The Great Molasses Flood of 1919: A Horror Story

Boston – January 15, 1919

After several days of typical frigid weather, Bostonians awake to an unseasonably warm day, reaching a high of 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The good people of Boston make their way to work and school basking in the break in the weather.

Those living and working in Boston’s North End neighborhood pass by the same large tank they have for four years.

The Tank

The tank measures 50 feet in height and 90 feet in diameter. It was built quickly in 1915 to hold molasses. Demand for the sticky-sweet syrup sky rocketed with the onset of World War I as it can be turned into ethanol. The steel tank is designed to hold over two million gallons of molasses and is owned by US Industrial Alcohol. The company had just received a shipment from Puerto Rico filling the tank for only the fourth time in its existence.

The tank moans and groans. This is not unusual. In fact, it just blends in with the sounds of the city which the locals like Peter Shaughnessey, Maria Distasio, and George Layhe are accustomed.

Peter Shaughnessey

Peter Shaughnessey, an 18-year-old teamster, is on his first day of employment with Johnson and Co truckers. As a teamster, Peter is responsible for hauling heavy loads via a horse-drawn wagon. He is preparing for a long day. Peter will likely be working anywhere from 12 to 18 hours today for meager pay.

After attending Bigelow School, Peter worked as a chauffeur before his employment with Johnson and Co. The unmarried young man is making his way through life with dreams of bigger things and possibly a family as the noon hour approaches.

Maria Distasio

Ten-year-old Maria Distasio doesn’t have to worry about working 18 hour days quite yet. The reality is Maria may not have the opportunity to work at all in the traditional sense. With the US entering World War I, there was a great need for women to fill positions left vacated by the men serving overseas. With the war now over, pressure is mounting for women to leave the workforce to make way for the returning soldiers.

Maria isn’t worrying about those things now though. Her and her brother, Antonio, are attending school where they learn to read, write, and spell. There are also chores to do. One of those chores is to collect firewood, which they do on their school lunch break.

George Layhe

The 38-year-old George Layhe is hoping Maria and Antonio are prudent with their use of the firewood. George is assigned to Engine 31 with the Boston Fire Department. He has an outstanding record with the department. George has a wife and three children.

As the noon hour approaches, George is about to lay down in bed for some shut eye. With the nature of his job, George may be called into action at any time and must sleep when time allows.

Unfortunately, for George as well as Maria and Peter, a force is about to be unleashed that will result in tragedy.

The Disaster

It is around noon and the molasses tank groans again. However, this is not a normal groan. Without any further warning, the tanks bursts open. The notoriously slow, thick liquid pours out like a Tsunami wave reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour and an estimated 15 to 50 feet in height. The dense substance is made quicker by the unseasonably warm weather. The molasses sweeps through the streets and empties into the water. As fast as it happened, it is over.

The torrent leaves buildings demolished such as the firehouse where George Layhe lay to sleep. His fellow firemen chop at the debris for four hours before ultimately finding his lifeless body at the foot of the station’s sliding pole.

Those out in the open are just as vulnerable. Maria and Antonio Distasio had split up to get their firewood. Antonio went in the opposite direction of the molasses tank while Maria went straight towards it. Workers find her bruised body directly underneath the tank’s wreckage and is silently born across North End Park. Antonio is hospitalized for injuries sustained after being thrown down by molasses that went up to his knees.

No one finds Peter Shaughnessey’s body. However, his horse is found dead along with the wreckage of his wagon. He is presumed to be a victim of the molasses flood.

The Aftermath

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 will claim twenty-one lives and result in approximately 150 more injured. The flood destroys six buildings as well as a support for the nearby rail line. The cleanup takes months made all the more difficult by the molasses thickening with the return of cooler temperatures. The smell of molasses lingers for decades, a reminder to the survivors of the tragic event.

Analysis later finds the main cause of the disaster is a faulty design in the steel tank. Experts say it was not just a sign of the times. The engineers should’ve known better. It was the result of a rushed product to meet demand.

Count me among the many who couldn’t help but chuckle when they read the headline “Great Molasses Flood.” Civil Engineer Mark Rossow puts it best: “First you kind of laugh at it, then you read about it, and it was just horrible.”

You can visit the site of the disaster today. A small plaque in front of some baseball fields at Langone Park on Commercial Street marks it.