Buzz
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster inspired me to create my previous list on Mytour – Top Ten Recent American Industrial Disasters. At present, the ongoing industrial catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex in Japan is at the forefront. While this nuclear disaster in Japan is still ongoing, it has the potential to surpass Chernobyl as the worst nuclear industrial catastrophe in history, and might ultimately be recognized as the most significant industrial disaster ever, across all sectors, once everything has unfolded.
Every phase of U.S. industrialization introduces new industrial risks. Before nuclear energy and large-scale chemical production emerged, the most severe industrial disasters in the U.S. were typically caused by the technologies of the era. In the 1800s, this included the advent of early explosives like nitroglycerin, the rise of steam power leading to boiler explosions, and the drive to build ever-larger factories, resulting in structural failures. In the early 1900s, new dangers emerged with the mass production of wartime arms and the introduction of new and hazardous chemicals.
For my first list of American industrial disasters, I used a post-WWII cutoff. This list, however, will focus on disasters in America from the end of WWII (1946) and earlier. Unfortunately, there are many such disasters to consider. Below are ten of the most catastrophic industrial disasters in the U.S. prior to WWII.
10. Hague Street Explosion 1850
On February 4, 1850, shortly after work began at 8:20 AM, an explosion shook the press room and machine shops of A. B. Taylor & Co., a hat manufacturing facility located on Hague Street in New York City. The explosion was caused by a boiler in the press room and machine shop. At the time, more than one hundred employees of Taylor & Co. were at work. Witnesses described the explosion as so powerful that it lifted the building off its foundation before it collapsed into a heap of rubble, trapping workers inside.
Firefighters who arrived at the scene had to dig through the debris in search of survivors, including several young boys. One boy was trapped under the rubble for 33 hours before being rescued, but he died shortly afterward. In total, sixty-three people were killed, and around seventy others were injured. The explosion was attributed to the boilers, which were still a relatively new technology in 1850 and were known to be susceptible to catastrophic failures. While the owners insisted the boiler was new, others claimed it was an old one salvaged from a ship and hastily repaired.
9. Pemberton Mill Disaster 1860
The Pemberton Mill was a large manufacturing facility located in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which tragically collapsed on January 10, 1860, in one of the most devastating industrial disasters in American history. It resulted in the deaths of an estimated 145 workers, with 166 more injured. Built in 1853, the Pemberton Mill was a five-story building measuring 280 feet in length and 84 feet in width. After its initial construction, the original owners sold the mill, and the new owners overcrowded the factory with additional machinery in an attempt to increase profits.
Just before 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, workers in surrounding factories watched in horror as the Pemberton Mill buckled and then collapsed with a deafening crash. Owner George Howe managed to escape as the building crumbled. Dozens were killed instantly, and more than six hundred workers, many of them women and children, became trapped in the wreckage. As night fell, rescuers lit bonfires to illuminate their efforts, revealing horrific scenes of ‘faces crushed beyond recognition, open wounds where bones were exposed through dried blood, brick dust, and torn clothing.’
Around 9:30 p.m., while many remained trapped in the factory’s twisted ruins, someone accidentally knocked over an oil lantern. Flames quickly spread across cotton waste and splintered wood, some of which was soaked in oil. One man trapped in the wreckage cut his own throat to escape the approaching fire; although he was rescued, he succumbed to his other injuries. As the fire spread, it added to the terror of those still waiting to be rescued. A trapped worker, Mary Bannon, handed her pay envelope to a friend and asked that it be delivered to her father. ‘Bid him goodbye for me,’ she said, ‘You will be saved; I will not.’ As the fire continued to rage, rescuers, doctors, family members, and onlookers were pushed back by the flames. The screams coming from the ruins soon stopped, leaving only the burned remnants of ‘brick, mortar, and human bones… indiscriminately mingled.’
The collapse of the Pemberton Mill was attributed to several preventable factors, including the intentional disregard for the safe load limits, the addition of heavy machinery to the already overcrowded upper floors, and substandard construction practices. The mill was later rebuilt and still stands to this day.
