The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, was a disaster that occurred on January 15, 1919, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
A large storage tank filled with 2.3 million U.S. gallons (8,700 cubic meters) of molasses, weighing approximately 13,000 short tons (12,000 metric tons), burst, and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour), killing 21 people and injuring 150. The event entered local folklore and residents claimed for decades afterwards that the area still smelled of molasses on hot summer days.
Flood
Molasses can be fermented to produce ethanol, the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages and a key component in munitions.: 11 The disaster occurred at the Purity Distilling Company facility at 529 Commercial Street near Keany Square. A considerable amount of molasses had been stored there by the company, which used the harborside Commercial...
Kit Rhett Aultman
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