The Parkersburg News and Sentinel 1937 VISITOR RECALL EXPLOSION IN 1895 The only known living eyewitness to Parkersburg's most devastating explosion 58 years ago returned to the scene of that tragedy last week. Frank Hendricks, 71, now living in New smyrna Beach, Fla., made a special trip to the junction of the Neal Run Creek and the Little Kanawa river where, on June 1, 1885, 2,600 pounds of nitro-glycerine exploded on a flat boat. According to the Sentinel account, "nearly all the plate glass windows" in business stores from Eighth and Market to the river front 'were smashed and broken." "Residences east of Market and below Sixth were more or less damaged, some toward the Kanawa river front were almost toatally wrecked." Hendricks, then 13, and his brother were standing on the porch of what is known today as the Roundhouse, watching the man on the boat dip a blanket into the river as he headed the craft into the bank. Then a large blot of fiery red erupted before their eyes. "Religious people" in the vicinity had been talking about the world coming to an end. The next thing Hendricks knew, "everything went dark. I couldn't see anything. I grabbed my younger brother by the hand and ran up Ft. Boreman hill. 'I was sure the end of the world had come." After the large clouds of dust settled and Hendricks' pounding heart had quieted down, the pair returned to the family home. Or what had once been the family home. Only a few two-by-fours were left standing from what had been a four-room frame residence. The iron cook stove was demolished. The porch on which the two boys had been standing on next door had been torn off the house. The only thing left was a yellow bowl, cracked but intact, that was given to the Hendricks' mother when she was married. The Red Clay bank on the river was cracked wide open, Hendricks recalls, "Plenty" of fish were flopping around on the ground. Barges and boats anchored along the bank had been "torn" up. Although the boys of the area had tried for days, Hendricks claims that the bottom of the hole was never found. And neither was the man who had been dipping his blanket in the Little Kanawha when the deadly cargo exploded. A piece of skull 'about the size of a silver dollar" was the largest remains ever discovered of August Cooley, described by his employer as "an experiennced hand at the business, very careful, sober." Cooley, employed by, J.E. Hines of Petroleum, had left Shannopin, Pa., 14 miles below Pittsburgh, a few days before with 2,400 quarts of explosives. According to The Sentinel report, Cooley delivered 1,200 quarts to a man named Dolan in Sistersville and another 400 quarts to Hines at Marietta Saturday morning at 10 o'clock. Cooley continued on down the Ohio with the remaining 800 quarts, which weighed over 2,600 pounds, intending to transfer it to a skiff at Parkersburg and take it on through to Burning Springs. Although Cooley made several inquiries about a skiff from persons about the wharf, he failed to obtain one. Cooley's flat was 16 feet long and six feet wide, with padded sides. An inch of sawdust was packed around each can. Hines theorized that Cooley, the only explosion fatality, let one of his oars drop on a can or else dropped a can he was shifting, either of which would cause it to explode. Explode it did, churning the waters of Neal Run into a muddy foam and sending a great wave sweeping out of the Kanawa into the Ohio " a moment after the explosion." Elsewhere in Parkersburg, the explosion left terrified crowds of people in its wake. According to The Sentinel, "a scene of great excitement and the utmost confusion followed. A rush was made for the streets in a moment afterwards the houses were emptied of their occupants, who stood in the middle of the street, viewing the wreck with blanched faces." When the mob discovered that this particular section of the world had not been engulfed in hell fire and brimestone, they began speculating on the cause of the explosion. A report was soon circulated that the boilers at the Parkersburg mill had blown up and the mob dashed excitedly to the mill, which, along with Kelley's Foundry, was badly damaged but the boilers were intact. The mob set once more to speculation until Capt. John King of Belpre arrived at the mill with the electrifying news that he had hailed the man on the flatboat, who told him he was hauling a load of nitro-glycerine. Memories were suddenly revived, with others recalling seeing a flatboat with a red flag working up the Kanawha. The mob dashed toward the mouth of Neal Run. All that was seen was a swirl and eddy of the water. "The boatman and his cargo had disappeared completely and nothing was left but a few splinters." Although the Hendricks' family was within hailing distance of the boat when it blew up, none was injured. Hendricks' mother was thrown into the street - her chair smashed to pieces. "Squire Kirk was walking up the road with an umbrella. The explosion left him holding nothing but the main stem and two or three twisted ribs," Hendricks recalled. Hendricks, who left Parkersburg 22 years ago, now operates a transfer business in Florida, where he will return after his visit here. ------------------------------------------------------------------ This file was submitted for use in the WVGenWeb project. It may not be sold or used in a commercial project without permission of the submitter. -------------------------------------------------------------------