Explosion at Liberty!
On July 30, 1916, the Black Tom munitions depot exploded, rocking New York Harbor and sending sleeping residents tumbling from their beds.
The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. On Ellis Island, terrified immigrants were evacuated by ferry to the Battery. Shrapnel pierced the Statue of Liberty (the arm of the Statue was closed to visitors after this). Property damage was estimated at $20 million. It is not known how many died.
Why the explosion? Was it an accident or planned? According to historians, the Germans sabotaged the Lehigh Valley munitions depot in order to stop deliveries being made to the British who had blockaded the Germans in Europe.
You are walking on a site which saw one of the worse acts of terrorism in American history.
Marker is on Morris Pesin Drive, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
