UPDATED AUGUST 2019
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| Photo: Harris Ewing Collection glass negative |
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| Photo: Ghosts of D.C. |
In the 1800s and into the early 1900s, boiler explosions were a common occurrence.
Across the U.S., there were 499 boiler explosions reported in 1911, accounting for 222 deaths and 416 injuries, according to statistics from the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co. as reported by the Journal of The Cleveland Engineering Society, May 1913.
In Washington, D.C., a boiler exploded at the McCrory's store at 416 Seventh Street, Northwest, killing six people and injuring many others on Nov. 21, 1929.
Across the U.S., there were 499 boiler explosions reported in 1911, accounting for 222 deaths and 416 injuries, according to statistics from the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Co. as reported by the Journal of The Cleveland Engineering Society, May 1913.
In Washington, D.C., a boiler exploded at the McCrory's store at 416 Seventh Street, Northwest, killing six people and injuring many others on Nov. 21, 1929.
Passersby were among the victims.
"The explosion lifted part of the concrete sidewalk about 40 feet square in the air," according to an Associated Press dispatch in the Ellensburg Daily Record in Washington state.
"Firemen arriving immediately began digging beneath the ruins for bodies," the AP reported.
"Steam poured upon the cavity upon a score of firemen as they worked feverishly to lift the huge blocks of concrete which had fallen," AP said.
"Firemen arriving immediately began digging beneath the ruins for bodies," the AP reported.
"Steam poured upon the cavity upon a score of firemen as they worked feverishly to lift the huge blocks of concrete which had fallen," AP said.
Seventh Street was the city's retailing district.
The incident went to four alarms.
Police detective Benjamin Keuhling, who was in the neighborhood when the boiler exploded, told the United Press:
"I saw a man hurled 30 feet, and a woman shoot straight up in the air. It was a miracle that at least 20 persons were not killed."
Among the dead:
The incident went to four alarms.
Police detective Benjamin Keuhling, who was in the neighborhood when the boiler exploded, told the United Press:
"I saw a man hurled 30 feet, and a woman shoot straight up in the air. It was a miracle that at least 20 persons were not killed."
Among the dead:
- Elizabeth Dawson
- Charles Jacobson
- Anna Mae Cockerell
- Cockerell's her daughter Mary Ann, age 2
- Catherine Cullinaine, aunt of Cockerell
