View source for Great Molasses Flood

{{Short description|1919 accident in Massachusetts, United States}}
{{Pp-pc1}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox event
| title             = Great Molasses Flood
| image             = BostonMolassesDisaster.jpg
| caption           = The wreckage of the collapsed tank is visible in the background, center, next to the light-colored warehouse
| date              = {{start date and age|1919|01|15}}
| time              = Approximately 12:30 pm
| place             = [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| coordinates       = {{coord|42|22|06.6|N|71|03|21.2|W|type:event_scale:20000_region:US-MA|display=inline,title}}
| cause             = [[Cylinder stress]] failure
| reported deaths   =  21
| reported injuries = 150 injured
}}

The '''Great Molasses Flood''', also known as the '''Boston Molasses Disaster''',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/86176.aspx |title=The Boston Molasses Disaster: Causes of the Molasses Tank Explosion |last=Hinrichsen |first=Erik |date=8 September 2010 |website=Bright Hub |language=en |access-date=March 5, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://beaconhilltimes.com/2018/04/06/molasses-disaster-featured-at-evening-at-74/ |title='Molasses Disaster' Featured at Evening at 74 |website=Beacon Hill Times |access-date=March 5, 2019}}</ref>{{efn|The flood has more recently been known as the "Boston Molassacre".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://americacomesalive.com/the-boston-molassacre/ |title=The 'Boston Molassacre' |last=Kelly |first=Kate |website=America Comes Alive |date=January 8, 2012 |language=en |access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref>}} was a [[disaster]] that occurred on Wednesday, January 15, 1919, in the [[North End, Boston|North End]] neighborhood of [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]].

A large storage tank filled with {{convert|2.3|e6usgal|m3|abbr=off|sp=us}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2182032/great-molasses-flood-us-marks-100-years-deadly-wave |title=Great Molasses Flood: US marks 100 years since deadly wave of treacle trashed part of Boston |date=January 14, 2019 |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |access-date=March 18, 2019 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> of [[molasses]], weighing approximately{{efn|With a [[density]] of {{cvt|1.4|kg/L}}, {{cvt|8,700|m3}} of molasses weighs {{convert|12180|t}}.}} {{convert|12000|t|ST|order=flip|abbr=off|sp=us}} burst, and the resultant wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated {{convert|35|mph|kph|abbr=off|sp=us}}, killing 21 and injuring 150 people.<ref name="Sohn">{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.com/news/great-molasses-flood-science |title=Why the Great Molasses Flood Was So Deadly |last=Sohn |first=Emily |date=January 15, 2019 |department=[[The History Channel]] |publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]] |language=en |access-date=January 16, 2019}}</ref> The event entered local [[folklore]] and residents reported for decades afterwards that the area still smelled of [[molasses]] on hot summer days.<ref name="Sohn" /><ref name=Smithsonian />

== Flood ==

[[File:Boston post-January 16, 1919,.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=The front page of an old newspaper. The headline reads, "HUGE MOLASSES TANK EXPLODES IN NORTH END; 11 DEAD, 50 HURT".|Coverage from ''The Boston Post'']]

Molasses can be fermented to produce [[ethanol]], the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages and a key component in munitions.<ref name="DarkTide" />{{rp|11}} The disaster occurred at the [[Purity Distilling Company]] facility at 529{{nbs}}Commercial Street near Keany Square. A considerable amount of molasses had been stored there by the company, which used the harborside Commercial Street tank to offload molasses from ships and store it for later transfer by pipeline to the Purity ethanol plant situated between Willow Street and Evereteze Way in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. The molasses tank stood {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} tall and {{cvt|90|ft|m}} in diameter, and contained as much as {{convert|2.3|e6USgal|m3|abbr=unit}}.

