Explosion on Berlin Hill Above State Garage

Explosion on Berlin Hill Above State Garage

Postcard with black and white photograph of the aftermath of an explosion of a dynamite shack at Benjamin Falls Farm, August 1932, in Berlin, Vermont. There is a huge crater and a crowd of dozens gathered around the perimeter with more coming up the hill. The state garages are visible in the background, and the field across the river was part of Caledonia Park. Evidently, this explosion was responsible for damage of the Traveler's Rest Motel, pictured elsewhere in this database.

From A Place to Pass Through: Berlin, Vermont, 1820-1991, p.82: "State owned shack, farm belonged to Thomas W. Neill and Mary Jane Neill. Explosion did extensive damage to farm and house. Almost all the plaster was blown off the walls, furniture was tossed all about, doors and windows were blown out. Mrs. Neill was thrown across the living room by the force of the explosion and hit her head on a large oak library table and died two days later. Mr. Neill bought the farm in 1919 and his niece Anne Jane Griffin owned the farm until the state purchased it to construct the access road to the hospital and interstate 89. Crosstown Motors [Capitol City Imports (2021)] is on the site of the cow barn."

P-TO-Berlin

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