Huntingdon County Information Page
Send a story

Wood township, Huntingdon borough

Two Explosions Of 1906

Loaded coal cars at Robertsdale, 1946.
Loaded coal cars at Robertsdale, 1946.National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War (RG 245), Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 245-MS-3884-A (Department of the Navy photographer, 1946) Public domain

In 1906 news went out of two explosions in Huntingdon County, and both times a flame was blamed or suspected.

A dispatch from Mount Union dated July 24 reported that four men had been killed and five injured when the powder and dynamite house belonging to Jesse O. McClain blew up near Robertsdale. The magazine stood near Woodvale, a mile south of Robertsdale at the southern end of the East Broad Top railroad, and the miners drew from it each day the explosives they needed in the mines. A number of miners had gone into the powder house, and a moment later the whole place was blown to pieces. The cause was unknown, the dispatch said, but it was supposed that one of the men who went in was smoking.

On December 4 the word came from Huntingdon. The Pennsylvania Railroad's oil storage house there, used to store oil and gasoline, was completely demolished by a terrific explosion, and seven workmen inside were horribly burned. Two were listed as probably fatally injured. The explanation given was short: the men had entered the building with a lighted torch.

Checked and confirmed. Confirmed 2026-10-31 against the sources listed: every factual sentence was tied to a word-for-word passage in its source. Where sources disagreed on a number, the number was left out.

Sources

  1. The Bellefonte Republican, August 9, 1906, page 3
  2. Democratic Watchman (Bellefonte), July 27, 1906, page 5
  3. Democratic Watchman (Bellefonte), December 7, 1906, page 6
  4. The Valley Record (Sayre), December 4, 1906, page 1
  5. National Register of Historic Places nomination: Robertsdale Historic District, reference 92000391
  6. The Bellefonte Republican, July 26, 1906, page 7
  7. The Fulton County News (McConnellsburg), July 26, 1906, page 1

Checked 2026-10-31 · County histories and primary sources, read in full

← All stories from Wood township

Have something to add to this story, or a photograph of it? Send it here →

Photographs from Wood township

The company store at Robertsdale, 1946.The company store at Robertsdale, 1946.National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War (RG 245), Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 245-MS-3885-A (Department of the Navy photographer, 1946) · Public domain
Reality Theater, South Main Street opposite Route 913, RobertsdaleReality Theater, South Main Street opposite Route 913, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2068
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company Office, Main Street, RobertsdaleRockhill Iron & Coal Company Office, Main Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2066
Rockhill Iron & Coal Company Store, 68 North Main Street, RobertsdaleRockhill Iron & Coal Company Store, 68 North Main Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2065
Superintendent's House, 9 Church Street, RobertsdaleSuperintendent's House, 9 Church Street, RobertsdaleLibrary of Congress · pa2061
St. Michael's Greek Orthodox Church, High Street, WoodvaleSt. Michael's Greek Orthodox Church, High Street, WoodvaleLibrary of Congress · pa2085

All photographs →

More from Wood township

Juniata township, Damming The Raystown Branch

Long before the Army engineers built their high-level dam on the Raystown Branch, a company led by Huntingdon men put…

Huntingdon borough, The Museum Director Who Found Art at Juniata

Did you know? The man who ran the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for 28 years found art in a freshman class at Juniata…

Wood township, Influenza Lingered On Broad Top

In the autumn of 1918 influenza held on in Robertsdale, Three Springs, Coalmont and Broad Top after much of Huntingdon…

Also about County history

elsewhere in the county, The Spring The Trains Passed By

By the end of March 1905, the sickness Mount Union's local physicians had been calling chicken pox had a new name. Dr.…

elsewhere in the county, Penn State Built A Lake In Stone Valley

In December 1956, Penn State president Eric A. Walker announced a plan for a man-made lake on the university's land in…

Search all the stories →