[[File:Boston molasses area map.png|thumb|alt=A scanned color map. The area around North End Beach and Charlestown Bridge is circled in red.|Modern downtown Boston with molasses flood area circled]]

On January 15, 1919, temperatures in Boston had risen above {{convert|40|F|C|abbr=off|sp=us}}, climbing rapidly from the frigid temperatures of the preceding days,<ref name=DarkTide />{{rp|91, 95}} and the previous day, a ship had delivered a fresh load of molasses, which had been warmed to decrease its [[viscosity]] for transfer.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2019/01/15/1919-molasses-flood |title=100 Years Later: Lessons From Boston's Molasses Flood Of 1919 |website=www.wbur.org|date=January 15, 2019 }}</ref> Possibly due to the [[thermal]] expansion of the older, colder molasses already inside the tank, the tank burst open and collapsed at approximately 12:30{{nbs}}p.m. Witnesses reported that they felt the ground shake and heard a roar as it collapsed, a long rumble similar to the passing of [[Atlantic Avenue Elevated|an elevated train]]; others reported a tremendous crashing, a deep growling, "a thunderclap-like {{em|bang!}}", and a sound like a machine gun as the [[rivet]]s shot out of the tank.<ref name=DarkTide />{{rp|92–95}}

The density of molasses is about {{convert|1.4|t/m3|lb/USgal|abbr=off|sp=us}}, 40 percent more dense than water, resulting in the molasses having a great deal of [[potential energy]].<ref name="nbc 100" /> The collapse translated this energy into a wave of molasses {{cvt|25|ft|m|0}} high at its peak,<ref name="SciAmJabr" /> moving at {{cvt|35|mph|kph}}.<ref name="Sohn" /><ref name="Smithsonian" /> The wave was of sufficient force to drive steel panels of the burst tank against the girders of the adjacent Boston Elevated Railway's [[Atlantic Avenue Elevated|Atlantic Avenue]] structure<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://edp.org/molpark.htm |title=Without Warning, Molasses in January Surged Over Boston |last=Park |first=Edwards |date=December 19, 2018 |website=edp.org |access-date=March 24, 2019 |quote=[I]magine an estimated 14,000 tons of the thick, sticky fluid running wild. It left the ruptured tank in a choking brown wave, 15 feet high, wiping out everything that stood in its way. One steel section of the tank was hurled across Commercial Street, neatly knocking out one of the uprights supporting the El.}}</ref> and tip a streetcar momentarily off the El's tracks. Stephen Puleo describes how nearby buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of {{cvt|2|to|3|ft|cm|sigfig=1|abbr=off|sp=us}}. Puleo quotes a ''Boston Post'' report:

{{quote|quote=Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage{{nbsp}}[...] Here and there struggled a form—whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was{{nbsp}}[...] 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.<ref name=DarkTide />{{rp|98}}}}

As molasses is a [[non-Newtonian fluid]], its viscosity changes under stress, thinning and flowing quickly under pressure and heat. During the flood, this [[Shear thinning|shear-thinning]] resulted in unexpected speed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jabr |first=Ferris |date=2013-08-01 |title=The Science of the Great Molasses Flood |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/ |access-date=2025-08-07 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref> A 2013 article in ''[[Scientific American]]'' stated: <blockquote>"A wave of molasses does not behave like a wave of water. [...] A wave of molasses is even more devastating than a typical tsunami. In 1919 the dense wall of syrup surging from its collapsed tank initially moved fast enough to sweep people up and demolish buildings, only to settle into a more gelatinous state that kept people trapped."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>The ''[[The Boston Globe|Boston Globe]]'' reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet". Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into [[Boston Harbor]]. After the initial wave, the molasses became viscous, exacerbated by the cold temperatures, trapping those caught in the wave and making it even more difficult to rescue them.<ref name="nbc 100" /> About 150 people were injured, and 21 people and several horses were killed. Some were crushed and drowned by the molasses or by the debris that it carried within.<ref name="Buell">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2019/01/12/great-boston-molasses-flood-things-you-didnt-know/ |title=Anarchists, Horses, Heroes: 12 Things You Didn't Know about the Great Boston Molasses Flood |last=Buell |first=Spencer |date=January 12, 2019 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US |access-date=January 14, 2019}}</ref> The wounded included people, horses, and dogs; coughing fits became one of the most common ailments after the initial blast. Edwards Park wrote of one child's experience in a 1983 article for ''Smithsonian'':

{{quote|quote=Anthony di Stasio, walking homeward with his sisters from the Michelangelo School, was picked up by the wave and carried, tumbling on its crest, almost as though he were surfing. Then he grounded and the molasses rolled him like a pebble as the wave diminished. He heard his mother call his name and couldn't answer, his throat was so clogged with the smothering goo. He passed out, then opened his eyes to find three of his four sisters staring at him.<ref name=Smithsonian />}}

