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425:“They started to get out. The entrance to the building was by a narrow gate, guarded by 12-foot walls. In a moment this was jammed by workers, mostly Italians and negroes, who fought desperately to get away. Guards were forced at last to drive back the mob with pistols and rifles.” “They broke and scattered. Many of them run to the rear of the plant, which is separated from the swampy meadow by a high barbed-wire fence. They went through this like a drove of cattle. Frantic with terror, they paid no attention to the wire, which cut some of them cruelly, but went ploughing, the whole terror-struck crowd, through the mud and thin ice of the marsh. Many of them who reached solid ground and safety were plastered with slime from head to heel. Many more were soaked with icy water.”
467:, were all grouped on the north side of Snake Hill. When the fire and ensuing explosions started, the residents of Snake Hill began to panic, fearing the world was coming to an end. From the windows they could see what the warden later described as a big display of fireworks. As the 900+ inmates of the asylum grew more panicked, the superintendent, Dr. George W. King, and Dr. James Meehan, chairman of the Hospital committee figured a way to calm the residents. Dr. Meehan hurried to the hospital with supplies of ice cream, fruits and candies. The inmates were assembled in the lecture hall and they were told that the European War had ended and the explosions were detonations of big guns to celebrate the event.
294:, which was then referred to as Kingsland. The company executives decided not to take any chances with security for their plant. They constructed a 6-foot-high (1.8 m) fence around the plant and hired security guards to conduct 24-hour patrols around the perimeter and screen each worker as they entered the plant. It was located on the site of Lyndhurst's present industrial park. A brick stack, believed to be the remaining part of the Foundry, is located in the area bounded by Valley Brook Avenue, Polito Avenue, and the office buildings on Wall Street West.
431:“The terrific blast spread the panic, which had hitherto been confined to the factory yard, to Kingsland and the adjoining village of Lyndhurst. After the first detonation came the steady roll of bursting shrapnel and high explosive shells. In a minute the little Jersey towns were transformed into villages upon the European battle front. Shells that had been intended for the armies of the Czar burst in terrific salvos over the roofs of the houses, shattered chimneys, riddled the car repair barns of the Lackawanna Railway, and set two dwellings on fire.”
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422:“Whatever happened, the building was in flames in an instant. Ten minutes passed before the first and mightiest explosion. In those ten minutes panic broke loose in the plant. It is believed that there were 1,400 men working in the factory. Each of these realized what would happen if fire caught hold of any of a dozen isolated buildings.”
337:, meaning that the Allies were the only potential customers. Munitions, including shells, shell cases, shrapnel, and powder were shipped to Kingsland from over 100 different factories. At the foundry they were assembled for shipment to Russia. Producing 3 million shells per month, the factory was a worthy objective for German saboteurs.
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Two miles of the
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad tracks were torn up by the explosions. Commuters from New York City were delayed by up to four hours and at one point 40,000 were jammed into the Hoboken station in a "clamoring, close-packed mass." Express trains to and from Washington D.C.
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Kingsland resident
Theresa Louise "Tessie" McNamara, who operated the company switchboard, was credited with saving 1,400 lives; despite the fire McNamara stayed at the switchboard. She plugged in each of the buildings and shouted the warning, "Get out or go up!" No one was killed in the fire as a
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Rumor had it that a group of saboteurs operated under the direction of
Frederick Hinsch. He recruited a German national, Curt Thummel, who changed his name to Charles Thorne. Hinsch instructed Thorne to obtain employment at the factory. Thorne was hired as assistant employment manager. In this
279:, on January 11, 1917. An arbitration commission in 1931 determined that, "In the Kingsland Case the Commission finds upon the evidence that the fire was not caused by any German agent." However, in 1953, Germany paid $ 50 million ($ 570 million in 2024) in reparations to the United States.
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Other workmen alleged that the fire began in front of
Wozniak's wooden roller. One of the company directors, Mr. Cahan, remarked about Wozniak's nervous behavior and contradictions during an interview about the incident. Wozniak, who admitted that he had served time as a draftee in the
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Army, was told by Mr. Cahan that he would be needed in New York as part of the investigation into the fire. Wozniak, who lived at the
Russian Immigrant House on Third Street in New York City, eluded the detectives who were watching him and disappeared.
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against
Germany in 1934 that dragged on for many years and was finally settled in the 1950s. Germany never admitted guilt, but paid $ 50 million ($ 630 million in 2024) in reparations to the United States.
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A view of a section of the
Canadian Car and Foundry Company's Plant, Kingsland, New Jersey, after the fire and explosions of January 11, 1917 (International Film Service, Inc.)
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After the
Kingsland plant was completely destroyed, police and federal investigators uncovered the source of the fire. It started at Wozniak's workbench in Building 30.
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dedicated to McNamara's memory. The park is located on Clay Avenue, between Valley Brook Avenue and Wall Street West. The brick stack can be seen from this park.
