• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Remembering Onondaga’s Split Rock Explosion

May 1, 2018 by Natalie Willliams-Dardaris 1 Comment

split rockAs Rich Miller remembers, it was sometime around 1984 that a colleague at the bank where he worked first mentioned Onondaga’s Split Rock Explosion of July 2, 1918.

This was not the first time that Rich’s interest was piqued by the Split Rock Explosion. He had read former newspaper columnist Dick Case’s columns on that event, but this was the first time someone offered to take Rich up to explore Split Rock.

Over thirty years later, his research has lead him to write a four volume series about Split Rock – before, during and after the explosion that changed the lives of the people who worked there and the communities nearby.

When Rich and his friend James MacLachlan first decided to further their Split Rock knowledge, they expected to find all sorts of information. What they found was that there was little information readily available. So they went in search of documents, photos, newspaper articles, anything and everything related to their topic. As Rich describes it, they started to “match things up and the story started to come together.”

The search for historical records led to late Town of Onondaga Historian Jasena Foley’s book, The Night the Rock Blew Up. Once the pieces started to come together, their interest turned to the day-to-day operations of the munitions site, then to the chemical properties of T.N.T., picric acid and how they were manufactured and stored there. They located community members who had first hand accounts of Split Rock and recorded oral histories of at least a dozen individuals.

split rock explosionA visit to the Onondaga County Court House located  inquests connected to the July 1918 investigation of the explosion ordered by the Coroner and District Attorney. A trip to the county morgue allowed them access to the autopsy records of more than 50 men killed that July evening, some who were never identified.

As the puzzle came together, a big missing piece, according to Rich, was locating copies of the Syracuse Journal for July, 1918. The original microfilm and the backup containing copies of that particular run of the Journal had been missing for over 50 years from the Carnegie Library downtown. Eventually, with the assistance of the Onondaga Historical Association, the original papers were found, filling in blanks relating to the Split Rock story.

Rich thinks there are still stories to be told, even 100 years later. If anyone has a story passed down from parents, grandparents, and/or friends, or letters or artifacts relating to Split Rock, he would encourage you to contact him.

Rich will be speaking on several topics relating to Split Rock at Town of Onondaga Historical Society meetings throughout 2018.

For those who would like to learn more about Split Rock, Rich’s books – Flames Like Hades, Blazing Hades, Shades of Gray, and Last Testament – are available for purchase at the historical society’s museum, 5020 Ball Road, off of McDonald Road on Onondaga Hill in Syracuse. The museum is open Monday thru Fridays, 1 to 3 pm.

To contact Rich and to keep up to date with activities and commemorative events that will take place this 100th anniversary of the Split Rock Explosion, visit the Town of Onondaga Historical Society Facebook Page, the Friends of Split Rock Facebook page or the Onondaga Historical Society website.

Photos of Split Rock explosion.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Industrial History, Onondaga County, Onondaga Hist Soc, Syracuse

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike says

    May 2, 2018 at 6:30 AM

    Really terrible and interesting event. The ruins of the old rock crusher are still there

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Donna Jones on 1873 Rensselaer County Firehouse Threatened with Destruction
  • Mark Weinheimer on New York History Conference Returning in 2024
  • Olivia Twine on Woodstock Art Colony Works on Paper Exhibit
  • Olivia Twine on Students Presenting Drama of Fugitive Slave Law Protest
  • Elizabeth on Groups Oppose Proposed Easing Of Cell Tower Rules
  • Jean Perry on 1840s Troy: Blacksmith Dan, John Morrissey & Friends
  • Lena Fontaine on In Haverstraw, The House That Inspired Hitchcock
  • Michele Cogley on Albany’s Anneke Jans Bogardus, Indecent Exposure, Trinity Church & The Bowery
  • Bob Hest on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Beth on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake

Recent New York Books

Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Washington’s Marines
Major General Israel Putnam hero of the American Revolution
v is for victory
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
Unfriendly to Liberty
weeds of the northeast
Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Action and Advocacy
Seneca Ray Stoddard An Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend
rebels at sea

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league