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The explosion of the Washburn “A” mill
The evening of May 2, 1878 at the Washburn “A” mill – the largest mill of its time in the U.S. – began as any other as the day shift crews left the Minneapolis mill and the smaller night crew clocked in.
But at around 7 p.m., flour dust in the air ignited and the mill exploded. The blast blew the roof off the A mill, leveled five other mills and engulfed several city blocks in flames.
Sadly, the massive explosion killed 18 workers.
The aftermath
When Cadwallader C. Washburn – the founder of General Mills – heard the news, he hopped a train from Wisconsin (he was the Governor of Wisconsin at the time) to view the wreckage.
His immediate concern was for the families of the employees – and others in the area – who were killed or injured by the explosion. Washburn initiated a fund to help them and was eventually revealed to be the fund’s most generous contributor. He also made sure the workers displaced by the loss of the mill could continue working in another mill.
At the site, Washburn walked through the rubble, marking off the foundation in the ashes for an even bigger mill to be built on the remains of the old one.
A safer future for milling
But, determined to prevent a similar disaster in the future, Washburn requested a demonstration of a new device that he’d heard would successfully deal with the millstone exhaust and prevent flour dust from clouding the air.
