It was a warm summer day on July 20, 1907 as 600 workers, family and friends from the Pere Marquette Railroad shops at Ionia boarded a train at 6 am for a day long excursion to Boblo Amusement Park on the Detroit River. By 9:14 am the excursion had turned into a disaster when the excursion train crashed head on with a Pere Marquette freight train in the southwest corner of Northville Township near 5 Mile and Napier Road. 28 people died at the crash site and over 100 people were injured in the crash.

Why did it happen and who was responsible for the worst train wreck in Michigan history?

This program by historian Joe Oldenburg is presented in partnership with the Northville Township Historic District Commission.