March 20, 1905: The Grover Shoe Factory Disaster

Before the disaster

March 20, 1905: An explosion destroys the R.B. Grover shoe factory in Brockton, Massachusetts, 23 miles south of Boston. There were 58 people killed.

At the time, New England was the center of the American leather industry, and Grover was one of several shoe factories in Brockton, which would later produce champion boxers Rocky Marciano (nicknamed the Brockton Blockbuster) and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Over 35,000 people were employed in these factories.

Grover made the Emerson brand of shoes, and business was good, good enough to add a 4th floor to the factory. This required adding a new boiler, with the old boiler left as a backup. A few minutes before 8:00 AM, the old boiler exploded, the force of the explosion sending it up through the roof.

On its way back down, it knocked over an elevated water tower, whose tank smashed through the roof. Instead of its water helping to put out the fire, this action caused that end of the building to collapse, killing several workers who had survived the initial explosion.

To make matters worse, burning coals thrown from the boiler's fire pit landed throughout the debris, starting fires, which were fed by broken gas lines. The factory's more than 300 windows, now blown out, created a chimney effect in the parts of the factory still standing, resulting in a fire hot enough to melt iron pipes and radiators. The wooden floors, treated nightly with linseed oil to keep the dust down, burned quickly. High winds helped spread the fire to nearby storage sheds and neighboring buildings, including a hardware store and a rooming house.

There was one lucky break: There was a firehouse on the same block, and firemen were right on the scene, able to save some people quickly. But, due to the extreme heat, only a few bodies could be positively identified.

After the disaster

On March 29, the Plymouth County District Attorney stated that the accident was due to a hidden defect in the boiler, and that no criminal charges would be filed. Two weeks later, a judge ruled that, since the explosion was caused by a defect that could not have been discovered, there would be no civil liability against either the company or the chief engineer, David Rockwell, who died in the explosion, and could be identified by his wife only by his clothes and his watch.

The next year, on the other side of Boston, in Lynn, another shoe factory was destroyed by a boiler explosion. Only one person died, but it was enough for the Massachusetts legislature to pass new safety legislation.

The site of the factory, 963 Main Street, is now occupied by a small restaurant.

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March 20, 1905 was a Monday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. And basketball and hockey were still mostly amateur. So there were no scores on this historic day.