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Boston 1919 molasses disaster - el train structure.jpg|thumb|Damage to the Boston Elevated Railway caused by the burst tank and resulting flood]]
First to the scene were 116 cadets under the direction of Lieutenant Commander H. J. Copeland from {{USS|Nantucket|IX-18|6}}, a training ship of the Massachusetts Nautical School (now the [[Massachusetts Maritime Academy]]) that was docked nearby at the playground pier.<ref name="NYTimes1919" /> The cadets ran several blocks toward the accident and entered into the knee-deep flood of molasses to pull out the survivors, while others worked to keep curious onlookers from getting in the way of the rescuers. The Boston Police, Red Cross, Army, and Navy personnel soon arrived. Some nurses from the Red Cross dove into the molasses, while others tended to the injured, keeping them warm and feeding the exhausted workers. Many of these people worked through the night, and the injured were so numerous that doctors and surgeons set up a makeshift hospital in a nearby building. Rescuers found it difficult to make their way through the syrup to help the victims, and four days elapsed before they stopped searching; many of the dead were so glazed over in molasses that they were hard to recognize.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> Other victims were swept into Boston Harbor and were found three to four months after the disaster.<ref name="Buell" />

In the wake of the accident, 119 residents brought a [[class-action lawsuit]] against the [[United States Industrial Alcohol Company]] (USIA),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrews |first=Evan |date=2023-05-16 |title=The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 |url=https://www.history.com/news/the-great-molasses-flood-of-1919 |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> which had bought Purity Distilling in 1917. It was one of the first class-action suits in Massachusetts and is considered a milestone in paving the way for modern corporate regulation.<ref name="Betancourt">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/13/the-great-boston-molasses-flood-why-it-matters-modern-regulation |title=The Great Boston Molasses Flood: why the strange disaster matters today |last=Betancourt |first=Sarah |date=January 13, 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=January 14, 2019 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The company claimed that the tank had been blown up by anarchists<ref name="DarkTide" />{{rp|165}} because some of the alcohol produced was to be used in making munitions, but a court-appointed auditor found USIA responsible after three years of hearings, and the company ultimately paid out $628,000 in damages<ref name="Betancourt" /> (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|628000|1919}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}, adjusted for inflation{{Inflation/fn|US}}). Relatives of those killed reportedly received around $7,000 per victim (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|7000|1919|r=-3|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="Smithsonian" />

=== Cleanup ===
Cleanup crews used salt water from a fireboat to wash away the molasses and sand to absorb it,<ref name="TheHour" /> and the harbor was brown with molasses until summer.<ref name="HistoryChannel" /> The cleanup in the immediate area took weeks,<ref name="YankeeMason" /> with several hundred people contributing to the effort,<ref name="DarkTide" />{{rp|132–134, 139}}<ref name="Betancourt" /> and it took longer to clean the rest of Greater Boston and its suburbs. Rescue workers, cleanup crews, and sight-seers had tracked molasses through the streets and spread it to subway platforms, to the seats inside trains and streetcars, to pay telephone handsets, into homes,<ref name="Smithsonian" /><ref name="DarkTide" />{{rp|139}} and to countless other places. It was reported that "Everything that a Bostonian touched was sticky."<ref name="Smithsonian" />

=== Fatalities ===
[[File:Boston molasses detail map.png|right|thumb|upright=1.3|Detail of molasses flood area:{{pb}}{{numbered list|Purity Distilling molasses tank|Firehouse 31 (heavy damage)|Paving department and police station|Purity offices (flattened)|Copps Hill Terrace|Boston Gas Light building (damaged)|Purity warehouse (mostly intact)|Residential area (site of flattened Clougherty house)}}]]

