Great Molasses Flood facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Great Molasses Flood

The wreckage of the collapsed tank is visible in the background, center, next to the light-colored warehouse
Date	January 15, 1919; 107 years ago (1919-01-15)
Time	Approximately 12:30 pm
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Cause	Cylinder stress failure
Deaths	21
Non-fatal injuries	150 injured

The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, was a very unusual and tragic event. It happened on Wednesday, January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

A giant storage tank, holding millions of gallons of thick, sticky molasses, suddenly burst. This huge amount of molasses weighed about 12,000 tons. A powerful wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour. This disaster sadly killed 21 people and injured 150 others. For many years, people in the area said they could still smell molasses on hot summer days.

The Great Molasses Flood

Coverage from The Boston Post

Molasses was used in factories to make important products. The disaster happened at the Purity Distilling Company. This company stored a lot of molasses in a large tank near the harbor. They would unload molasses from ships into this tank. Then, it was sent through pipelines to their factory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The molasses tank was 50 feet tall and 90 feet wide. It held about 2.3 million gallons of molasses.

Modern downtown Boston with molasses flood area circled

On January 15, 1919, the weather in Boston became much warmer. Temperatures rose quickly after several very cold days. The day before, a ship had delivered fresh molasses. This new molasses was warmed to make it thinner for transfer. Around 12:30 p.m., the tank burst open and collapsed. This might have been due to the warmer molasses expanding inside the tank.

Witnesses said they felt the ground shake. They heard a loud roar, like a train passing by. Others described a huge crash or a deep growling sound. Some even heard a noise like a machine gun as the metal rivets shot out of the tank.

Molasses is much heavier and thicker than water. This meant the huge amount of molasses had a lot of stored energy. When the tank collapsed, this energy turned into a powerful wave. The wave of molasses was 25 feet high at its peak. It moved at 35 miles per hour. This wave was strong enough to bend steel parts of a nearby elevated train track. It even tipped a streetcar off its rails for a moment.

Buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were covered in molasses, about 2 to 3 feet deep. A newspaper reported that the street was covered in waist-deep molasses. It swirled around the wreckage. People and animals struggled in the sticky mass. Horses died quickly, trapped like flies on fly-paper. People also suffered greatly.

Molasses is a special kind of liquid. It can become thinner and flow faster when it's under pressure or warm. This is why the molasses moved so quickly at first. A study in Scientific American explained that a molasses wave is different from a water wave. It's even more damaging than a typical tsunami. The dense wall of syrup moved fast enough to sweep people away and destroy buildings. Then, it became thick and sticky, trapping people.

The Boston Globe reported that people were thrown many feet by the rush of air. Others had debris thrown at them. A truck was picked up and thrown into Boston Harbor. After the first wave, the molasses became very thick. The cold winter air made it even stickier. This trapped those caught in the wave. It made rescuing them much harder. About 150 people were injured. Sadly, 21 people and several horses were killed. Many survivors suffered from coughing fits.

Anthony di Stasio, a child walking home from school, was picked up by the wave. He was carried along its top, almost like surfing. Then he landed, and the molasses rolled him like a small stone. He heard his mother call his name but couldn't answer. His throat was full of the thick goo. He passed out. When he woke up, three of his sisters were looking at him.

What Happened After the Flood?

Damage to the Boston Elevated Railway caused by the burst tank and resulting flood

The first rescuers to arrive were 116 cadets from a training ship nearby. They ran to the accident site. They waded into the knee-deep molasses to pull out survivors. Other cadets helped keep curious onlookers away. Soon, the Boston Police, the Red Cross, and Army and Navy personnel arrived. Some Red Cross nurses dove into the molasses to help. Others cared for the injured. They kept them warm and fed the exhausted workers. Many people worked through the night. There were so many injured that doctors set up a temporary hospital in a nearby building.

Rescuers found it very hard to move through the thick syrup. They searched for four days before stopping. Many of the dead were so covered in molasses that they were hard to recognize. Some victims were swept into Boston Harbor. They were found three to four months later.

