Centralia Photo Archive

Do you need historic images of Centralia, Pennsylvania, and its mine fire for your magazine, television, or documentary film project?

The Centralia Photo Archive has hundreds of high-resolution color and black-and-white images by David DeKok available for license. The collection is especially rich in images of the dramatic effects of the mine fire and of how the town looked before much of it was demolished. It includes many of the key people in the Centralia story. Most of the photos date from 1981-84, when the mine fire problem was at its worst. There are a few images from before or after those years as well.

You won’t find many of these images elsewhere.

Rights are negotiable. Commercial licensing fees are U.S. $125 apiece for images 1-5, $100 apiece for images 6-?. For a flat payment of $2,500, you can use up to 50 images. If interested, contact David DeKok at ddekok113@gmail.com, or at (717) 439-4159.

Some Past Customers

–Like A Shot Entertainment, 10 images for “Mysteries of the Abandoned” Season 3, Science Channel, February 2019, relicensed 5 images for same show, Season 4, February 2020.

–Prometheus Entertainment, 17 images for use in “The Unexplained,” July 2019.

–Boomerang/TwoFour Group, 17 images for use in “Sinkholes/Buried Underground,” 2018

–Britespark Films, 10 images, for use in their 2018 Centralia show.

–Circa News/Sinclair Broadcasting, 20 images for use in news show about Centralia mine fire, 2017

–Asylum Entertainment, 13 images for use in “Origins” series for National Geographic, 2016

–Indigo Films, 20 images for City on Fire, an episode of the Travel Channel series, America Declassified. First broadcast Dec. 1, 2013.

–Wall To Wall, London, U.K., one image for Journey To the Center of the Earth, 2010, to be broadcast on The History Channel, 2011.

–CNN International, two images, 2010.

–Pioneer TV, London, U.K., one image for the History Channel series,  How the Earth Was Made, 2009

–Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, Spain, two images for  the book, Energyscapes: On Energy, Territory, Engineering and Architecture, by Alex Ivancic. Deal in 2009, publication in spring 2010.

–Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Hamburg, Germany, one image, used in both Welt der Wunder and TV 14 magazines, 2009.

–Carus Publishing, Chicago, Ill., four images to illustrate an article about Centralia in the March 2008 issue of Ask magazine for children.

–autowerken, Berlin, Germany, two images for “Abenteuer Wissen,” a show on the German Public Television station ZDF, 2007.

–Actuality Productions, Woodland Hills, CA, 14 images for “The States: Pennsylvania,” broadcast on the History Channel, 2007.

–Dog Player Films, Los Angeles, five images for The Town That Was, feature-length documentary film about Centralia, 2006.

–Lisa Scottoline, author, four images for the website of her crime novel, Dirty Blonde, which has a Centralia sub-plot, 2005.

–Bizarre Magazine, London, U.K., one images in April 2005 edition, reprinted in the Spanish edition.

–Actuality Productions, Los Angeles, five images, for Centralia episode in series, Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 7, 2004.

–St. Petersburg (FL) Times, two images for story on Centralia mine fire, 1983.

–Discover magazine, two images for story on Centralia mine fire, 1982.