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name!!Age!!Occupation
|-
|Patrick Breen||44||Laborer (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|William Brogan||61||Teamster
|-
|Bridget Clougherty||65||Homemaker
|-
|Stephen Clougherty||34||Unemployed
|-
|John Callahan||43||Paver (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|Maria Di Stasio||10||Child
|-
|William Duffy||58||Laborer (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|Peter Francis||64||Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|Flaminio Gallerani||37||Driver
|-
|Pasquale Iantosca||10||Child
|-
|James J. Kenneally||48||Laborer (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|Eric Laird||17||Teamster
|-
|George Layhe||38||Firefighter (Engine 31)
|-
|James Lennon||64||Teamster/Motorman
|-
|Ralph Martin||21||Driver
|-
|James McMullen||46||Foreman, Bay State Express
|-
|Cesar Nicolo||32||Expressman
|-
|Thomas Noonan||43||Longshoreman
|-
|Peter Shaughnessy||18||Teamster
|-
|John M. Seiberlich||69||Blacksmith (North End Paving Yard)
|-
|Michael Sinnott||78||Messenger
|- class="sortbottom"
| colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | <ref name=DarkTide />{{rp|239}}<ref name="NYTimes1919" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dwyer |first=Dialynn |date=January 13, 2019 |title='There was no escape from the wave': These are the 21 victims of the Great Boston Molasses Flood |url=https://www.boston.com/news/history/2019/01/13/victims-great-boston-molasses-flood-1919 |work=[[Boston.com]] |access-date=2019-01-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|}

== Causes ==
[[File:North End molasses tank.jpg|thumb|right|The molasses tank prior to its 1919 explosion—exact date unknown]]

Several factors might have contributed to the disaster. The first factor is that the tank may have leaked from the very first day that it was filled in 1915.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barry |first=Quan |title=Controvertibles |date=2004-09-26 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |isbn=978-0-8229-8015-5 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt5vkg3w}}</ref><ref>Birnbaum, Amy. (2019). The Great Molasses Flood: A bizarre disaster struck one of America's biggest cities 100 years ago. Scholastic News (Explorer Ed.), 81(11), 4.</ref> The tank was also constructed poorly and tested insufficiently, and carbon dioxide production might have raised the internal pressure due to fermentation in the tank. Warmer weather the previous day would have assisted in building this pressure, as the air temperature rose from {{convert|2|to|41|F|C|sigfig=2}} over that period. The failure occurred from a manhole cover near the base of the tank, and a [[Fatigue (material)|fatigue]] crack there possibly grew to the point of criticality.

The tank had been filled to capacity only eight times since it was built a few years previously, putting the walls under an intermittent, cyclical load. Several authors say that the Purity Distilling Company was trying to out-race prohibition,<ref name="PuleoQuote79" /><ref name="YankeeStanley" /><ref name="Silverman" /> as the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States|18th amendment]] was ratified the next day (January 16, 1919) and took effect one year later.<ref name="Streissguth" /> An inquiry after the disaster revealed that Arthur Jell, USIA's treasurer, neglected basic safety tests while overseeing construction of the tank, such as filling it with water insufficient to check for leaks, and ignored warning signs such as groaning noises each time the tank was filled. He had no architectural or engineering experience.<ref name="Sohn" /><ref name="nbc 100" /> When filled with molasses, the tank leaked so badly that it was painted brown to hide the leakage. Local residents collected leaked molasses for their homes.<ref name="StraightD" /> A 2014 investigation applied modern engineering analysis and found that the steel was half as thick as it should have been for a tank of its size even with the lower standards they had at the time. Another issue was that the steel lacked [[manganese]] and was made more brittle as a result.<ref name="GlobeSchworm" /> The tank's [[rivet]]s were also apparently flawed, and cracks first formed at the rivet holes.<ref name="Sohn" />

In 2016, a team of scientists and students at [[Harvard University]] conducted extensive studies of the disaster, gathering data from many sources, including 1919 newspaper articles, old maps, and weather reports.<ref name="AP-Harv">{{Cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/history/2016/11/24/slow-as-molasses-sweet-but-deadly-1919-disaster-explained |title=Slow as molasses? Sweet but deadly 1919 disaster explained |date=November 24, 2016 |work=Boston.com |access-date=December 3, 2016 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> The student researchers also studied the behavior of cold corn syrup flooding a scale model of the affected neighborhood.<ref name="NYT-Harv">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/science/boston-molasses-flood-science.html |title=Solving a Mystery Behind the Deadly 'Tsunami of Molasses' of 1919 |last=Mccann |first=Erin |date=November 26, 2016 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref> The researchers concluded that the reports of the high speed of the flood were credible.<ref name="NYT-Harv" />

