The Explosion at Deadman's Point
A colossal blast of two and a half tons of dynamite levels waterfront shanties and shatters windows miles away.
At 3:30 this morning the people of Fairhaven and Whatcom were startled by a terrific explosion, accompanied by a severe shock as of an earthquake. The ruin was wrought by an explosion of two and a half tons of No. 2 giant powder belonging to McCoy & Breckenridge, contractors for the Bellingham Bay & Eastern railroad. The powder was stored in a shack on Deadman's Point. In close proximity were several fishermen's huts on the beach, and within a radius of 300 to 500 feet were the Great Northern and St. Louis hotels, the Fairhaven foundry, and the Puget Sound cold storage house, all of which were damaged. One wall of the foundry was almost entirely blown out. Panes of glass were broken as far away as Twenty-seventh street, and in Old Whatcom, three miles away. The explosion was caused by the burning of a fisherman's shack close by the powder house. City officials are being blamed for allowing the storage of such volatile material in a populated area.
“At 3:30 this morning the people of this city and Whatcom were startled from their slumbers by a terrific explosion.”
The storage of hazardous materials in residential or near-residential zones was a common civic grievance in the late 19th century. Fairhaven (now a historic district of Bellingham) still grapples with balancing its industrial waterfront heritage with its current role as a tourist and residential hub.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.