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were disrupted and a comical dispute over rights to a diner car ensued. Dairy and produce shipments to New York City were delayed by for 24 hours as well.
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position he facilitated the hiring of several operatives sent by Hinsch to infiltrate the factory. One of those employees supposedly was
Theodore Wozniak.
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Building 30 was used exclusively for cleaning out shells; it contained 48 workbenches. On the bench in front of each employee was a pan of
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were discharged. The entire plant was destroyed. It was said to have been a spectacle more magnificent than the nearby 1916 explosion at
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or run up Valley Brook Avenue to safety. Some of those who crossed the
Hackensack River made their way to the buildings on
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On January 11, 1917, a fire started in Building 30 of the Canadian Car and Foundry Company at Kingsland in
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The National Special Aid Society later presented McNamara with a check to honor her for her bravery.
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The shell was placed in the rotating machine and the wood was inserted into the shell as it turned
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and a small rotating machine operated by a belt. The cleaning process included several steps:
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A cloth, moistened in the pan of gasoline, was wrapped around a foot-long piece of wood
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A dry cloth was wrapped around the stick and the shell was dried in a similar manner.
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Smoke in the distance from the Canadian Car & Foundry Co., Kingsland, New Jersey
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Flaming buildings of the Canadian Car & Foundry Co., Kingsland, New Jersey
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List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition
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result of her announcements. Fleeing workers were able to cross the frozen
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Newspaper photo showing the fire that happened after the explosion.
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in the conflict, the country was selling war supplies to the
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Trees and telephone poles were cut down by flying shells
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German-sponsored acts of terrorism during World War I
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Hospital for the Insane, Contagious Diseases Hospital
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514:Mixed Claims Commission-United States And Germany,
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
27:1917 munitions factory explosion in New Jersey, US
577:Jersey Blast Demolishes Shell Plant; Rakes Town
410:The Lyndhurst Historical Society has created a
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599:Hill Asylum Inmates in Frenzy, Calmed by Cake
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893:United States home front during World War I
765:1915 Vanceboro international bridge bombing
775:German biological warfare sabotage program
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612:"The blast heard halfway 'round the world"
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516:The American Journal of International Law
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
888:Terrorism committed by the German Empire
868:Battles and conflicts without fatalities
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263:was an incident that took place during
588:D., L., & W. Torn Up for Two Miles
447:penal and charitable institutions at
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
558:"Kingsland and Haskell Disasters".
539:. Lyndhurst Historical Society. n.d
475:A reparations case was launched by
348:The shells were dusted with a brush
760:1915 Vancouver bridge arson attack
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853:1917 crimes in the United States
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45:needs additional citations for
690:"New York Tribune, Front Page"
656:. Lyndhurst Historical Society
321:was in progress. Although the
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698:"New York Tribune, Continued"
610:Goodnight, L (2003-07-16).
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267:at a munitions factory in
566:(1): 28–32. January 1917.
537:"The Kingsland Explosion"
299:Bergen County, New Jersey
196:state-sponsored terrorism
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863:Explosions in New Jersey
518:(1931), Volume 25 p 147
284:Canadian Car and Foundry
638:(subscription required)
439:Terror ruled Snake Hill
490:Morgan Depot Explosion
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362:The suspected sabotage
292:New Jersey Meadowlands
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221:Imperial German agents
873:Lyndhurst, New Jersey
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69:"Kingsland explosion"
790:Rochambeau bomb plot
654:"Kingland Explosion"
54:improve this article
843:January 1917 events
819:40.7993°N 74.1162°W
815: /
785:Kingsland explosion
780:Black Tom explosion
755:Pencil bomb attacks
463:, and Tuberculosis
335:blockade of Germany
333:due to the British
261:Kingsland explosion
135:Kingsland explosion
18:Kingsland Explosion
883:1917 in New Jersey
858:Explosions in 1917
750:Welland Canal Plot
676:. January 18, 2015
560:Safety Engineering
455:. The Almshouse,
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848:Conflicts in 1917
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110:January 2011
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52:Please help
47:verification
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822: /
443:There were
383:The heroine
319:World War I
265:World War I
187:Attack type
837:Categories
810:74°06′58″W
807:40°47′57″N
632:2012-04-16
617:The Record
502:References
465:Sanitarium
449:Snake Hill
402:Snake Hill
273:New Jersey
168:New Jersey
80:newspapers
471:Aftermath
307:Black Tom
269:Lyndhurst
164:Lyndhurst
520:in JSTOR
484:See also
453:Secaucus
376:Austrian
342:gasoline
288:Montreal
229:sabotage
192:Sabotage
160:Location
140:Part of
743:Attacks
680:May 12,
660:May 12,
543:May 11,
327:neutral
210:Injured
94:scholar
674:nj.com
620:. via
492:(1918)
459:, and
303:shells
226:Motive
202:Deaths
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451:, in
101:JSTOR
87:books
682:2017
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545:2010
325:was
282:The
259:The
178:Date
73:news
56:by
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