Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/209310
F ront Runners The aftermath of the molasses flood of 1919, which decimated the North End Paving Yard. Tragic Tide THE MOLASSES FLOOD OF 1919 WREAKED GOOEY HAVOC IN THE NORTH END— AND CHANGED ENGINEERING SAFETY STANDARDS FOREVER. BY MATT STEWART 16 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY J anuary 15, 1919, was an unseasonably warm day in Boston. But even warmer were the 2 million-plus gallons of crude molasses bubbling in a 50-foot-high tank nearby as North End residents and workers enjoyed a sundrenched lunch hour. With no warning, at 12:40 PM the tank ruptured with a loud rumble, flinging into the air fragments of its iron body that rained down on the neighborhood, crushing people and buildings. A 25-foot-high wave of molasses poured through the streets of the waterfront neighborhood at nearly 35 miles per hour, swallowing people trying to outrun the sticky torrent. The deluge obliterated the North End Paving Yard and toppled Engine 31's firehouse, sending it skittering toward the harbor. Twenty-one people were killed and more than 150 injured, as well as dozens of horses. Many who survived the initial flood could not pull themselves out of the molasses and subsequently perished. The public was outraged. Lawsuits lasted for more than three years with some 100 damage claims and 1,000 witnesses, including several "expert witnesses" who testified that the tank had been sabotaged. In the end, the United States Industrial Alcohol Company, which made the tank, was found negligent due to construction flaws. The tank's steel walls were 10 percent thinner than what had been filed in plans with the building department. The shoddy construction coupled with a carbon monoxide buildup caused the catastrophe. From then on, Boston's Building Department required all architects and engineers to file their plans with certified approval and signatures. Those strict engineering laws soon became the gold standard nationwide. Runaway molasses has never terrorized the streets of Boston, or anywhere beyond, since then. BC BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 016_BC_FOB_FR__molasses-Holiday_13.indd 16 11/1/13 11:01 AM