The Big Blowup
the story of the T.J. Salts Lumber Mill explosion of 1905
commonly referred as “The Big Blowup”
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Let’s go back to 1905 and understand what happened just outside of Del Rio Tennessee, at a mountain sawmill operation. I have created this website to present all the research regarding the sawmill explosion of August 7, 1905, in the Dry Fork area just outside of Del Rio, Tennessee. I have researched this event for 15 years and can now publish what I have found. I hope there are other people who will have information to contribute such as photographs or some family background on the victims who died and ones who survived. My information is as exact as I can possibly present; that said, there may be some errors which will be corrected as supporting evidence is presented. Thank you.
In this research effort, I have found many mistakes in news reporting. This misinformation must be taken into account.
Dean Teaster 01/09/2023
note: background and image to the right was generated by computer artificial intelligence.