Two days before the disaster, warmer molasses had been added to the tank, reducing the viscosity of the fluid. When the tank collapsed, the fluid cooled quickly as it spread, until it reached Boston's winter evening temperatures and the viscosity increased dramatically.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=170069&CultureCode=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126004525/http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=170069&CultureCode=en |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 26, 2016 |title=Molasses Creates a Sticky Situation |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=November 25, 2016 |publisher=[[AlphaGalileo]] }}</ref> The Harvard study concluded that the molasses cooled and thickened quickly as it rushed through the streets, hampering efforts to free victims before they suffocated.<ref name="AP-Harv" /><ref name="NYT-Harv" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sharp |first1=Nicole |last2=Kennedy |first2=Jordan |last3=Rubinstein |first3=Shmuel |date=November 21, 2016 |title=Abstract: L27.00008 : In a sea of sticky molasses: The physics of the Boston Molasses Flood |url=http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD16/Session/L27.8 |journal=Bulletin of the American Physical Society |volume=61 |access-date=November 25, 2016 |number=20}}</ref>

== Area today ==
[[File:Molasses Flood Historical Marker.jpg|thumb|Molasses Flood historical marker]]
United States Industrial Alcohol did not rebuild the tank. The property formerly occupied by the molasses tank and the North End Paving Company became a yard for the Boston Elevated Railway (predecessor to the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority]]). It is now the site of a city-owned recreational complex, officially named [[Langone Park]], featuring a [[Little League Baseball]] field, a playground, and [[bocce]] courts.<ref name="Harris" /> Immediately to the east is the larger Puopolo Park, with additional recreational facilities.<ref name="BHA" />

A small plaque at the entrance to Puopolo Park, placed by the Bostonian Society, commemorates the disaster.<ref name=Ocker /> The plaque, titled "Boston Molasses Flood", reads:

{{quote|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 since become a staple of local culture, not only for the damage the flood brought, but also for the sweet smell that filled the North End for decades after the disaster.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> According to journalist Edwards Park, "The smell of molasses remained for decades a distinctive, unmistakable atmosphere of Boston."<ref name="Smithsonian" />

On January 15, 2019, for the 100th anniversary of the event, a ceremony was held in remembrance. Ground-penetrating radar was used to identify the exact location of the tank from 1919.<ref name="Results of Geophysical survey at Langone Park: 100 Years since the Great Molasses Flood">{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=John M. |title=Results of Geophysical survey at Langone Park: 100 Years since the Great Molasses Flood |url=https://blogs.umb.edu/fiskecenter/2019/01/14/results-of-geophysical-survey-at-langone-park-100-years-since-the-great-molasses-flood/ |website=The Fiske Center Blog |date=January 14, 2019 |publisher=Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts Boston |access-date=16 October 2023}}</ref> The concrete slab base for the tank remains in place approximately {{convert|20|in|cm}} below the surface of the baseball diamond at [[Langone Park]]. Attendees of the ceremony stood in a circle marking the edge of the tank. The 21 names of those who died in, or as a result of, the flood were read aloud.<ref name="Globe_2019">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/01/15/remembering-great-molasses-flood-years-later/zNqJPoyHTuuSWcXKIZv0HM/story.html |title=Boston officials remember the Great Molasses Flood, 100 years later |last=Sweeney |first=Emily |date=January 15, 2019 |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 26, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Universal_Hub_2019">{{Cite web |url=https://www.universalhub.com/2019/gathering-around-where-molasses-tank-used |title=Gathering around the site of the molasses tank to remember its victims |last=adamg |date=January 15, 2019 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |access-date=January 26, 2019}}</ref>

