia High School basketball team became known as the “Orphans” in 1936 because upstate sports reporters thought them shabby upstarts to be competing at the state level. However, the name became prophetic after the No. 5 disaster; at one time, all the players had lost a father in the mines. However, despite the nickname, the high school is the winningest team in Illinois high school basketball, a distinction that many residents are obviously proud of.
Several notable personalities were born in Centralia including James Brady (born August 29, 1940), Dike Eddleman (born December 27, 1922) and Gary Gaetti (born August 19, 1958). Eldo “Dick” Garrett (born January 31st, 1947) was drafted out of Southern Illinois University in the second round of the 1969 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played for the NBA’s Buffalo Braves and Milwaukee Bucks.
Centralia’s Foundation Park is a scenic 235 acre park that features hiking trails, an exercise trail, an ice skating pond and two fishing ponds both stocked with bass, bluegill and catfish. The park also sports a restored prairie, a Chapel in the Woods, the Hall Shelter, the Sentinel Shelter, The Bowl (an outdoor amphitheatre), Moose Oven and the Miner’s Memorial.
Foundation Park is the site of the annual Balloon Fest, a hot air balloon festival. Recent events have had about forty balloons and drew 40000 visitors. In addition to Foundation Park, the Centralia Foundation also supports the Centralia Carillon, ranked as eighth-largest in the world with 65 bells, the greatest of which weights 5-1/2 tons.
Centralia is home to Kaskaskia College.
Centralia is located at 3831′31?N, 897′57?W (38.525257, -89.132548)GR1. This is approximately 60 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri. Centralia is on the border of south-west Marion County with portions of the city located in Clinton, Washington and Jefferson counties, and is 10 miles north of exit 61 of I-64 and 10 miles west of exit 109 of I-57. Centralia is one of three Illinois cities with portions in four counties, the others being Barrington Hills & Aurora.
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