1885 Dynamite explosion

1885 Dynamite explosion

Part of Trent–Severn Waterway construction
Date	September 4, 1885 (1885-09-04)
Location	Douro, Ontario, Canada 44°32′13″N 78°04′55″W / 44.537°N 78.082°W / 44.537; -78.082
Deaths	2

On September 4, 1885 a wagon loaded with dynamite exploded at Douro, Ontario, Canada, killing two men and their horses.

The blast was felt 50 miles (80 km) away. A historical plaque marks the location.

George Morton and James Simmons were transporting a wagon load of dynamite from Tweed, Ontario¹ to Burleigh Falls, Ontario to be used for the rock blasting of the Trent Canal lock.² They stayed overnight at a hotel in Indian River on September 3, 1885.¹

Their load exploded at 9:45 am on September 4, 1885 on the 6th Line (road) at Douro, Ontario,² noted as being a corduroy road and rough to travel in poor weather.³ Both men were killed in the blast and the only parts of the men that were found were "a finger, two tiny sections of a skull, a tiny piece of cheek identified by the whiskers, and what appeared to be a man's shoulder that was found hanging on the branch of a tree 300 feet (91 m) distant."² The blast blew the metal shoes off the horses hooves and broke windows in Selwyn, Ontario and Campbellford.² The shock wave was felt in Tweed, 50 miles (80 km) away.³

Sources at the time describe a 8 feet (2.4 m) deep by 60 feet (18 m) wide crater,³ and 1960s sources report a 10 feet (3.0 m) deep and 70 feet (21 m) wide crater² being left by the blast and trees were flattened in a radius that varied between 50 yards (46 m) and 75 yards (69 m).²

The blast site aroused public interest for subsequent weeks.² Reports on visitor numbers vary between 300 and 1,000.²¹