Many laws and regulations governing construction were changed as a direct result of the disaster, including requirements for oversight by a [[architect|licensed architect]] and [[civil engineering|civil engineer]].<ref name="nbc 100">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/great-boston-molasses-flood-1919-killed-21-after-2-million-n958326 |title=The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 killed 21 after 2 million gallon tank erupted |last=Kesslen |first=Ben |date=January 14, 2019 |website=[[NBC News]] |access-date=January 14, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Durso |first=Fred |date=May 1, 2011 |title=The Great Boston Molasses Flood |url=https://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/publications/nfpa-journal/2011/may-june-2011/features/the-great-boston-molasses-flood |journal=NFPA Journal |access-date=March 19, 2019 |archive-date=March 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318124613/https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications/NFPA-Journal/2011/May-June-2011/Features/The-Great-Boston-Molasses-Flood |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* [[The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets]]' song "Great Molasses Disaster" is about the flood, and their official music video includes many pictures of the aftermath.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZnxuPatgH0 |title=Great Molasses Disaster by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets |website=[[YouTube]] |date=January 18, 2017 }}</ref>
* Canadian metal band [[Protest the Hero]]'s song "All Hands" from the album ''[[Palimpsest (album)|Palimpsest]]'' is written from the perspective of a victim of the flood. The piano interlude to the song is titled "Harborside", a reference to the harborside tanks in which the molasses was stored. The last lines of the song references the first hand accounts of the aftermath.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://genius.com/Protest-the-hero-all-hands-lyrics | title=Protest the Hero – All Hands |website=genius.com}}</ref>
* Bostonian comedian and actress [[Ayo Edebiri]], on ''[[Late Night with Seth Meyers]]'', passionately spoke about the Great Molasses Flood where she mentions that she was "reduced to tears" talking about the tragedy, where people outside of Boston are far less aware of the event.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW77j4AC6Wo |title=Ayo Edebiri's Dad Refused to Let Martin Scorsese Film in Their House for The Departed |website=[[YouTube]] |date=June 18, 2024 }}</ref>
* In 2025, a [[designer game|designer card game]] about the event was announced—"Molassacre: Escape the Flood" was based on the mid-20th century game [[Mille Bornes]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/27/metro/card-game-about-bostons-molasses-flood-available-in-october/ |title=N.J. man creates card game about deadly Molasses Flood of 1919. Its name is making historians uneasy. |first=Claire |last=Thornton |website=[[The Boston Globe]] |url-access=limited |date=June 27, 2025 |accessdate=June 27, 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll]]
* [[List of non-water floods]]
* [[Honolulu molasses spill]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite journal |last=Park |first=Edwards |date=November 1983 |title=Without Warning, Molasses in January Surged Over Boston |url=http://edp.org/molpark.htm |journal=Smithsonian |volume=14 |issue=8 |pages=213–230 |access-date=March 24, 2013}}  Reprinted at ''Eric Postpischil's Domain'', "Eric Postpischil's Molasses Disaster Pages, Smithsonian Article", June 14, 2009.</ref>

<ref name="DarkTide">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/darktide00step |title=Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 |last=Puleo |first=Stephen |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-8070-5021-0 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

<ref name="SciAmJabr">{{Cite journal |last=Jabr |first=Ferris |date=July 17, 2013 |title=The Science of the Great Molasses Flood |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/ |access-date=October 16, 2013 |website=[[Scientific American]]}}</ref>

<ref name="NYTimes1919">{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/01/16/97058317.pdf |title=12 Killed When Tank of Molasses Explodes |date=January 15, 1919 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 30, 2008 |publication-date=January 16, 1919 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

<ref name="StraightD">{{Cite web |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041231.html |title=Was Boston once literally flooded with molasses? |last=Adams |first=Cecil |author-link=Cecil Adams |date=December 31, 2004 |website=The Straight Dope |publisher=The Chicago Reader |access-date=December 16, 2006}}</ref>

<ref name="TheHour">{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s6s0AAAAIBAJ&pg=949%2C3011666 |title=The Great Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919 |date=January 17, 1979 |work=The Hour |agency=United Press International}}</ref>

<ref name="YankeeMason">{{Cite journal |last=Mason |first=John |date=January 1965 |title=The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919 |url=http://edp.org/molyank.htm |journal=[[Yankee (magazine)|Yankee]] |access-date=March 21, 2005 |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710192737/http://edp.org/molyank.htm |url-status=dead }} Reprinted at ''Eric Postpischil's Domain'', "Eric Postpischil's Molasses Disaster Pages, Yankee Magazine Article", June 14, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2014.</ref>