8. Wells Fargo Explosion 1866
Nitroglycerin was created in 1846 by Ascanio Sobrero. Before dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel, nitroglycerin was one of the most commonly used explosives for excavation and mining tasks. Highly volatile and sensitive, nitroglycerin could detonate from slight changes in temperature, pressure, or even the smallest shock. Before 1867, nitroglycerin was transported in its liquid form, which led to one of the most devastating industrial accidents in early California.
On April 16, 1866, three crates of nitroglycerin were shipped to California for use by the Central Pacific Railroad. The company intended to test its blasting potential in order to expedite the construction of the 1,659-foot Summit Tunnel through the Sierra Nevada, part of the Transcontinental Railroad. The crates exploded, destroying a Wells Fargo office in San Francisco and claiming the lives of 15 people. The explosion left a crater spanning 40 to 50 feet, obliterating most of the Wells Fargo office and nearby businesses. Windows shattered as far as half a mile from the blast. For those as far as a quarter of a mile away, the explosion was mistaken for an earthquake.
The crates containing liquid nitroglycerin had somehow made their way across the Pacific Ocean to the docks of San Francisco. Upon arrival, it was discovered that the crates were leaking. Labeled simply as “general merchandise,” there was no indication that the crates contained a highly volatile explosive. The crates were then delivered to the Wells Fargo office and stored in the backroom with other unclaimed freight. Two freight clerks were sent to investigate the leaking crates, and when last seen, they were preparing to open the crates with tools. It is believed that the act of opening the crates with hammers or crowbars triggered the deadly explosion.
Human remains were found scattered across the area. A piece of vertebrae was blown across buildings on the east side of Montgomery Street, eventually landing on Leidsdorff Street. A human arm was hurled through a third-story window of a building across the street. This tragedy led to an immediate ban on the transport of liquid nitroglycerin in California. As a result, the production of nitroglycerin had to be carried out on-site for the hard-rock drilling and blasting necessary to complete America’s First Transcontinental Railroad.
A newspaper account of the tragic incident read: “This must be stopped at once … There must be a total discontinuance of the practice of carrying suspect packages under the term ‘merchandise.’ Public safety demands it.” Sadly, as the passengers of ValuJet Flight 592 discovered on May 11, 1996, hazardous materials can still be shipped without the proper labeling of their dangerous contents, resulting in devastating consequences.
7. Washburn A Mill Explosion 1878
As we saw in the previous list of American Industrial Disasters (e.g., the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion in 2008), organic dust of any kind can become highly explosive under the right conditions. On May 2, 1878, the Washburn “A” Mill in Minneapolis was obliterated by a flour dust explosion, which killed 18 people. The mill was rebuilt with new technology, and the disaster led to stricter safety regulations in the milling industry.
The original Washburn A Mill, built by C. C. Washburn in 1874, was hailed as the largest flour mill in the world upon its completion. On May 2, 1878, a spark ignited airborne flour dust within the mill, causing an explosion that destroyed the Washburn A, instantly killing 14 workers. The subsequent fire claimed the lives of four more individuals, destroyed five additional mills, and reduced Minneapolis’s milling capacity by a third. Known as the Great Mill Disaster, this tragedy made headlines nationwide and acted as a catalyst for reforms in the milling industry. To prevent the accumulation of combustible flour dust, new ventilation systems and other safety measures were installed in mills across the country.
By 1880, the newly constructed Washburn A Mill claimed the title of the largest flour mill in the world. At the height of its operation, the mill was capable of grinding over 100 boxcars of wheat into nearly 2,000,000 pounds of flour daily.
6. Grover Shoe Factory Collapse
– 1905
It may be difficult to imagine today, but at one point, shoe manufacturing was a major industry in the United States. New England, in particular, was a significant hub for shoe production. One of the largest shoe manufacturers was the R. B. Grover shoe factory, located in Brockton, Massachusetts, a town where approximately 35,000 shoe workers were employed. The Grover Shoe Factory was a large wooden structure, shaped like the letter E, occupying half a city block. Due to recent business success, Grover decided to add a fourth floor to the building to boost production.
