Jellico Public Library

09/04/2026

Scheduling announcement:

09/03/2026

Continuing with the theories behind the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of Friday, September 21, 1906: to reiterate, months of investigation by experts, lawyers, railroads, and federal courts never came to a conclusion on the exact cause of the explosion. Also, as a point, the Southern Railway and L&N Railroad did everything they could legally to absolve themselves of any court determined blame in the disaster. The causation of the event eluded those who lived through the actual blast. Looking back today, from 120 years on, there is no way to go back and prove or disprove any of the multiple theories. Yesterday, we looked at the “simple” theory that Walter Rogers shot into a boxcar of dynamite with a .22 rifle and set off the blast. Surely sounds plausible! But hold on! Other witnesses told a different narrative entirely. Let’s look at the “kicking” of a train-car-load of pig iron into the dynamite car scenario.
First off, we know from Yerkes (Southern conductor) testimony, that his train brought the load of dynamite into the yard on September 20th hitched to a load of pig iron. Some said the cars were separated overnight with a distance of 70 feet between them.
Secondly, by railroad rules, pig iron and lumber cars must not be next to dynamite cars. “Rule #28: Provides that explosives must not be taken on passenger trains. Stationmasters and yardmasters must know of presence of explosives and have them placed in the yard to prevent explosion. Also, explosives must not be near cars of lumber or pig iron as they may cause explosion. In yards the cars containing explosives must be placed so they can not get struck or catch fire.” Per Knoxville News Sentinel June 13, 1907 in federal court. “The rules were in effect before the explosion at Jellico.”
In one day of court testimony, 9 witnesses stated they saw the Southern switch engine, #277, kick a load of pig iron forcefully into the boxcar of dynamite. "Kicking cars" means pushing one or more railcars with a locomotive, uncoupling them while they are still moving, and letting them roll freely into a different track under their own momentum.
The dynamics of the day were complex with several engines operating in the yard. Testimonies varied at what engine was where, what engine was doing what, if there even was a Southern switch engine in the yard. Indeed, there developed an elusiveness surrounding the Southern switch engine which was never fully solved. At any rate, at the exact instant the load of pig iron was supposedly witnessed being “kicked” against the dynamite car for hitching, Walter Rogers and his friends were nearby shooting the .22 rifle. Nearly simultaneously, as the cars collided, and perhaps a shot was being fired, a massively powerful explosion rocked Jellico bringing tremendous destruction upon the town.
Did the sudden impact of the two cars cracking together trigger the explosion? Did the cars merely hit at the exact instant Walter Rogers may have sent a bullet into the boxcar of dynamite? Did both occurrences, by an uncanny act of precise timing, set off the blast? A hard coupling shock and a bullet in the dynamite at the exact same time? Again, I don’t think anyone can ever determine for sure. The event is simply a “mystery of history”.

09/03/2026

Public service announcements:

09/02/2026

Jellico Dynamite Explosion, September 21, 1906, continuing our look back in time, 120 years ago into the event:

