Depot Explosion and Mystery
Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On the evening of March 2, 1913, an explosion destroyed the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad depot at this site, disrupting the town's vital source of transportation and trade. Although a body was not discovered, it was presumed a railroad employee had been killed in the mishap. He was later declared legally dead and his stepmother collected on his insurance. In 1916, however, he was returned to Lufkin by Judge E. J. Mantooth, a local attorney acting on behalf of the insurance firms. The railroad employee stood trial for insurance fraud, but was subsequently acquitted. (1982)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On a March evening in 1913, an explosion tore apart the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad depot at Lufkin, severing the town's lifeline of trade and travel. A railroad employee was presumed killed, declared legally dead, and his insurance paid to his stepmother. Three years later the very much alive man was hauled back to town to stand trial for insurance fraud, a charge on which he was ultimately acquitted.
Why it matters
The tale captures how utterly small Texas towns depended on the railroad depot, and how the new machinery of life insurance opened fresh temptations in the early twentieth century.
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Related people
- · E. J. Mantooth
Related events
- · 1913 Lufkin railroad depot explosion
Themes & tags
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