During the 9-month Hocking Valley Coal Strike beginning in June 1884, tensions between the Columbus & Hocking Coal and Iron Company and striking miners led to violence and destruction around New Straitsville. Starting October 11, 1884, unknown men pushed burning mine cars into six mines to protest being replaced by “scab” workers. Mine operators tried unsuccessfully to plug fissures, but over the years the ground collapsed beneath buildings and roadbeds, gases seeped into schools and homes, residents were evicted, and houses were demolished. The heated soil baked potatoes and made roses bloom in winter, and at times the fire shot 100 feet into the air and was visible for five miles. Ripley’s Believe It or Not carried a radio report on the fire, local landowners promoted it as “The World’s Greatest Mine Fire,” and thousands of tourists paid 25 cents to watch guides cook eggs over fire holes and make hot coffee directly from a well. By 1936, the fires had burned all the coal in a 36 square mile area. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration tried to slow the fire by replacing coal and wood with brick and clay. Journalist Ernie Pyle reported on the fire for NBC Radio and in his syndicated newspaper column. The Wayne National Forest bought many ruined fire lands in the 1930s, and in the 1970s Ohio moved sinking Route 216 to more stable ground. Steaming ground there remains green and snow free in winter, and the mine fire continues.