Simply Fearless: The Hoosac Tunnel Investigation

The Hoosac Tunnel goes all the way back to 1819 when it was originally proposed as a portion of a canal system running from Boston to Albany.

The Central Shaft was a death trap. Many people met their unfortunate demise there. This was also the site of the worst tragedy in the tunnels construction. On October 17, 1867 a gasometer which was an abandoned form of lighting held in the hoist house basement leaked naptha fumes which shortly thereafter contacted a candle and exploded sending newly sharpened tools as well as the hoist house down the 583 foot deep shaft. All 13 of the workers in the shaft died from either the debris of asphyxiation. Two hours after the explosion one miner was lowered down by rope. He was pulled up gasping and said “No hope”. As the shaft filled with water some bodies surfaced. Others would not be recovered until October 18, 1868. All work had ceased at the Central Shaft for an entire year. The Tunnel certainly earned the nickname “the bloody pit” after this incident.