The Eastland Disaster
The
Eastland Disaster
The
Eastland
Disaster
Chicago,
Illinois
It was a drizzly summer morning in 1915 when hundreds of Western Electric employees and their
families boarded the luxurious Eastland. Although there were other vessels carrying
people to a company picnic across Lake Michigan, all wanted to ride this most prestigious
one. Many more boarded than the vessel could hold.
The Eastland first listed starboard, then to the port. Much like the Titanic, however,
people danced and partied as if oblivious to their impending doom. The ship continued to
sway.
Near the Reid-Murdoch Building, the ship overturned. The river was awash with bodies while
many were trapped in the lower decks of the massive and overloaded vessel. They say that
their desperate screams can still be heard today.
The Merchandise Mart was a temporary morgue until all bodies were moved to the old armory.
Today, the armory serves as Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios. That location is today a hotbed
of strange phenomena.
the chicago river
the ill-fated vessel
a river of death
the aftermath
