Great Molasses Flood Of 1919

Although molasses is often thought of as simply a sweet, harmless substance, the dangers of it were clearly shown during the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. It caused mass destruction to the North End of Boston, and it is still widely remembered by residents of Boston to this day.

The Great Molasses Flood was an event that occurred in the North End of Boston on January 15th, 1919. On this day, a large tank exploded, flooding the area with sticky, viscous molasses. At approximately 12:40pm, residents of the city could hear groaning sounds in the direction of the tank, soon after, a giant wave of molasses gushed throughout the city. The wave of molasses was an astounding 5-12 meters high, 49 meters wide and traveled at a whopping 56 km per hour.

As this photo shows, the area was absolutely demolished and covered head to toe with molasses. Buildings were toppled, vehicles were destroyed, railroads ripped apart, and numerous horses were caught in the flood. In total, the damage to the property cost/amounted to about $100 million dollars in today’s money. Moreover, 21 people died, while 150 others were injured in the flood. This quote from the Boston Post reported “Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there, struggled a form — whether it was an animal or a human being — was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where life was. Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings — men and women — suffered likewise.” Rescuers were sent soon after they were notified about the flood. Police officers, firefighters, members of the U.S. Army, and members of the Red Cross all came to search for victims lost in the flood. But their rescue efforts were slow because the hardening molasses made it difficult to walk around. Clean-up efforts lasted for weeks, and it took days to search for

Factors such as design errors, and temperature changes caused the tank to explode, and led to the molasses flood. The main factor contributing to the tank’s explosion was the tank’s rushed design. The Purity Distilling Company, who was owned by the U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company (USIA), designed the tank to ferment molasses for industrial alcohol production. But the tank ended up being built inaccurately and cheaply, with many underlying flaws. For instance, the metal walls of the tank were too thin and brittle. The tank was not tested properly before molasses shipments came in. This resulted in a faulty tank that leaked molasses through the walls long before it burst. Children were often seen gathering cups of molasses from the leaking tank, a clear sign the structure was failing. Although the tank's design was a big factor in the flood, the unusually high temperature was another factor contributing to the tank’s explosion. On January 15th, 1919, the temperature rose to 4C, which was unusual in January. A new shipment of warm molasses was added to the tank, and there was a significant temperature difference between the warm molasses and the cold molasses already present. The metal used for the tank was cheap and brittle, so it couldn’t withstand extreme temperature changes, causing it to rupture. It didn’t help that after the new shipment came in, the tank was almost at its maximum capacity, holding