Pemberton Mill. The Pemberton Mill was a large textiles factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, originally built in 1853. On January 10, 1860, at around 4:30 p.m., a section of the building suddenly collapsed, trapping several hundred workers underneath the rubble, in what has been called "the worst industrial accident in Massachusetts history" and "one of the worst industrial calamities in American history." Of the hundreds crushed under the wreckage, an estimated 88 to 145 of them were killed instantly, and 166 were removed, albeit critically injured.

Following the incident, as search-and-rescue efforts continued in an effort to locate survivors or bodies, a volunteer's handheld oil lamp was accidentally knocked, spilling its burning oil onto the wreckage; a massive fire soon enveloped the site, preventing the rescue of many potential survivors. The blaze spread quickly, due to the mill containing a large amount of lumber, as well as chemical-laden machinery and the large amounts of cotton, denim, flannel, and other flammable materials produced therein.

Investigators attributed the disaster to substandard construction that was then drastically overloaded with second-floor equipment, all evident and preventable. The event was cited in improvements to industrial construction and workplace safety. The mill was soon rebuilt in place.

Background

The Pemberton Mill was built in 1853 as a five-story building  long and  wide. Its chief engineer was Charles H. Bigelow. Its construction was financed by John A. Lowell and his brother-in-law J. Pickering Putnam at a cost of . This was called "a fortune for those times."

During a financial panic in 1857, Lowell and Putnam sold the mill to George Howe and David Nevins, Sr. at a $350,000 loss. The new owners jammed more machinery into their factory attempting to boost its profits. The mill ran with great success, earning  per year, and had 2,700 spindles and 700 looms in operation at the time of the disaster.

Collapse
Shortly before 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon in 1860, workers in nearby factories watched with horror as the Pemberton Mill buckled and then collapsed with a mighty crash. According to later court testimony reported by The New York Times, owner George Howe escaped as the structure was falling.

Dozens were killed instantly and more than six hundred workers, many of them women and children, were trapped in the ruins. When the winter sun set, rescuers built bonfires to illuminate their efforts, revealing "faces crushed beyond recognition, open wounds in which the bones showed through a paste of dried blood, brick dust, and shredded clothing."

Around 9:30 p.m., with many people still trapped in the wreck of the factory, someone accidentally knocked over an oil lantern. Flames raced across the cotton waste and splintered wood — some of it soaked with oil. One trapped man cut his own throat rather than be consumed by the approaching flames; he was rescued, but died from his other injuries. As the fire grew, rescuers, physicians, families of the trapped victims, and spectators were all driven back by the conflagration. The screams coming from the ruins were soon silenced, leaving rescuers to eventually discover only the burned, smoldering remains of "brick, mortar and human bones ... promiscuously mingled."

American Heritage magazine gives this account:

The Boston Almanac and Business Directory notes:

The Boston Globe describes the carnage more vividly:

Victims
Estimates of the number killed by the collapse and subsequent fire vary from 88 to 145. Most were recent immigrants, either Irish or Scots, many of them young women.

Irish and Scots were the majority, and the casualty list is indicative of New England's labor force at that time. It includes Yankees from Maine and New Hampshire, and immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. All the churches of Lawrence — Baptists, Catholic, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, and Universalist — had parishioners to console after the disaster.

Aftermath
The disaster was determined to have been caused by a number of preventable factors. Ignoring already questionable load limits, extra textile machinery had been crowded into the upper floors of the factory. Investigators also discovered substandard construction. The brick walls were improperly mortared and supported. The iron columns supporting the floors were cheap and brittle but had been installed nonetheless.

In the wake of the disaster, area ministers delivered "sermons on God's inscrutable wrath" but it was apparent that blame lay in the manner in which the factory was built and operated. The Scientific American wrote, "...there is now no doubt that the fall of the building was owing to the most gross negligence and want of fidelity in casting the columns." The tragedy became a rallying point to improve safety standards in industrial workplaces. It also inspired the popular sketch "The Tenth of January" by author Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward.

David Nevins, Sr. bought out his partner and rebuilt the mill. After his death it passed to his sons, David Nevins, Jr. and Henry Cotton Nevins.

In 1922, the rebuilt mill was one of the Lawrence mills temporarily shut down during the New England Textile Strike, which was sparked by an attempted wage cut.

See also
2013 Savar building collapse, the deadliest accidental structural collapse in modern history
Grover Shoe Factory disaster
List of industrial disasters

References

Bibliography

External links
 Tourlawrence - a location-based documentary and interactive history trail about two sisters who worked in the Pemberton Mill in 1860.

Collapsed buildings and structures in the United States
Industrial accidents and incidents in the United States
Disasters in Lawrence, Massachusetts
1860 disasters in the United States
1860 disestablishments in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Lawrence, Massachusetts
History of Essex County, Massachusetts
Textile mills in the United States
Buildings and structures demolished in 1860
1853 establishments in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings completed in 1853
January 1860