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On September 15, 1896; Crush, Texas (a town created only a few weeks before) would become the second largest town in all of Texas. One week later, it would not exist. The man responsible was William Crush, a Texas railway agent, who took advantage of the lack of entertainment in Texas and came up with a new marketing scheme that would bring tens of thousands of Americans to rural Texas. It was to be a spectacular 19th Century publicity stunt with a carefree carnival atmosphere. Little did he know how explosive the event would be. It ended in explosions, flying metal and death.