An explosion followed by the burning of a fiery cross occurred twice in the vicinity of Centralia, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in October 1925. This was the way the Ku Klux Klan announced its presence.
From the Mount Carmel Item, October 7, 1925:
TWO FIERY CROSSES BURNED NEAR HERE
Hundreds of interested spectators watched the burning of a fiery cross, the symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, at Centralia last night. About 7:30 o’clock an explosion of a charge of dynamite was followed by a bright light in the sky. Rushing toward the scene of the place residents of the town saw the burning form of a cross clearly outlined against the horizon just north east of the borough. The cross was burned on a bank a short distance away from the Lehigh Valley colliery.
A similar occurrence was reported at Midvaley No. 1, where a cross was burned on the baseball field. As was the case at Centralia this cross was burned following a dynamite blast.
This post is a continuation of the reporting on hate groups that were active in the Lykens Valley area. It was a widely known fact that the Ku Klux Klan had a significant presence in the Lykens Valley and adjacent valleys during the early years of the 20th Century. This iteration of the Klan was strongly white supremacist and was opposed to equal rights for African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and immigrants.
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News article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
I am glad they have been soundly rejected and defeated since then. We are all Americans regardless of skin-tone or Faith