Many people who were affected sued the company that owned the tank. This lawsuit helped create new rules for how companies should build and operate safely. The company claimed that anarchists had blown up the tank. They said this was because some of the molasses was used to make things for defense. However, after three years of hearings, the company was found responsible. They paid out $628,000 in damages. This amount would be worth much more today. Families of those killed reportedly received about $7,000 per victim.

Cleaning Up the Sticky Mess

Cleanup crews used salt water from a fireboat to wash away the molasses. They also used sand to soak it up. The harbor stayed brown with molasses until summer. Cleaning up the immediate area took weeks. Hundreds of people worked on the effort. It took even longer to clean the rest of Boston and its suburbs. Rescue workers, cleanup crews, and even sight-seers tracked molasses everywhere. It spread to subway platforms, train seats, telephones, and into homes. People said that "Everything that a Bostonian touched was sticky."

Remembering Those Lost

Detail of molasses flood area:

1. Purity Distilling molasses tank
2. Firehouse 31 (heavy damage)
3. Paving department and police station
4. Purity offices (flattened)
5. Copps Hill Terrace
6. Boston Gas Light building (damaged)
7. Purity warehouse (mostly intact)
8. Residential area (site of flattened Clougherty house)

Why Did the Molasses Tank Burst?

The molasses tank prior to its 1919 rupture—exact date unknown

Several things might have caused the disaster. The tank may have leaked from the very first day it was filled in 1915. It was also built poorly and not tested enough. Gas from fermentation inside the tank might have built up pressure. The warmer weather the day before would have increased this pressure. The tank broke from a manhole cover near its base. A small crack there might have grown larger over time.

The tank had only been filled completely eight times since it was built. This put stress on its walls in cycles. Some believe the company was rushing to fill the tank. New laws about making certain products were coming soon. An investigation after the disaster showed that Arthur Jell, a company manager, ignored basic safety tests. He didn't fill the tank with enough water to check for leaks. He also ignored warning signs, like groaning noises, each time the tank was filled. He was not an architect or an engineer. When filled with molasses, the tank leaked so badly that it was painted brown to hide the leaks. Local residents even collected the leaked molasses for their homes.

A 2014 study used modern engineering to look at the tank. It found that the steel was only half as thick as it should have been. This was true even for the standards of that time. Also, the steel lacked manganese, which made it more brittle. The tank's rivets were also faulty. Cracks first formed around these rivet holes.

In 2016, scientists and students at Harvard University studied the disaster. They looked at old newspaper articles, maps, and weather reports from 1919. They also studied how cold corn syrup flowed in a small model of the neighborhood. The researchers confirmed that the reports of the flood's high speed were true.

Two days before the disaster, warmer molasses was added to the tank. This made the liquid thinner. When the tank collapsed, the molasses cooled quickly as it spread. It reached Boston's cold winter temperatures. This made the molasses much thicker. The Harvard study concluded that the molasses cooled and thickened fast. This hampered efforts to free victims before they suffocated.

The Area Today: A Park and a Memorial

Molasses Flood historical marker

The company did not rebuild the tank. The land where the tank stood is now a city park. It is called Langone Park. It has a Little League Baseball field, a playground, and bocce courts. Next to it is Puopolo Park, with more recreational facilities.

A small plaque at the entrance to Puopolo Park remembers the disaster. It says: "On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank at 529 Commercial Street exploded under pressure, killing 21 people. A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood. Structural defects in the tank combined with unseasonably warm temperatures contributed to the disaster."

The accident has become a famous local story. Not just for the damage, but also for the sweet smell. This smell filled the North End for decades after the disaster. A journalist wrote that the smell of molasses was a unique part of Boston for many years.

On January 15, 2019, a ceremony was held for the 100th anniversary. Ground-penetrating radar helped find the exact spot of the tank. The concrete base of the tank is still there. It is about 20 inches below the baseball field at Langone Park. People at the ceremony stood in a circle marking the tank's edge. The names of the 21 people who died were read aloud.

Many laws and rules for construction changed because of this disaster. These new rules require oversight by a licensed architect and civil engineer.

See also

In Spanish: Gran inundación de melaza de Boston para niños

• List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll
• List of non-water floods
• Honolulu molasses spill