From “History of the Jellico Explosion” published by Jellico Printing Company.
“Walter Rogers, who was so suddenly and without warning taken away by Friday’s explosion, was a young man of only 23 years old, and has spent most of his life around Jellico. He was a kind, quiet boy, and was said to be generous almost to a fault, ever ready to extend a helping hand to one in need. He had a large number of warm friends here. He was sober, quiet and industrious and loved friends and made no enemies. He was an expert marksman, and it was while enjoying this sport that he met his untimely and sad death. He had often been accustomed to go across the railroad yard in the bottom , where he could practice shooting without danger to anyone.”
Knoxville News Sentinel, June 14, 1907, coverage of federal court case of Jellico Explosion:
Judge H.L. Hall testified: “I was eating breakfast at the Carmathan Inn that morning. Walter Rogers came to my room that morning and picked up my gun and shot out of the window. He left the gun in my room. I looked out of my window again and I saw Rogers with a .22 caliber rifle coming out of the cold storage building. (Walters was an employee of Jung Brewing Company). He went along the platform and went nearer the dynamite car. Walter Rogers and I bought our guns at the same time. I did not hear any shooting while I was in the hotel.” The witness showed his gun to the jury which he said was like Roger’s gun, a Re*****on .22 caliber.
One of a few competing theories is that young Rogers fired a shot which detonated the dynamite car in the railyard. This seems like such a simple explanation as to the cause. Some witnesses said Rogers and his friends were seen shooting directly at the dynamite car. Some said the dynamite car was unmarked while others said it was clearly marked. Some testified the group of three men, instantly vaporized in the explosion, were shooting at a stake in the ground far away from the boxcar. There was a myriad of conflicting testimony surrounding the Rogers shooting theory. It was never proven in court despite expert witnesses saying either yay or nay to the shooting theory. Some tests showed the .22 rifle to not be able to pe*****te the 7/8 inch siding of the boxcar and/or the dynamite boxes behind. Other hired court experts showed the opposite, and also how a .22 bullet could have pe*****ted the cracks between the boxcar’s siding material. Other consultants testified as to how dynamite can and cannot be set off. In the end, actual witnesses, rifle and explosive experts, lawyers, and the court system could not determine whether Walter Rogers and his .22 caliber Re*****on rifle were the causative agents of the disaster. So I am certainly not capable to credit or discredit the shooting theory 120 years later. Walter and his pals that day certainly couldn’t comment, as they were “atomized” instantaneously, their lives ended in the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of Friday, September 21, 1906.
We will be looking at other possible causes of the event. Spoiler alert, no one determined 100% for sure back then, and we will not be bucking history and assigning a cause in 2026, 120 years later.

09/01/2026

We'll look at an interesting sideline to the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of Friday, September 21, 1906. This one has always intrigued me (Mark J. Tidwell). And right off, I'll say, this will leave more questions than answers.
The J.H. Sparks Circus was in town in preparation for what I would suspect would have been Friday and Saturday shows. But I have never seen an authentic schedule. The circus train was in the joint Southern Railway and Louisville & Nashville Railroad yard in downtown Jellico. Sparks Circus was said to move its show about the country on twenty rail cars transporting its big top, animals, clowns, wagons, and entertainment paraphernalia. By 1906, the circus was managed by Charles and Clifton Sparks as founder John Sparks had been killed in 1903 by a circus lion.
The circus crew was in Jellico to put on a show. But in a twist of fate, the circus was presented a show of destruction and mayhem they scarcely could have imagined when 22,000 pounds of dynamite let go in close proximity to the circus train.
There is no mention of how the circus dealt with the chaos in contemporary news accounts of the day. Needless to say, the circus train moved along to whatever destination was next on its schedule as there was not much use remaining in the obliterated town.
Sparks Circus would later become forevermore entwined in Tennessee's history when "Big Mary", a five-ton Asian elephant who'd entertained thousands of circus goers, safely, for years, killed Walter "Red" Eldridge, her newly hired handler of but two days service, on September 12, 1916, in Kingsport, TN. Mary was taken to trial at Erwin, TN, found guilty of murder, and hanged by a 100 ton railroad wrecker. Mary had stopped to eat a watermelon rind when the inexperienced handler is said to have used a sharp metal hook which contacted a tooth which had an abscess in Mary's mouth.
I wonder if Big Mary was in Jellico on the explosion day? Big Mary had been with the Sparks Circus since 1898 and served until she was "sentenced" in 1916.
I wonder how the circus animals reacted to the explosion?
I wonder how the circus entertainers dealt with such a scene of chaos?
I can only imagine as that was 120 years ago this month. All involved are long since gone, and there are no known written accounts from the circus's point of view. "Murderous Mary's" story endures for the ages, while the memory of J.H. Spark's Circus and the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of September 21, 1906 have been dimmed by time's passage.
Attached images are from random internet sources on Sparks Circus History............

