Morris County - Morristown - POSTPONED - Lightning Strike Ends in Death and Destruction: 1926 Picatinny Arsenal Explosion

Sunday, March 22 – Morris County

Lightning Strike Ends in Death and Destruction
1926 Picatinny Arsenal explosions continue for days
MORRISTOWN, NJ – When lightning struck the Navy surplus cache at Lake Denmark Powder Depot on a hot July evening,1926, millions of pounds of explosives detonated turning the forested lands into a lunar landscape complete with craters. In addition to structural and landscape devastation, loss of life, and loss of military resources, the event is considered one of the worst manmade explosions in U.S. history.

Join us on Sunday, March 22, at 1:30 p.m. as Picatinny Arsenal Cultural Resource Manager Jason Huggan describes how the local landscape and the additional storage of ammunition and explosives left over from World War I intensified the disaster lending the site a war-zone appearance. He also discusses the sweeping legislation and munition's operational changes that resulted from the disaster. Additionally, Huggan will share recently discovered and digitized newsreel footage documenting the carnage.

           Due to limited seating, advance registration and payment are required by Wednesday, March 18. Tickets for this event are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $7 for students, and free for children younger than 12 and MCHS members.

           MCHS is located at Acorn Hall, 68 Morris Ave., Morristown, and is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sundays, 1-4 p.m. Admission, which includes the exhibits and grounds, is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students, and is free for children younger than 12 and MCHS members. For more information, call (973) 267-3465 or visit MorrisCountyHistory.org.
Location: 68 Morris Ave, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA

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