Huntingdon County Information Page

Mount Union borough

The February 27, 1917 Wreck

Photograph not reproduced here. The image that goes with this story is held by huntingdoncountyhistory.com and its credit does not permit republication, so it is cited rather than copied. See the original.

February 27, 1917 is the date Mount Union remembers, a coal freight collided with the sleeper car of the Mercantile Express, and in seconds about twenty people were dead. Seven of them were members of a single family, the Minds. The disaster was so dramatic that photographers sold real-photo postcards of the wreck across the state.

Sources

  1. catalog h42 facts + knowledge doc 1917 train wreck correction
  2. Photograph credit: huntingdoncountyhistory.com

Checked 2026-07-13 · Historic Mount Union collection

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