It’s amazing the stories I find just by wondering about a couple of old buildings. I saw these two derelict structures that look like old general stores southwest of Alpena. Along with a few houses and a church they are what remains of the town of Herron. It was founded by Fred Herron in 1920 and given a post office named after him. Like most little towns I figured that was all I would find abut its history until I saw a snippet about a mine explosion.
On October 30th, 1952 five men were killed when a mine near Herron exploded. Six men were searching the long-abandoned gold mine for uranium. According to the only survivor John Pastuszka, two of the men went down the 180-foot deep shaft to check on water pumps being used to drain the shaft. The other three men were standing around the opening to the shaft when it suddenly exploded. Pastuszka was spared because he was standing next to a tool shed when the explosion occurred. It is believed methane gas and a spark from the pumps was the cause of the violent blast.
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