The Granger Meeting House Explosion

On March 7, 1905, a group of little more than 60 people gathered in the Granger Meeting House for the weekly meeting of the Mutual Improvement Association. No one in attendance could have predicted that the night would end in disaster, with what would become known as the Granger Meeting House Explosion. The meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. sharp, and following the opening prayer, a 21-year-old woman named Nellie Mackay walked up to take her place next to the organ and sing for the audience.

An Eerie Omen: Lights Flicker and Fade

As Nellie was singing “You Can Make the Pathway Bright” the lights began to grow dim and flicker. The meeting house had been struggling with its temperamental acetylene lighting system for weeks, though no one expected it to cause any real harm. Just as she finished her song, the lights went out completely, and did not come back on. The crowd of young people began making jokes and lighting matches to try and see in the darkness.

Disaster Strikes: The Deadly Explosion

The janitor, Lambert Bowden, followed by some young men headed for the basement to find the cause of the lights going out. As the janitor reached the doorway, a puff of white smoke appeared, followed immediately by a huge explosion when he opened the door. The blast’s sound echoed for miles. Smoke poured in as the floor buckled, windows shattered, and the roof lifted off.

The explosion tossed people inside, and as they regained their senses, they ran for the exit. The blast had torn the door from its hinges. In the rush to escape, a few were trampled as they squeezed through the doorway.

Once outside, people checked on their friends. Hearing the explosion, townspeople rushed to the church and helped the injured. Rescuers carried out those unable to escape and placed them on the lawn in front of the church.

Searching for Survivors

As the smoke cleared and the confusion and horror faded, the townspeople entered the building to survey the damage. The explosion had shattered the large iron stove used to heat the building. The blast twisted the walls and left the floor uneven. Outside, people worked to account for everyone who had been there that night.

The Tragic Fate of Nellie Mackay

They soon realized that no one had seen Nellie since the blast. Someone in the crowd said the last time they saw her she was standing near the organ. Men ran into the building and Nellie was found crushed beneath the organ she had just stood beside, her body eerily untouched by the blast. When they first found her they thought she was just unconscious, because she had no visible injuries. Soon however it became clear that Nellie was not breathing.

In the days that followed, throngs of people came by the church to gawk and some even took relics from the building. At the moment of the explosion, Nellie had just finished singing while Anna Horne played the organ. The blast blew Anna out into the room, while, unfortunately for Nellie, the blast shot the organ up into the air and it promptly crushed her as it fell back to the ground.

Rumors and Investigation

The explosion injured 26 people that night, but only Nellie lost her life. People noticed Lambert’s severe burns, and rumors spread that he had lit a match before opening the basement door. Accusations quickly followed, blaming him for the explosion. On March 8, 1905, an inquest examined six witnesses and concluded that no match had been lit.

Authorities would determine that the acetylene lighting plant hadn’t been working correctly for several weeks, ultimately leading to the Granger Meeting House Explosion. Nellie, it turned out, had been standing directly above the gas tank.

A large crowd attended Nellie’s funeral on March 12th before she was buried in the Taylorsville Cemetery.

Officials quickly condemned the damaged meeting house and later razed it. In 1912, the town built a new meeting house on the corner of 3200 West and 3500 South, where it stood until the 1960s.