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Canonsburg Opera House disaster

1911 disasters in the United States1911 in PennsylvaniaAugust 1911 eventsCanonsburg, PennsylvaniaDisasters in Pennsylvania
The Morgan Building, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
The Morgan Building, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

The Canonsburg Opera House disaster occurred on August 26, 1911 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. A false shout of "fire" triggered a panic that killed twenty-six people.During the evening showing of a motion picture, a projector malfunction resulted in a sudden flash of light on the screen. Although no fire resulted, a crowd of theater patrons rushed to the exit of the second story theater and became lodged in the doorway which served as the theater's main entrance and exit.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Canonsburg Opera House disaster (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Canonsburg Opera House disaster
East Water Street,

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.2586 ° E -80.1862 °
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East Water Street
15317
Pennsylvania, United States
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The Morgan Building, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
The Morgan Building, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
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John McMillan's Log School
John McMillan's Log School

John McMillan's Log School is a landmark log building in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania that was the site of John McMillan's frontier Latin school during the 1780s. It is a symbol of Canonsburg and Canonsburg's educational tradition. In 1930, The Pittsburgh Press said that the building was "viewed by the pioneers with even more reverence than Pittsburgh now view the towering Cathedral of Learning in Oakland." It is one of the oldest buildings in Western Pennsylvania. It is the "oldest educational building west of the Allegheny Mountains."The school grew into Canonsburg Academy, which eventually developed into Washington & Jefferson College.The building is rectangular in shape and is 14 feet long.It was originally located in a field a mile south of Canonsburg. McMillan based the school on the William Tennent's Log College in eastern Pennsylvania. The building doubled as a stable when McMillan was not teaching classes. After only a year, the original building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The curriculum was a generalized classical education, including mathematics, grammar, rhetoric, natural history, Greek, and Latin, with a focus on preparing young men for Presbyterian ministry. It was moved to its current location in front of the Canonsburg Middle School, which stood of the location of Jefferson College, in 1895.After McMillan died in 1833, his family continued to operate his farm and used the building as a workshop space. Jefferson College students often made the pilgrimage from Canonsburg to the building. In 1894, the building was offered to Jefferson Academy, which then occupied the former Jefferson College campus. Jefferson Academy closed in 1910 and the maintenance of the building fell to Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Kappa Psi, two fraternities that were founded at Jefferson College. In 1930, the building was adopted by the national officers of Phi Gamma Delta. The original preservation plan called for the college to be protected by a steel and glass canopy. The fraternity agreed to fund the restoration of the building.In 1940, Phi Gamma Delta attempted to move the building to the campus of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, a plan that caused an uproar from the Canonsburg community. In response, Phi Gamma Delta let the town retake control over the building, which was then placed under the care of a "Log Cabin Association."In 2004, the Jefferson College Historical Society's Log Cabin Preservation Project Committee decided to restore the building. The renovation project was jointly funded by Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, and the historical society's Log Cabin Fund.

Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania

Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802. The town lies in a rich coal district, and most of the town's work force once worked in local steel mills or coal mines. Interstate 79 and U.S. Route 19 pass through the town, as does the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad. A trolley used to operate from Washington, Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh through the borough until 1953. The town is home to Sarris Candies and All-Clad Metalcrafters, makers of cookware and other bonded metals. It is adjacent to the Southpointe office park located in Cecil Township, which has a number of large corporate tenants. Yenko Chevrolet, one of largest and most notable custom muscle car shops of the late-1960s and early-1970s, was also located in Canonsburg. Canonsburg is home to the Pittsburgh Cougars junior hockey league team. The second-largest Fourth of July parade in the state of Pennsylvania, second only to Philadelphia, is held in Canonsburg. In the weeks leading up to the parade, the town frequently gains media attention for its residents setting up folding chairs along the town's main street to stake claim to prime viewing areas. Additionally, Canonsburg is host to an annual Oktoberfest. In the television series Supernatural, the town is featured in the episode "Monster Movie," which is set in the borough during the Oktoberfest celebration.