At the time, most industrial facilities were equipped with large coal-fired steel boilers housed in brick boiler rooms, often attached to the factory. These massive boilers would supply steam to radiators that kept the plant warm. At the Grover factory, when a fourth floor was added, the original boiler was replaced with a larger one, while the old one—17 feet long and six feet in diameter—was kept in place as a backup. The new boiler generally met the factory’s needs on its own, and the old boiler was seldom used. When it was used, it was with hesitation, as the plant engineer did not trust its reliability.
The new boiler required periodic flushing as part of its maintenance, which meant the old boiler had to be temporarily put back into operation. On that cold, damp Monday morning, before the day shift workers arrived, the engineer and his team fed coal into the old boiler and fired it up. At 7:45 a.m., the plant manager heard odd noises coming from the radiators along one wall and called the engineer, who reassured him that all was well. However, a few minutes later, on March 20, 1905, the old boiler exploded, blasting through three floors and the roof.
The force of the explosion sent the boiler flying, knocking over an elevated water tower at one end of the building. The tank of water from the tower crashed through the roof, causing one end of the building to collapse immediately. The floors collapsed in on themselves, and the walls caved in, trapping the workers inside the building.
Many of the workers who survived the initial explosion and collapse found themselves trapped beneath broken beams and heavy machinery. To make matters worse, burning coals from the boiler’s fire pit scattered across the debris, igniting fires that were further fueled by broken natural gas lines. The more than 300 windows of the factory, now shattered, created a chimney effect in the remaining parts of the building, intensifying the fire to the point where iron pipes and radiators began to melt. The wooden floors, treated nightly with linseed oil to reduce dust, caught fire quickly.
Firefighters and local residents managed to lift some of the wreckage to rescue a few workers before the flames reached them. However, just when it seemed the disaster couldn’t get worse, barrels of highly volatile naphtha stored in a wooden shed behind the boiler house exploded. The blast sent sheets of flame across the wreckage and forced the rescuers to retreat.
At the time of the explosion, between 300 and 400 workers were in the factory. Those in the remaining sections managed to escape by using stairways or climbing onto the roof, while others had no choice but to jump from the windows as the explosion had knocked some fire escapes off the building. Around 100 workers got away without injury, and 150 were wounded. Unfortunately, 58 workers lost their lives. Due to the extreme heat, only a few of the bodies could be positively identified. One remarkable story told by the police was about a worker so disoriented by the explosion that he left the scene, applied for a job at another shoe factory, worked a full day, and returned home to find his family grieving his death. The plant engineer was among the fatalities. The cause of the explosion remained undetermined, but it seemed to be the result of the boiler simply failing after years of wear and tear. Engineers estimated the force of the explosion to be equivalent to 660 pounds of dynamite.
By 1890, approximately 100,000 boilers were in use across the USA, with more than 2000 boiler explosions recorded since 1880. Boiler inspections were uncommon, and operating guidelines were virtually nonexistent. The Grover disaster sparked a new wave of calls for improved industrial safety. A Board of Boiler Rules was created, drafting a simple three-page set of regulations. Despite objections from manufacturers claiming 'needless government interference' (sound familiar in the US today?), Massachusetts passed one of the first boiler inspection laws in 1909. These laws eventually led to the establishment of a national boiler safety code. 'Pesky government interference.' Always saving lives.
5. Chicago Crib Disaster 1909
On January 20, 1909, a fire broke out during the construction of a water intake tunnel for Chicago on a temporary water crib in Lake Michigan. These water cribs, offshore structures, collect water from near the lake’s bottom to supply a pumping station on shore. This particular water crib, located a mile and a half offshore, was being used to build a new submarine tunnel. Around 95 men were working on the crib when the fire started in a dynamite magazine within a small outbuilding, which ignited the wooden dormitory where the tunnel workers were housed. With no means of escape, 46 workers survived by leaping into the lake and climbing onto ice floes on the frozen water. Tragically, about 60 men died, with 29 burned beyond recognition.
The majority of the remaining men either drowned or froze to death in the lake, and their bodies were never recovered. One of the workers managed to navigate through the smoke and reach a telephone line connected to the shore station. In a desperate call for help, he awakened the sleepy attendant on the other end, who heard this urgent plea: 'The crib is on fire! For God’s sake, send help immediately or we will be burned alive! The tug…' At this point, communication was lost. From the shore, through the thick fog, the flames from the blaze were visible rising from the water crib. The crew of the tugboat Morford bravely attempted to save the men, pushing through the ice to get as close as possible to the fire and explosion site. They managed to rescue a few survivors in a boat and retrieved others from the water or ice floes.
