A structural defect, said to be caused years before in faulty installation of new boilers, caused several of the walls of the Female Insane Department of the Blockley Almshouse in Philadelphia suddenly to collapse. Dozens of inmates were buried in the rubble. Fifteen died and more than twenty more were seriously injured. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Thomas Scharf and Thompson Wescott, History of Philadelphia 1609-1884, in three volumes (Philadelphia, PA: L.H. Everts & Co., 1884), I: 817.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters