Why Massachusetts’ Hoosac Tunnel is called “The Portal to Hell” by locals

The Bloody Pit’s 195 Deaths at Hoosac Tunnel

They called it the “Bloody Pit” for good reason. When work on the Hoosac Tunnel began in 1851, no one knew it would claim 195 lives.

Irish and Cornish immigrants dug through rock day and night, using hand tools and black powder at first. Then came the worst day – October 17, 1867.

A candle lit naphtha fumes, causing an explosion that killed 13 miners trapped 583 feet below. New tools sped up work but brought new risks.

After 24 years of blasting through two million tons of rock, the first train finally rolled through in 1875. The Central Shaft Memorial still stands as a stark reminder of what this mountain passage cost.

Workers Dug America’s Deadliest Tunnel Through a Mountain

Work on the 4. 75-mile Hoosac Tunnel began in 1851 from both ends: the east portal in Florida and west portal in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Crews worked non-stop, with 750 men rotating through three eight-hour shifts.

Workers used simple hand tools and black powder at first, drilling holes with the risky “double jacking” method where one man held a drill bit while another swung a sledgehammer.

Most of the 800 to 900 workers came from Cornwall, while others traveled from Ireland, Germany, Denmark, and French Canada.

Irish Laborers Became the First Casualties

John Shean, a 30-year-old Irish worker, became one of the first to die when a rock fell on him in the tunnel on November 18, 1858.

Another Irish worker, Pat McArty, age 23, died in an accident on August 23, 1857. Early deaths came from falling rocks, loose gravel, and the many dangers of working in unpredictable rock.

Workers built small communities near each tunnel entrance, creating East Camp and West Camp with simple huts, small schools, and churches.

Three Men Tested Nitroglycerin with Deadly Results

On March 20, 1865, three explosives experts tried using nitroglycerin for blasting. After setting the charge, they ran toward a safety bunker, but two men never made it.

The third man, Ringo Kelley, set off the charge before his colleagues reached safety, killing them instantly. Shortly after this, Kelley vanished.

Two months later, workers found his body strangled at almost the exact spot where the other two men died.

Police never caught anyone, but rumors spread that angry spirits had killed Kelley.

Tunnel Workers Burned Buildings in Protest

In 1865, workers reached their breaking point and went on strike.

They burned several buildings to protest the dangerous conditions that killed their friends daily. The year 1866 turned especially deadly, with fourteen men dying or getting badly hurt while working on the tunnel.

Things got worse when the project started using compressed air drills in 1865 and nitroglycerin blasting, which sped up progress but made the work even more dangerous.

The tunnel got its nickname “The Bloody Pit” during this time.

Thirteen Men Got Trapped 583 Feet Below Ground

The worst disaster happened on October 17, 1867.

Workers were digging the tunnel’s 1,028-foot vertical exhaust shaft when a candle in the hoist building lit naphtha fumes from a gasometer.

The explosion destroyed the hoist used to lower men and supplies, sending burning debris down on 13 men working at the bottom of the 583-foot-deep unfinished chimney.

Most trapped miners were Irish immigrants. With the pumps destroyed, water began flooding the shaft, and rescue teams couldn’t reach the men because of toxic fumes.

Rescuers Spent a Year Trying to Reach the Trapped Men

With no working pumps for air or water, the shaft filled with water quickly. It took a full year before anyone could get to the bottom of the shaft.

Rescue teams tried several times to reach the trapped miners but thought nobody could live through the toxic conditions below.

During this time, people in nearby villages told stories about seeing strange shapes and hearing wails near the pit at night.

Some workmen claimed they saw ghostly figures of the lost miners carrying picks and shovels through the mist.

Men Built Rafts Before Suffocating in the Darkness

When rescuers finally reached the bottom of the shaft a year later, they found something heartbreaking.

The victims had lived through the first explosion and built simple rafts to stay above the rising water before dying from toxic fumes.

These handmade rafts showed that some men lived for hours or possibly days in the darkness as water rose around them.

After finding all 13 bodies and giving them proper burials, workers said the ghostly sightings stopped.

New Technology Killed Workers Faster Than Ever

The arrival of the Burleigh compressed-air drill in 1865 and the switch to nitroglycerin blasting sped up tunnel progress but also made the work more deadly.

Workers used more than half a million pounds of nitroglycerin during construction. George M.Mowbry came to the Hoosac Tunnel in 1867 and started making nitroglycerin.

Despite following safety steps, workers kept dying from explosions. One blast in 1873 killed five men at once.

Even Children Lost Their Lives to the Tunnel

On September 20, 1874, fourteen-year-old Orrin Wilson, son of a tunnel worker, died after an elevator crushed his head.

By this point, nearly 200 lives had been lost during the two decades of construction. The tunnel project removed one million tons of rock.

Workers died in countless ways: explosions tore bodies apart, falling rocks crushed men instantly, and accidents with ladders or scaffolding sent workers falling to their deaths.

Thanksgiving Day Marked the Final Breakthrough

On Thanksgiving Day 1874, workers removed the last 16 feet of rock beneath North Adams, finally connecting the two sides of the tunnel.

Bernard N.Farren took over as chief engineer on November 19, 1874, finishing the final work including strengthening weak sections.

The massive project needed 2 million tons of rock removed and cost $21 million, a huge amount for the time. Even in these final phases, deaths continued as workers still fell victim to explosions and accidents.

The Price of Progress: 195 Lives for 4.75 Miles of Track

The first train passed through the completed Hoosac Tunnel on February 9, 1875, after 24 years of construction.

The final count showed that accidents during construction killed or seriously injured 195 workers, with 135 deaths officially verified.

Most of those who died were Irish or Cornish miners who came to western Massachusetts looking for jobs to support their families.

When completed, the 4.75-mile tunnel ranked as the second-longest in the world and remained the longest in North America until 1916.

Visiting Hoosac Tunnel, Massachusetts

You can reach the Hoosac Tunnel’s east portal by taking River Road northwest from the Whitcomb Hill Road intersection in Florida.

The west portal requires a third-mile walk through woods from Church Street near West Shaft Road in North Adams. Visit the Central Shaft Memorial on Central Shaft Road across from the ventilation fans.

Active freight trains still use the tunnel at reduced speeds, so stay off the tracks since you might not hear approaching trains around the curves.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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