Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 1-26-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 19 Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “Overnight in Missouri.” 5-14-1930, p. 5.

— 19 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.

— 19 St. Joseph News-Press. “Tragic Armour explosion killed 19.” 5-12-2005.

Narrative Information

May 9: “St. Joseph, Mo., May 9 (AP) – Bodies of a woman and two men were dug this morning from the debris of the Armour packing plant blast to raise the total of known dead from yesterday’s explosion to 13. The bodies were badly crushed.

“St. Joseph, Mo., May 9. (AP) – Tons of heavy debris today was being removed by city firemen and hundreds of volunteer workmen here, seeking bodies of 8 Armour packing plant employees, believed to have been included among 17 victims of a devastating explosion in a 6-story building….

“W E. Renfro, general manager of the Plant, and Walter Kline, foreman in the sausage making department, said they believed a gas explosion was responsible for the blast. Kline said he smelled gas and called, it to the attention of a watchman, carrying a lighted lantern, who was going into a darkened portion of the building. Just as the watchman laughed and walked through a door the explosion occurred, the foreman recounted….” (Moberly Monitor-Index, MO. “17 Killed in Blast at St. Joseph. Explosion in Armour Plant Also Injures 12 Other Workers.” 5-9-1930, p. 1.)

May 10: “ St. Joseph, MO., May 10. – (AP) – Rescue workers today had deserted the ruins of a six-story building of the Armour Packing Company, satisfied that sixteen bodies taken from the debris and the death of two persons in a hospital comprised the death toll of a terrific explosion that wrecked the structure Thursday. Eleven other victims of the as yet incompletely explained tragedy, receiving hospital treatment, are not believed to be fatally injured….” (Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “St. Joe Blast Took Total of Eighteen Lives.” 5-10-1930, p. 2.)

May 14: “St. Joseph, May 14 – (AP) – The inquest into the deaths of nineteen persons in the Armour & Co., smoke house explosion last Thursday, will be held next Monday at the City Hall. The inquest originally had been scheduled for Thursday.” (Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “Overnight in Missouri.” 5-14-1930, p. 5.)

St. Joseph News-Press, 2005: “Sunday marks the 75^th anniversary of the worst disaster in St. Joseph history. The explosion at Armour and Co. on May 8, 1930, killed 19 South Side residents, and the tragedy reverberated among the families and the industry for generations. In 1930, Armour and Co. operated a sprawling meat-packing complex with about 2,000 employees in the stockyards area. On May 8, employees at the Armour facilities had noticed a foul smell throughout the day in the smokehouse building but kept working. Company employees had been working on gas lines at the facility the day before….” (St. Joseph News-Press. “Tragic Armour explosion killed 19.” 5-12-2005.)

Sources

Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “Overnight in Missouri.” 5-14-1930, p. 5. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=99143403&sterm=armour+explosion

Jefferson City Post-Tribune, MO. “St. Joe Blast Took Total of Eighteen Lives.” 5-10-1930, p. 2. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=89879066&sterm=armour+explosion

Moberly Monitor-Index, MO. “17 Killed in Blast at St. Joseph.” 5-9-1930, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=77074239&sterm=armour+explosion

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

St. Joseph News-Press. “Tragic Armour explosion killed 19.” 5-12-2005. Accessed 3-24-2013 at: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-14697982.html

1930 — May 8, Armour Meat Processing Plant Gas Explosion, St. Joseph, MO — 19