BOSTON — It’s been referred to as the Great Molasses Flood, the day a tank filled with more than 2 million gallons of molasses burst, and swept through Boston’s city streets swallowing everything in its path. The exact reason for what caused the tank to blow has yet to be known, but cheap materials, faulty maintenance and weather conditions largely factored into the extent of the damage done.
Reports indicate that on Jan. 15, 1919, the weather in Boston was a cool 41 degrees Fahrenheit, an unseasonably warm temperature for that time of year. The open hearth steel iron tank, stationed over at the city’s North End neighborhood, stood 50 feet tall and measured 90 feet in diameter.
The tank had been filled 29 times before and had received 2.3 million gallons of molasses from Puerto Rico two day prior. Apparently, basic safety procedures weren’t adhered to. Having leaked many times in the past, the tank was painted brown to hide the leaks. A steep price for the neglect was paid when, on that fateful afternoon, rivets burst along the side of tank. Locals said it sounded like a machine gun firing. Suddenly, the top of the tank blew off, and its circular iron walls ripped apart, pulled in opposite directions. Twenty-six million pounds of warm molasses were unleashed upon the city, moving at a speed of roughly 35 miles per hour.
Some reports at the time indicated a 40-foot wave of syrup oozed through the city, crushing buildings and overturning vehicles. The molasses was so powerful, it knocked an elevated rail off its tracks and hurled a truck into the Boston Harbor.
Horses, dogs and humans were swept up and scattered through the city. The molasses waist-deep, their attempts to struggle and escape the sticky goo only proved to worsen their plight. The warmer temperature is believed to have caused the molasses to cool faster than it would have in the summer, impeding rescue efforts.
The disaster claimed the lives of 21 people and left 150 badly injured. Nearly a century later, the exact cause of the tank’s failures remain unknown, but fermentation, hasty construction and thin, brittle steel walls have been suspected as reasons for its undoing.
Reports indicate that on Jan. 15, 1919, the weather in Boston was a cool 41 degrees Fahrenheit, an unseasonably warm temperature for that time of year. The open hearth steel iron tank, stationed over at the city’s North End neighborhood, stood 50 feet tall and measured 90 feet in diameter.
The tank had been filled 29 times before and had received 2.3 million gallons of molasses from Puerto Rico two day prior. Apparently, basic safety procedures weren’t adhered to. Having leaked many times in the past, the tank was painted brown to hide the leaks. A steep price for the neglect was paid when, on that fateful afternoon, rivets burst along the side of tank. Locals said it sounded like a machine gun firing. Suddenly, the top of the tank blew off, and its circular iron walls ripped apart, pulled in opposite directions. Twenty-six million pounds of warm molasses were unleashed upon the city, moving at a speed of roughly 35 miles per hour.
Some reports at the time indicated a 40-foot wave of syrup oozed through the city, crushing buildings and overturning vehicles. The molasses was so powerful, it knocked an elevated rail off its tracks and hurled a truck into the Boston Harbor.
Horses, dogs and humans were swept up and scattered through the city. The molasses waist-deep, their attempts to struggle and escape the sticky goo only proved to worsen their plight. The warmer temperature is believed to have caused the molasses to cool faster than it would have in the summer, impeding rescue efforts.
The disaster claimed the lives of 21 people and left 150 badly injured. Nearly a century later, the exact cause of the tank’s failures remain unknown, but fermentation, hasty construction and thin, brittle steel walls have been suspected as reasons for its undoing.
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