1885 Dynamite explosion

Roadside dynamite explosion in Ontario, Canada Trent–Severn Waterway construction 1885 9 4 Douro, Ontario, Canada 44.537 -78.082 type:event_globe:earth_region:CA 2 On September 4, 1885 a wagon loaded with dynamite exploded at Douro, Ontario, Canada, killing two men and their horses. The blast was felt 50 mi away. A historical plaque marks the location. Background thumb|Lock at the Trent-Severn, 2009 George Morton and James Simmons were transporting a wagon load of dynamite from Tweed, OntarioMetal plaque 1885 Dynamite Explosion, installed by the Township of Douro-Dummer and the Ontario Heritage Trust, Douro-Dummer, near the intersection of Ontario Highway 28 County Road 8, Warsaw GPS 44.3691, -78.2239 to Burleigh Falls, Ontario to be used for the rock blasting of the Trent Canal lock.Theobald Harry 1960 Retired Douro Farmer Recalls The Day That Dynamite Blast Near Lakefield Smashed Window in Campbellford Peterborough Examiner https://trentvalleyarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/HGTV-August-2018-v-23-n-2-a.pdf They stayed overnight at a hotel in Indian River on September 3, 1885. Explosion Their load exploded at 9:45 am on September 4, 1885 on the 6th Line (road) at Douro, Ontario, noted as being a corduroy road and rough to travel in poor weather.4 Sep 1885 Terrible Dynamite Explosion Peterborough Daily Evening Review http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/FWIO/FWIO003203607_0125p.pdf Both men were killed in the blast and the only parts of the men that were found were "a finger, two tiny sections of a skull, a tiny piece of cheek identified by the whiskers, and what appeared to be a man's shoulder that was found hanging on the branch of a tree 300 ft distant." The blast blew the metal shoes off the horses hooves and broke windows in Selwyn, Ontario and Campbellford. The shock wave was felt in Tweed, 50 mi away. Sources at the time describe a 8 ft deep by 60 ft wide crater, and 1960s sources report a 10 ft deep and 70 ft wide crater being left by the blast and trees were flattened in a radius that varied between 50 yd and 75 yd. Aftermath The blast site aroused public interest for subsequent weeks. Reports on visitor numbers vary between 300 and 1,000. See also List of explosions References Category:1885 in Ontario Category:Explosions in Canada Category:Industrial accidents and incidents in Canada Category:Deaths by explosive device Category:September 1885 in Canada