Tragedy Strikes the Kendall & Stearns Carpet Factory
A steam boiler explosion at the Seattle carpet works leaves two workers severely scalded and injured.
On the morning of December 31, 1886, a steam boiler in the engine room at the Kendall & Stearns carpet factory exploded, blowing out two brick walls of the main building. Through the wreckage, two workers, James Hall and F. Hicks, were found buried. Hall had fallen through the flooring and was badly scalded. Hicks, the machinist, had one leg broken and was bruised about the head and also scalded. A fire broke out in the debris but was promptly extinguished by the department. Loss to building and machinery is estimated at $1,200.
“Hall had fallen through the flooring and was badly scalded. Hicks, the machinist, had one leg broken and was bruised about the head and also scalded.”
This 1886 industrial accident highlights the brutal realities of early manufacturing in Seattle. Today, while steam boiler explosions are rare, the struggle over workplace safety and the human cost of industrial labor continues to mirror modern concerns about the gig economy and high-risk warehouse labor.
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