The Pemberton Mill Collapse | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

[Music] on the 10th of January 1860 workers at the pton Mill in Lawrence Massachusetts heard a deafening rumbling sound within seconds hundreds of them were plunged Into Darkness and pinned beneath tons of brick steel and broken Machinery what had moments ago been their workplace was now a mountain of debris but this was just the first part of what would go on to be the worst industrial disaster in the history of the state the pton mill was built in 1853 it was financed by businessman and philanthropist John Amory LEL and was one of a number of Mills and factories constructed along the marimac river in Lawrence with the intention of turning the town into an industrial Powerhouse the mill consisted of several buildings storage sheds and buildings for weaving dying and equipment repair were constructed around a central five-story Mill building where the majority of activity would take place within its walls were hundreds of machines for the dressing warping spooling winding and quilling of wool along with thousands of employees to maintain and work these machines in an average week the mill would output around 5,000 m or 115,000 yards of processed cotton Denim and flannel in 1857 a financial crisis gripped America this would not be the first or the last time that the economy would endure a downturn but it was the first economic crisis to take place in the age of the telegraph fueled by this new technology economic Panic could now spread like wildfire when a steamship bearing a badly needed shipment of gold for New York Banks sank in the Atlantic when businesses closed and jobs were lost when the value of the dollar began to plummet people around the world were able to read about it in a matter of days a full-on financial Panic ensued the pton mill had been a profitable goinging concern for many years but in the grip of this Panic its future looked uncertain hoping to avoid Financial ruin the original owners sold the mill at a significant loss to industrialists George how and David nans senior given the challenging financial situation the new owners were extremely Keen to ensure that the mill was as profitable as possible they added yet more Machinery to the already crowded floors of the main building and increased output still further for the next few years the mill was run at full speed day in day out it it was in fact common for the whole building to vibrate from the movement of the Machinery within on the 10th of January 1860 at around 4:30 p.m. workers within the mill heard an ears spitting crashing sound an exterior wall bulged outwards and disintegrated and the factory then collapsed straight downwards what had been a bustling five-story Hive of activity became a crumbled pyramid of brick metal and machinery within a matter of seconds buried under this pyramid were as many as 600 workers many had been crushed to death instantly as the building fell but many others had survived they were now pinned in place by tons of iron brick and Machinery crying out desperately for help a rescue operation began at once with shocked survivors digging with their bare hands through the rubble the mill Bells were rung continuously to summon local residents and workers from other factories who began Shifting the rubble with ropes and pulleys one trapped worker was able to free herself albeit at some personal cost her fingers were caught in a piece of Machinery that had fallen beside her and in order to escape she had no choice but to forcibly remove them she then dug her weight of the surface sustaining a serious hip injury and tearing off all her clothes in the process though badly injured she ultimately survived it was January the weather was cold and the days were short and soon enough Darkness descended over the scene lanterns and bonfires provided the only lights and the dim conditions made it exponentially more difficult to determine where the cries for help beneath the rubble were coming from despite this nearly 200 people were successfully removed from the rubble that evening the locations of many others were pinpointed and they were offered words of comfort and passed flasks of water and coffee by those on the surface along with assurances that they would soon be extricated at around 10 p.m. two men descended into a void in the rubble intent on rescuing a woman who was crying for Help From Within They Carried oil lanterns with them to light their way but as they descended one man accidentally struck his Lantern against a piece of debris it broke spilling burning oil into the wreckage within the rubble was a substantial amount of wood as well as cotton and other flammable materials some of them already soaked with oil from broken Machinery the fire spread with terrible rapidity though several fire hoses were directed at it it quickly became apparent that the Flames would consume the entire site those who were still trapped under the rubble now faced a terrible fate some sang songs or prayed out loud one trapped worker passed out an envelope containing her last week's pay and begged that it be given to her father with the words bid him goodbye for me you will be saved I will not a trapped overseer on feeling the heat of the approaching fire attempted to end his own life using a work knife but only succeeded in wounding himself he was then rescued but died in hospital at a later date the very last person to be removed from the wreckage alive begged his Rescuers to leave him where he was and save themselves but was ultimately rescued orbe it with severe burns in the last few moments before they were driven from the wreckage by the Flames Rescuers worked desperately to free anyone they could many victims were only minutes away from being extricated when the fire Advanced too close and their rescue had to be abandoned as was later reported in a detailed account of the disaster one man found two young women in a comparatively comfortable position and handed them coffee with the cheering assurance that in 15 minutes they would be rescued but alas for the delusion of Hope the fire approached and as it gradually neared the two suffering as their in treaties to be saved were enough to make the stoutest heart Quail men redoubled their exertions but in vain the Flames enveloped the poor creatures who perished before the eyes of their wouldbe deliverers soon all that remained of the mill was entirely engulfed in flame The Rescuers retreated and the screams of those trapped in the rubble one by one fell silent the dead were collected at Lawrence City Hall which served as both a mortuary and a rudimentary Hospital the destructive nature of the fire made it impossible to determine exactly how many had died but it is thought that at least 145 people lost their lives and 300 more were injured days later as the dead were buried and the injured returned home the city hall in Lawrence became the site of a Coroner's inquest many workers gave testimony reporting that there had never previously been an issue with the building and relating how sudden and without warning the claps had been when it came investigation revealed that the building had been improperly constructed poor quality brick work and brittle iron pillars had been used during the Hasty construction of the building in 1853 the owners at the time had been aware that the materials were not of good quality but had proceeded with using them anyway believing that they would be sufficient for the purpose they had in mind after the mill was sold during the financial crisis of 1857 it was packed with far more machinery and many more workers than it was ever intended to hold this added weight and vibration combined with the defects in construction were what ultimately led to the collapse of the building in the end though the mistakes that led to the collapse of the peton Mill were identified nobody faced any legal consequences the disaster was the worst industrial accident in Massachusetts history and one of the worst in the country until the Triangle shirt waist factory fire many years later the horror of the claps and the subsequent fire left an indelible mark on the local community though the factory was rebuilt to a better standard many of those who worked there in subsequent years reported feeling uncom comfortable doing so with some convinced that the building was haunted the replacement Mill complete with one of the original Smoke Stacks stands to this day surrounded by a revitalized and modern Lawrence the disaster that destroyed the original Mill was for many years a point of reference when calling for increased worker safety now with the passage of time it has been largely forgotten the future of the rebuilt Mill is uncertain but it remains an important and terrible reminder of the true cost of the cleaner safer workplaces that we have [Music] today he

Channel: Fascinating Horror

Views: 199,247

Keywords: ASMR, ASMR Horror, Horror, True Horror, Horror Story, Horror Stories, Horror Storytelling, Storytelling, Seconds From Disaster, Strange But True, Unsolved Mystery, Ride Accident, Theme Park Accident, Worst Accidents, Creepy, Creepypasta, True Creepypasta, Creepypasta Stories, I Survived, History, Documentary, Disaster Documentary, True Story, Pemberton Mill, Lawrence, Masachusettes, Milling, Factories, Workplace Accident, Workplace Safety, USA, Industrial, Industrial Accident, Collapse

Id: Sw_NTPoYcnc

Length: 11min 3sec (663 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024