08/31/2026

So far, as per the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of September 21, 1906, we've touched on:
*The invention and power of dynamite.
*The heavy use of dynamite in mines near Jellico.
*The power of dynamite in 1906 verses today's dynamite.
*A boxcar load of 22,000-24,000 pounds of dynamite and nitroglycerine being brought into the Jellico railyard via Southern Railway from Keystone Powder of Pennsylvania on September 20, 1906.
Now, let's get a feel of the early morning scene on Friday, September 21, 1906.
Switch engine 277 was at work in the yard, though its actual location at the time of the explosion was hotly debated in court. Southern engines 680 and 686 were in the yard. An L&N engine was in the yard. The Proctor Coal Company engine as well as the engine for the tannery are mentioned in testimonies.
At any rate, there was a lot of normal railroad activity occurring in the railyard right up to the morning taking an explosive turn. Rail cars were being kicked, bumped and shunted. On top of that, John H. Sparks Circus train had come into town for a big top show. It's cars were being relocated from the "barn track" to another track.
Outside the railyard "housewives sang as they went about their duties, strong men laid their hands to the tasks of the day, while happy children tripped their way lightly to the schoolhouse". Then, it all changed as if the flash of converging lightning bolts rocked town in an upheaval of flying debris that seemed incomprehensible! Buildings crumbled. Roofs were lifted. Glass shards, splinters, railroad rocks, rails, crossties, train wheels and engine parts rained down upon Jellico, Kentucky and Jellico, Tennessee from literally hundreds of feet in the air. People were "atomized" as the newspapers later called it. The morning's bright promise was obliterated along with a great deal of the town's infrastructure in virtually the wink of a human eye.
We'll look at the POSSIBLE causes of the explosion in upcoming posts. I well tell you ahead of time, NO DEFINITIVE CAUSE was ever fully proven in the years of court proceedings and investigations that followed. We can not possibly peel back all the layers of that momentous day and solve the historical equation now. All the people that were involved with the Jellico Explosion of September 21, 1906 are long gone. Testimonies sometimes conflicted. One thing that is certain though, the 30 foot deep by 100 feet long crater where the dynamite car once sat, left no ifs, ands, or buts about the power of dynamite!

08/31/2026

08/28/2026

In our research of the Jellico Dynamite Explosion of September 21, 1906, we find that Keystone Powder Company of Pennsylvania shipped the dynamite to Jellico. A 36-40 foot vintage Pennsylvania railroad car found its way south and ended up "smackdab" in downtown Jellico. I do not know the particulars of the boxcar's travels from Pennsylvania to say Knoxville, but S.R. Yerkes, Southern Railway conductor, testified in Federal Court about his trip to Jellico with the explosive cargo. Knoxville News Sentinel, June 13, 1907, as the trial dragged on: "I am a Southern conductor and live at Lonsdale. I am nephew of Honorable J. W. Yerkes, commissioner of Internal Revenue. My train took out the car of dynamite that exploded. I had a car of dynamite and a car of pig iron and thirty-four empties. The two loaded cars were in the middle of the train. I had eleven cars when I got to Jellico. When I got to Jellico the dynamite car was next to the engine and the pig iron was next to it. On account of switching and cutting cars, the loaded cars were next to the engine. I ran down the main line of the yard and backed up to the side track and left my cars standing there. I don't know if the several cars were uncoupled. The pig iron was next to the dynamite car. I left Jellico at 10:30 o'clock the night before the explosion. When at Powell Station, I heard of the explosion." The witness gave the number of all eleven cars left at Jellico. The dynamite and pig iron car, he testified were left about where the explosion occurred. There was a large yellow card of warning on the car and the car was properly sealed, he testified. Cross examined: "On the north end there was nothing to protect the car and on the south was a car of pig iron. For some distance I hauled the dynamite car next to the engine. Oscar Cox, brakeman on Yerkes train testified he was with the dynamite car and the pig iron and dynamite car were three or four lengths away from other cars on the track. Mr. Yerkes identified a large cloth banner: "Handle carefully. Explosives. Keep fire away." There was one on each end of the car and one on each side, he stated. In reply to Mr. Fowler he said that he left the dynamite car on the end of the track and near a switch.
Operator Boneveitta testified he was a train dispatcher for Southern and operated the Jellico line. He testified to train sheets and movements of trains.

So, the stage had been set for the calamitous explosion of 11 tons of volatile dynamite in the downtown Jellico railyard!