4. Morgan Depot Explosion 1918
The Morgan Depot Explosion occurred at 7:30 p.m. on October 4, 1918, at an ammunition facility operated by the T.A. Gillespie Company, located near Sayreville in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The initial explosion sparked a fire and a series of subsequent blasts that continued for three days. The facility, considered one of the largest in the world at the time, was obliterated, along with over 300 buildings, requiring the reconstruction of South Amboy and Sayreville. A 1919 government report stated that the explosion destroyed enough ammunition to supply the Western Front for six months.
Among the many who took part in the rescue operations, a number of United States Coast Guardsmen stationed in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, were heavily involved. Twelve Coast Guardsmen were awarded Navy Crosses for their heroic actions, and two Coast Guardsmen lost their lives in the process. The award citations describe their bravery, including relocating a train loaded with TNT, which was under threat from the fire, a task that risked their lives.
In the wake of the explosion and fires, despite acts of heroism, the devastation was so overwhelming that martial law was declared. The 60,000 residents of Sayreville, South Amboy, and Perth Amboy were forced to evacuate. The exact death toll remains uncertain, as the employment records of the plant workers were destroyed, and the number of individuals inside at the time was lost. It is estimated that over 100 people died, with hundreds more injured. The unidentified remains of 14 to 18 workers were laid to rest in a mass grave. The disaster occurred during the 1918 influenza pandemic, and many who survived the explosion and fires ultimately succumbed to the virus.
The explosion was so immense that debris was scattered over a vast area and never fully recovered. In 2007, unexploded ordnance and other materials from the site were discovered at an elementary school while preparing the ground for a playground.
3. Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion 1944
The Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion took place on the afternoon of Friday, October 20, 1944. A gas leak, followed by an explosion and fires, led to the deaths of 130 people and devastated a one-square-mile area on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. The natural gas storage tank at the East Ohio Gas Co. plant was located near East 61st and East 62nd Streets. The explosion occurred at 2:40 PM. Luckily, the explosion happened while schools were still in session, sparing many children from being caught in the blast zone. To increase storage capacity, the gas company had liquefied the gas. It appears that tank #4 developed a leak along a seam and began releasing liquefied gas, which was carried towards the city by the winds off Lake Erie.
The gas seeped into the sewer system through catch basins and gutters. There, it mixed with sewer gas and oxygen, forming a highly volatile mixture, which was likely ignited by a spark. The resulting explosion sent manhole covers flying and caused a massive underground fireball that ignited many homes and businesses. One of the manhole covers was found several miles east in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland. The fireball was reported to be over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Amidst World War II, some locals initially suspected a German saboteur. The explosion caused additional fires and explosions at other storage tanks. Cleveland residents saw the fireballs from as far as seven miles away. The force of the explosion shattered windows over a mile away and made the bells of a nearby church ring.
For those who survived, most lost everything. The flames ravaged entire blocks of homes. In response to the explosions, the East Ohio Gas Co. decided to begin storing natural gas underground, a practice that became the standard in the industry (storing gas away from urban areas and/or underground). The company also contributed to the community's recovery by paying over three million dollars to local residents and an additional half million dollars to the families of the 55 workers who perished in the explosion. The final death toll reached 131, with 21 victims remaining unidentified.
2. St George Utah Oil Well Explosion 1935
Drilling for oil, whether offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 or on land in 1935, is a perilous endeavor. One of the most dangerous stages of the oil drilling process is called 'shooting the well.' On January 21, 1865, Col. E.A.L. Roberts achieved the first successful oil well shot at the Ladies Well near Oil City, Pennsylvania. This was the same location where, five years earlier on August 27, 1859, Col. Edwin L. Drake drilled the first well specifically for oil. Roberts used 8 pounds of black powder (nitroglycerin was not employed until two years later) to blast open or 'shoot' the well. The practice of oil well shooting played a pivotal role in the early Pennsylvania oil industry. Over time, black powder was replaced by more powerful and effective explosives like nitroglycerin, dynamite, TNT, and other high explosives.
