Investigators attributed the disaster to substandard construction that was then drastically overloaded with second-floor equipment, all evident and preventable.

The mill ran with great success, earning $1,500,000 (equivalent to about $49,000,000 in 2023) per year, and had 2,700 spindles and 700 looms in operation at the time of the disaster.

[6][7][8] Shortly before 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon in 1860, workers in nearby factories watched with horror as the Pemberton Mill buckled and then collapsed with a mighty crash.

[2] When the winter sun set, rescuers built bonfires to illuminate their efforts, revealing "faces crushed beyond recognition, open wounds in which the bones showed through a paste of dried blood, brick dust, and shredded clothing.

[7] The screams coming from the ruins were soon silenced, leaving rescuers to eventually discover only the burned, smoldering remains of "brick, mortar and human bones ... promiscuously mingled.

Tons of machinery crashed down through crumpling floors, dragging trapped, screaming victims along in their downward path.

At a few minutes after five, the factory was a heap of twisted iron, splintered beams, pulverized bricks, and agonized, imprisoned human flesh.

Every nerve was strained to relieve the poor unfortunates, when, sad to relate, a lantern broke and set fire to the wreck.

All the churches of Lawrence – Baptists, Catholic, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, and Universalist – had parishioners to console after the disaster.

[1][7] In the wake of the disaster, area ministers delivered "sermons on God's inscrutable wrath" but it was apparent that blame lay in the manner in which the factory was built and operated.

[7] The Scientific American wrote, "...there is now no doubt that the fall of the building was owing to the most gross negligence and want of fidelity in casting the columns.