The disaster at the Centralia Coal Company Mine No. 5 on March 25, 1947 was and still is one of the largest losses of life in the coal mining industry. 111 men were killed in the explosion. 

The mine was located two miles south of the town of Centralia in Wamac. The memorial is in Wamac’s city park.

There are currently two memorials to the disaster, which were created in three stages. The first memorialization took place with the erection of a free-standing historic marker in 1991. Its text reads:

On March 25, 1947 a violent explosion struck Centralia Coal Company Mine No. 5 located in Wamac, Illinois. By March 29, it was confirmed that the explosion, combined with the subsequent release of poisonous gas, had taken the lives of 111 of the 142 men working in the mine at the time of the accident. The disaster focused state and national attention on known hazardous conditions existing both at Mine No. 5 and the coal mining industry as a whole. Ultimately, the result was passage of new mine safety regulations for the industry. This marker is dedicated in memory of the miners who lost their lives in this tragedy. 

In stage 2 (date to be ascertained) that plaque was incorporated into a “tombstone-like” memorial that includes the original historic plaque and a plaque with the names of the victims on the front of the granite marker. On the back of the granite is a laser-engraved image of the mine.

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In stage 3 (2008) a brick wall memorial, bearing the names of the victims, was erected behind the aforementioned memorial.

Note: In the photo above the open-air structure behind the complete memorial is called “No. 5 Coal Mine Shelter”.

It is important to indicate that there is another memorial to miners lost in the Centralia disaster. That memorial is in Beckemeyer, 22 miles NW of Wamac. The memorial is located in the town’s Miners Memorial Park. A statue and a dedicatory plaque commemorate the loss of nine miners from this town. We have not yet had the opportunity to visit Beckemeyer and will add photos once we do.

Woody Guthrie’s songs, “Talking Centralia” and “The Dying Miner” are an intangible memorial to the dead miners.