In late November 1961, the ground shook from Bellwood to the City of Colonial Heights; from Enon to the Courthouse. The Howard Johnson’s Restaurant (now Deny’s) on West Hundred Road just west of the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike (now Interstate 95) had blown up.
Sixteen persons were injured including then Bermuda District Supervisor Garland Dodd. A preliminary investigation indicated that the boiler in the basement had malfunctioned. The roof dropped about four feet and the concrete floor buckled. Windows were blown out and all that remained were small shards of glass.
One woman’s legs were trapped under a concrete block wall. About 36 employees worked at the restaurant, but only 15 were on duty. About six months earlier a fire had did about $1,500 damage to the kitchen. Insurance investigators estimated the blast damage to the restaurant at $25,000; $198,000 in today’s dollars.
