- Essex County -
Disasters
PEMBERTON MILLS
At 4:47 on the afternoon of January 10, 1860, workers in nearby factories heard the rumble and watched in horror and disbelief as the 5 story building of Pemberton Mills buckled and crashed to the ground, trapping more than 600 workers under the immense heaps of bricks, beams and machinery. Dozens were killed instantly. Efforts to rescue those trapped went on well into the frigid night with large bonfires iluminating the horrific scene and volunteers carrying oil lanterns. One such lantern was accidentally broken by a rescuer, spilling its flaming contents into rubble littered with textile waste and splintered wooden beams. Rescuers were soon driven back by the conflagration, sealing the fates of any who remained trapped. The exact number of deaths is known as reports range from 88 to nearly 150. It is the worst industrial accident in the history of Massachuetts.
The first Pemberton Mill building was built in 1853 by the Essex Land and Water Company for the Pemberton Mill Company. The mill was built from plans by Capt. Charles H. Bigelow. The excavation was made by Mr. William Sullivan; the foundation was laid by B. D. Gowan, subcontractor under Mr. Isaac Fletcher, who took the contract from the Essex Company. The brick work was done by Messrs. J. B. Tuttle & Co. Newspaper accounts following the disaster stated that the building had been unstable since the time it was built, claiming that even before machinery was put in the walls had spread to such a degree that 22 tons of iron stays had to be put in to keep the building from falling from its own weight. The Coroner's Jury met for ten days. They determined that the direct cause of the collapse of the Pemberton Mill was the weakness and insufficiency of the cast iron shoring.
The ruins of Pemberton Mills were sold at auction on March 2nd, 1860, and construction of a new mill began immediately. This building still stands in the Union Street vicinity.
A monument was erected in Bellevue Cemetery for the unrecognizable victims of the Pemberton Mills collapse. The inscription reads: "IN MEMORY OF THE UNRECOGNIZED DEAD WHO WERE KILLED BY THE FALL OF THE PEMBERTON MILL, JAN. 10, 1860"
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