This is a headline that caught our attention. We were reading through old editions of The Washington Post and found this one printed on August 7th, 1927.

Baltimore, Md., Aug. 6 (A.P.).–Explosion of what the police believe was a dynamite bomb today partly wrecked the rear of the home of Mayor William F. Broening. The explosion splintered the porch, cracked the wall and set the house afire.

The mayor’s wife and two children, startled by the blast, escaped uninjured to the front lawn. The mayor was en route to St. Louis and Fort Worth, Tex.

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An opinion was evinced by a fireman that the blast was probably caused by accumulated gases in the cellar ignited by a spark from an electric refrigerating plant.

George G. Henry, acting police commissioner, tonight declared he believed the wreckage was cause by a bomb. He declined to attribute the outrage to Sacco-Vanzetti sympathizers. Fire department officials assumed a similar theory.

Investigators claimed the large hole found at the home could not have been caused by a gas explosion. The debris was being searched for particles of a bomb. So far a twisted piece of aluminum and a bit of brass spring, thought to be from a bomb, were found.

Baltimore was placed on a war basis for protection soon after the explosion. The attics of the City Hall and the new War Memorial Building were searched for possible bombs and guards placed outside, questioning those who entered.

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…

The blast occurred at 6 a. m. Police believed the bomb was placed at 2 a. m. and timed to explode. Running to the hall, the Broenings saw smoke pouring from the rear. They ran down to the lawn. Firemen extinguished the blaze quickly.

Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian anarchists who were convicted of murdering a guard during an armed robbery in Massachusetts in 1920.

Here’s the only image we could find of the destroyed home. We dug it up on Ebay.