The Great Explosion of 1895

MontanaHistoricalSociety

Shortly before 10:00 P.M. on the night of January 15, 1895, a watchman noticed smoke coming from the Kenyon-Connell Commercial Company warehouse and summoned the fire department. Unbeknownst to firefighters, other rescue workers, and curious onlookers, the burning building contained not only stoves, sheets of corrugated iron, pipes, coils of wire, and iron wheelbarrows, but also a large supply of dynamite. Within minutes, a series of devastating explosions rocked the Mining City’s warehouse district. Butte Historical Memorials board members Lindsay Mulcahy, Judy Chadwick, and Karen Henningsen tell the story of this largely forgotten tragedy that resulted in the deaths of fifty-eight people.