The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 by Jeffery C Wells

The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 by Jeffery C Wells

Georgia historian and professor Jeffery C. Wells recounts the tragic tale of the Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900.

On June 23, 1900, the Southern Railroad Company's Engine ,7 and its passengers were greeted by a tremendous storm en route to Atlanta, Georgia. Stalled for some time in nearby McDonough, travelers grew impatient as rain pelted the roof and wind buffeted the cars. When finally given the go-ahead, their resulting joy was short-lived: the locomotive soon reached Camp Creek--and disaster.

After weeks of constant showers, the swollen creek had eroded the bridge supports. Under the train's weight, the bridge collapsed, and all but nine perished in either the fiery fall or watery depths.

At Georgia Military College's Atlanta campus, Jeffery Wells is an assistant professor of history and the department chair. In addition to his renowned blog, Georgia Mysteries, he also writes for a number of other publications. He's contributed articles to the online New Georgia Encyclopedia and chapters to the Georgia Criteria Reference Test on Georgia History. The Georgia Association of Historians, the Southern Historical Association, the Clayton/Henry County Genealogy Society, and the Robert Penn Warren Circle are among his professional affiliations. In collaboration with local bookstore Bell, Book & Candle, he is a guest presenter for McDonough Haunted History Tours. In the Fall 2009 issue of Georgia Backroads magazine, he has a small essay about the Camp Creek accident.