Name/Title
J. A. Denn Powder Co. after Explosion, 1934Entry/Object ID
TIN-0067.6Description
Office Smashed In, 1934. This image was captured at what remained of the J.A. Denn Powder Company dynamite plant following two explosions which occurred on July 27, 1934. This image shows a single-storey, rectangular office building with the end of the building nearest to the camera caved in. This appears to be the same building seen in image TIN-0067.5. The front side of the building is facing toward the left-hand side of the image frame. The front door is in the center of the front of the building, and there are two square windows to either side of the front door. There is one square window in the side wall of the office facing the camera, which is the smashed-in wall. Many large evergreen trees make up the background of the image. A fence with wooden posts extends from the smashed side of the building toward and beyond the left-hand edge of the image frame. There is a metal gate in the fence near the house. A second similar fence is visible to the right of the office near the tree line. Many pieces of wood, corrugated sheet metal and other debris is visible on the ground between the camera and the office.
Written on the reverse side of this photograph is "this Picture mark is whear Pearl Was found 200 feet from Whear he Was Kiled and the end of the Bilden Mashed in By a Big iren and Kiled a man at his Desk" and "Ruth Southwick, Lacey, Wash."
The J.A. Denn Powder Company was owned by Joseph A. Denn, with its headquarters located in Portland, Oregon. The Hawk's Prairie dynamite plant was built in 1933. On June 27, 1934, two consecutive explosions occurred at the plant, killing ten and leveling all but two of the eight buildings which made up the plant. One additional person died from their injuries the following day. The specifc cause of the explosions remains a mystery. ("Explosions at the J. A. Denn Powder Company, in Hawk's Prairie near Lacey, kill 10 and injure seven on June 27, 1934,” Historylink.com, posted July 8, 2007, http://www.historylink.org/File/8155.)Made/Created
Date made
1934 - 1934Place
Neighborhood
Hawk's PrairieCity
LaceyCounty
ThurstonState/Province
WashingtonCountry
United StatesContinent
North AmericaNotes
Date: July, 1934
Medium: Photographic Paper/Photographic EmulsionLexicon
Search Terms
Buildings, Industrial Accidents, J.A. Denn Powder CompanyRelationships
Related Events
Event
J.A. Denn Powder Company Explosion, 1934
