July 4, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of one of Boston's greatest tragedies: the Pickwick Club Disaster. In the early morning hours of Independence Day 1925, a five-story building collapsed upon itself entombing and crushing to death the many celebrants inside. The Pickwick Club collapse left Bostonians shocked and appalled at the many layers of neglect by city inspectors, building owners, and managers that lead to the disaster-that-never-should-have-been.
31 men and 13 women, ages 19-46, were killed in the crush. All of them were celebrating the holiday with dance and beverages covertly consumed during the Prohibition era. A short summary of events is included in BPL's Boston Disasters Research Guide and a longer summary is on Wikipedia. Even better — there are two books detailing the full events and fallout of the disaster by local author John E. Keefe:
In the aftermath, those who held any responsibility for the tragedy pointed fingers at each other while simultaneously absolving themselves of any guilt. Facing criminal charges, 12 defendants with various connections to the Club were tried together. The grand jury investigation began on July 6, 2025, just two days after the collapse.
With summaries at the ready, let's dig into some of the unexpected culprits that may have lead to the deadly disaster:
- Many patrons were vivaciously dancing "The Charleston" moments before the collapse — was the Charleston to blame?
- A few months earlier a fire had broken out in the building. It burned through the roof and severely damaged the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors of the building — was the fire to blame?
- A "party wall" was one of the main supports for the building. Buildings were built to lean against each other as a viable source of stability in those days. The shared wall was called a party wall. But the adjoining building had recently been torn down removing the 'party' from the party wall — was the party wall to blame?
Was it the Charleston's fault?
The Charleston dance was very popular in the 20s. It was easy to learn, fun, and high-spirited. Nearly all versions of the Charleston include a stomp step. On the Pickwick Club's fated night, 30-50 couples were reported to be on the dance floor during what turned out to be the final dance of the night.
"As the steady pounding of feet continued, [the wooden joists under the linoleum floor] began to vibrate. Structural engineers use the term mechanical resonance to describe what was happening. Under certain conditions, a suspended beam or cross member will vibrate violently when subjected to steady, rhythmic oscillations. Those vibrations have been known to cause catastrophic failures in bridges, buildings, and even airplanes....The Pickwick Club dancers knew nothing about resonance; they had no idea what was going on under their feet." (The Pickwick Club Disaster, 20-21)
As the band prepared to play their final song of the evening, dancers lingered on the dance floor catching their breath. Meanwhile, one Club employee noticed a trickle of sand fall onto his hand from the ceiling. The lights began to flicker and a giant piece of plaster fell from the ceiling. The rhythmic stamping had reached the foundational piers which were now crumbling. The walls began to sag causing an eight-ton tar and gravel roof to crash down, with each floor falling on top of the next.
The Pickwick Club was on the second floor of the building. Survivors said they were able to make it to a staircase or were lucky enough to be in the one corner that didn't collapse (the band survived this way). While some people were pulled alive from the debris, most were not so luckily. Deceased Pickwick Club patrons died from being crushed to death or asphyxiation from dust.
While the Charleston may have triggered mechanical resonance, a multi-purpose building that housed a nightclub should have been able to safely accommodate dancers. What else was going on?
Was it the Fire's fault?
"Flames blackened much of the woodwork on the third floor, and caused extensive damage to the fourth and fifth floors before they burned through the roof. The staircase between the third and fourth floors was left badly charred; the one above was almost completely burned way....Firemen cut holes in each floor so the water [from the pumps] could drain into the basement." (Disaster, 16)
Repairs on the roof began on June 29, just five days before the collapse. At least one construction crew member made note of the building's internal failings, "Some of the beams were sagging, and one of the interior walls had a crack that ran from floor-to-ceiling." Two days later the crew member quit the project because "he was afraid the building might collapse" (Disaster, 17-18).
The building was cleared for safety as early as April 23 (the fire was on April 13) by Boston Building Inspector James Hendrick. The structural integrity after the fire was investigated during the defendants trial, "As far as fire damage was concerned, it was sound," declared an insurance appraiser during the trial. James Hendrick also inspected the building two days before its collapse and "didn't spot anything that caused him to think it was unsafe" (Deathtrap, 60). Yet increasingly, all fingers were pointing towards the integrity of the party wall, one of the main components Hendrick was supposedly evaluating on July 2.
Was it the Party Wall's fault?
"The defense spent the entire day refuting the prosecution's claim that lateral pressure and lack of bracing had caused the piers to tilt, and allowed the party wall to crumble and fall" (Deathtrap, 119).
The party wall was exposed due to the removal of the adjoining building. Additionally, the foundation of the newly-removed building was excavated exposing the Pickwick Club's foundational piers. "The excavation contractor [dug] down at least sixteen feet below the sidewalk. That was almost eleven feet below the bottom of the nearby foundations....[exposing] the newly poured concrete support piers" (Deathtrap, 29). The newly poured concrete support piers were created specifically to provide extra support in lieu of the party wall becoming just a wall. The piers were described on the witness stand by chief engineer of the Panama Canal, Retired Major General George Washington Goethals:
"The rottenest piece of concrete I ever saw....There were pockets of gravel in the mixture. The cement was of poor quality, and there wasn't enough of it. When I saw the character of the concrete in pier number two, I judged that it had not been able to support its load....It crushed, and threw its load on the other six piers. They, in turn, were unable to support the increased load....The wall above fell and overturned, breaking off the other piers. In my opinion, the collapse was caused by the failure of pier two to carry the load placed upon it." (Deathtrap, 140)
Drawing conclusions from Goethals and other witness testimonies leads to this order of events:
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A fire breaks out, seriously damaging the roof and floors 3-5 of the Pickwick building. Coincidentally, the adjoining building is torn down soon after (to build a new parking garage, not because of fire damage).
- In lieu of the party wall support, concrete piers were added to the foundation of the Pickwick building for extra support.
- The concrete piers were poorly built. Pier 2 was unable to support the 100,000 lb load it was supposed to carry, setting the stage for a domino-like collapse to occur, under the right circumstances.
- On July 4, mechanical resonance from the Charleston vibrated the already "rotten" piers causing pier 2 to crumble, shifting it's load onto other piers which were not built to withstand the added weight. The walls of the building gave way, leading to the roof collapsing upon the building.
During cross-examination, Goethals was asked if the collapse of the building had caused pier 2 to pulverize rather than the other way around: the already pulverized pier caused the collapse. Goethals answered, "I have seen tons of rock and clay fall down on concrete piers....They crack, they break, but they don't pulverize as this one did" (Deathtrap, 140).
None of the accused defendants were convicted of any charges. The jury returned with "not guilty" verdicts for everyone. The judge said after the trial, "If I had been a member of the jury, I would have joined in your verdict. There never was sufficient evidence that these defendants had been willfully, recklessly, or wantonly negligent" (Deathtrap, 142). Families of the victims later filed civil (instead of criminal) charges against ten of the defendants. 164 separate civil suits were filed requesting about $6.1 million in damages (roughly $90 million today). The plaintiffs eventually settled for $40,000, a payout of less than $245 per plaintiff for losing a family member in the collapse of a commercially owned and operated building, cleared for safety by the City of Boston.
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