Centralia Wedding

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.