Mayor Copeland Speaks On Camp Creek Train Wreck

On June 23, 1900, one of the most tragic train wrecks in the State of Georgia occurred just outside of the City Of McDonough, at Camp Creek. The stream is located about a mile and a half north of McDonough and was spanned by a thirty foot high Southern Railway culvert, which was constructed with brick and granite, and was believed to be strong and safe.

On the stormy night of the tragedy, after three days of heavy rain, Mr. Raleigh Hightower, night operator at the McDonough Depot, was growing concerned that the 9:30pm passenger train was late. Northbound train Number 7 from Macon, with locomotive 836 on its headlight, pulled into McDonough with a day coach and lone Pullman to wait for Train 27 from Columbus. After waiting for an hour, the McDonough agent was advised that Train Number 27 was being held in Luella because of a bridge washout. The engineer and conductor boarded Train Number 7 for Atlanta at 9:52pm. A mile before the Camp Creek culvert is a steep downgrade, which the train thundered toward. The tracks suddenly gave way and the engine leaped through the air. The day coach and Pullman slid down the thirty foot embankment, twisting to land on their sides. Fire erupted in the splintered wooden coaches. Of the 39 passengers on the train, only 7 that had been in the Pullman lived to tell about the horrific accident. One of those survivors was the train flagman, Mr. Quinlin of Macon, who grabbed a lantern and ran the one mile back to McDonough to give the alarm.

Half of the bodies were taken to B.B. Carmichael’s Funeral Home, now 41 Griffin Street, and the other half to Bunn’s. For several days, my grandfather, along with others, made coffins for the victims. Mr. Alexander, who was then a young man and later went on to become President of Planter’s Warehouse, stated that he would never forget all those coffins around the Square of McDonough. The families of the victims received a group total of $27,900 or $900 per loss of life.