In March of 1935, a crowd of owners, workers, their families, and spectators gathered in the St. George, Utah area to witness the first attempt at 'shooting' an oil well. Among the onlookers was Mr. George Aslop, the owner and manager of the Arrowhead Oil Corporation, who was overseeing the well's drilling along with his wife. A specialist in well shooting had been brought in for this operation. While he was lowering a charge of nitroglycerine into the incomplete well, the charge detonated prematurely. The blast ripped the derrick from its base and sent it crashing onto the gathered crowd. The explosion was so powerful that it could be felt from up to five miles away.
The explosion tragically claimed the lives of 10 people and left at least a dozen others injured. Many who had gathered to witness the event were knocked to the ground by the force of the blast. One man, who had been watching from his car, survived the explosion, though the roof of his vehicle was torn off by the blast. Among the victims were George Aslop and his wife, along with CM Flickenger, the 'expert' who had been hired to conduct the well shooting.
1. Nixon Nitration Works Explosion 1924
The Nixon Nitration Works occupied roughly twelve square miles along the Raritan River, near New Brunswick, in what was unofficially known as Nixon, New Jersey. The facility had been established at the onset of World War I to supply various warring nations with gunpowder. It was also the site where cellulose nitrate, the first plastic, was manufactured—a highly flammable substance. Large stacks of cellulose nitrate sheets were stored throughout the facility. Within the complex, Nixon leased a building to the Ammonite Company, which was using the space to salvage the contents of artillery shells for agricultural use as fertilizer. The building was said to house a million gallons of ammonium nitrate and fifteen tank cars, each containing 90,000 gallons of ammonium nitrate in the process of crystallization.
On the morning of Saturday, March 1, 1924, at approximately 11:15 AM, the Ammonite building erupted in an explosion. The force was so powerful that windows within a mile radius shattered, and in many instances, doors were blown off their hinges. The shockwaves were felt on Staten Island, where buildings swayed, windows rattled, and doors slammed shut. The blast was heard as far away as lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. The flames from the explosion ignited the highly flammable cellulose nitrate sheets, causing fires to spread to other buildings, including the offices of the Nitration Works.
Even six hours after the initial explosion, flames were still raging across a one square mile area. That evening, the wind shifted, pushing the fire toward freight cars and the nearby Raritan Arsenal, which housed 500,000 high-explosive shells. Firefighters, already exhausted from their efforts, managed to prevent the fire from reaching the arsenal, thus averting an even greater disaster. However, several square miles surrounding the plant were destroyed, including the town of Nixon, New Jersey.
The explosion resulted in twenty fatalities, more than one hundred injuries, and the destruction of forty buildings. Among the victims were the wife and three children of an employee who lived just one hundred yards from the plant. The following year, Ammonite pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the explosion and was fined $9,000, which equated to a $600 fine for each of the fifteen workers who perished in the blast. In 1954, the residents of Middlesex County's Raritan Township voted by referendum to rename their community, choosing Edison over Nixon. However, the Nixon name remains in use by the local post office and postal district.
+ Lancaster Pennsylvania Dynamite Explosion 1912
I added this incident as a bonus to the list because it illustrates an important point: most industrial accidents or disasters do not claim the lives of many people. Instead, they typically result in the loss of just one or a few lives. While this does not make the tragedy any less heartbreaking, it is true that these accidents often remain little more than local news and are rarely documented in history. I also wanted to mention it because this event occurred in 1912, right here in my hometown of Lancaster, PA.
At the Belmont quarry, workers were in the process of thawing dynamite to use for blasting quarry rock when an explosion suddenly occurred. The dynamite had been stored in a small shed, and Linarolo Pugliez was just entering the shed when the blast took place. He was killed instantly, and the shed was completely destroyed. One other worker was severely injured by flying debris. Although there were fifteen other workers nearby, none of them were hurt. A mule that was with them at the time managed to escape injury. Tragically, Pugliez’s dog, which had been with him, was also killed in the explosion.
