In 1889, a massive late night storm caused a tiny creek at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains to turn into a raging river, and the rushing waters washed away an embankment where the railroad crossed the creek. Eighteen souls were lost when a passenger train plunged into the washout. Learn a little more about this tragic event in our History Left Behind short.
Bibliography
Jones, Michael, Lost At Thaxton: The Dramatic True Story of Virginia’s Forgotten Train Wreck. 2nd ed. Moore, SC: Thaxton Press, 2022.
Media Sources
Shenandoah Herald (Woodstock, VA). “A Disastrous Flood.” June 7, 1889.
The Daily Picayune (New Orleans, LA). “Texas.” July 4, 1889. Volume LIII, Number 161: p. 1.
The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX). “Some Texas Weather.” July 2, 1889. Volume IV, Number 275: p. 4.
The Evening Sentinel (Knoxville, TN). “The Flood.” May 31, 1889. Volume 3, Number 137: p. 5.
The Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA). “The Water’s Work.” July 5, 1889. Whole Number 11858: p. 3.