Florence, South Carolina - Fragments of Atomic Bomb dropped on Mars Bluff

The fragments [from the atomic bomb accidentally dropped on Mars Bluff] are now displayed in the Florence Museum in the City of Florence. There are several fragments and newspaper articles for viewing. [Lloyd Mitchell, 09/10/2007]

The old Florence Air and Space Museum, which had the display on the Mars Bluff accidental atomic bombing incident is no more. It was leveled to make way for an airport expansion about five years ago. Recently a member of the family that owned the Mars Bluff property had some fragments from the bomb's casing for sale on EBay, but the offer was pulled w/o explanation before anybody could buy them. [Mike Kozlowski, 07/10/2005]

The Florence Air and Missile Museum closed two years ago so that the airport could expand. The museum was offered a new site for the aircraft, but could not afford the cost of moving them. Many of the smaller aircraft have been donated to other museums (most notably one in Charlotte, NC), but some are being scrapped in place. [Jodie Peeler, 10/25/1999]

There is a small aircraft museum in Florence near the airport. It has various airplanes and helicopters, and other things such as a NASA mission control computer, Saturn V rocket engine (!), and a news item stating that the Air Force once dropped an Atomic Bomb on Florence ! [Patrick Harvey, 10/26/1998]

[RA: The hydrogen bomb was dropped in March, 1958 on Mars Bluff, accidentally, by an Air Force B-47. The nonnuclear material exploded, leveling a farmhouse and leaving a crater -- now a swamp pond.]