<ref name="PuleoQuote79">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWtJGLG0aEcC&pg=PA263 |title=Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 |last=Puleo |first=Stephen |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2010 |isbn=9780807096673 |page=79 |quote=Any disruption at the tank could prove disastrous to his plan to outrun Prohibition by producing alcohol as rapidly as possible at the East Cambridge distillery.}}</ref>

<ref name="YankeeStanley">{{Cite journal |last=Stanley |first=Robert |year=1989 |title=Footnote to History |journal=Yankee |volume=53 |page=101 |quote=In January of 1919 Purity Distilling Company of Boston, maker of high-grade rum, was working three shifts a day in a vain attempt to outrun national Prohibition.}}</ref>

<ref name="Silverman">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWVddZqyqggC&pg=PA37 |title=Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History |last=Silverman |first=Steve |publisher=Andrews McMeel |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7407-1419-1 |page=37 |quote=First, it was believed that the tank was overfilled because of the impending threat of Prohibition.}}</ref>

<ref name="Streissguth">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtbnIe103p4C&pg=PA13 |title=The Roaring Twenties |last=Streissguth |first=Thomas |publisher=Infobase |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4381-0887-2 |page=13}}</ref>

<ref name="GlobeSchworm">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/14/nearly-century-later-new-insight-into-cause-great-molasses-flood/CNqLYc0T58kNo3MxP872iM/story.html |title=Nearly a century later, new insight into cause of Great Molasses Flood of 1919 |last=Schworm |first=Peter |date=January 15, 2015 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="Harris">{{Cite book |title=Boston: a Guide to Unique Places |last1=Harris |first1=Patricia |last2=Lyon |first2=David |publisher=The Globe Pequot Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-7627-3011-0 |pages=63–64}}</ref>

<ref name="BHA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/location.php?nid=3&sid=21 |title=Places to go: Downtown/North End |publisher=The Boston Harbor Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913150554/http://www.bostonharborwalk.com/placestogo/location.php?nid=3&sid=21 |archive-date=September 13, 2013 |access-date=September 5, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="HistoryChannel">{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.com/news/the-great-molasses-flood-of-1919 |title=The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 |last=Andrews |first=Evan |date=January 13, 2017 |website=The History Channel |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref>

<ref name="Ocker">{{Cite book |title=The New England Grimpendium |last=Ocker |first=J. W. |publisher=The Countryman Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-88150-919-9 |location=Woodstock, VT |page=97}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Puleo |first=Stephen |year=2004 |title=Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 |url=https://archive.org/details/darktide00step |url-access=registration |location=Boston |publisher=[[Beacon Press]] |isbn=0-8070-5021-0}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Boston Molasses Disaster}}
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/sets/72157624622085789/ Boston Public Library]. Photos related to the event on Flickr. Many phrases are direct quotes.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131023055001/http://www.theamericanstoryteller.com/stories/molasses/ The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919], four-minute audio story at The American Storyteller Radio Journal
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050310034650/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/03521177.asp Interview] with Stephen Puleo, author of the book listed in "Further reading"
* [https://www.gendisasters.com/massachusetts/2678/boston%2C-ma-%2526%2523039%3Bmolasses-flood%2526%2523039%3B-tank-explosion%2C-jan-1919 Molasses Flood of 1919]{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103023107/http://www3.gendisasters.com/massachusetts/2678/boston%2C-ma-%2526%2523039%3Bmolasses-flood%2526%2523039%3B-tank-explosion%2C-jan-1919 |date=2011-01-03}}
* [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1919-01-18/ed-1/seq-2/;words=MolassesFlooded "Scenes in the Molasses-Flooded Streets of Boston"], from the ''Washington Times'', January 18, 1919
* [https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2019/01/15/years-ago-boston-north-end-was-hit-deadly-wave-molasses/xyn8sjJG3gYt3ZcixyuaYO/story.html 100 years ago, Boston's North End was hit by a deadly wave of molasses] (photos)
* [https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/01/09/the-great-molasses-flood-was-boston-strangest-disaster/VawySumFUf5vKCibM9PLtJ/story.html The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 was Boston's strangest disaster] (story with more photos)

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[[Category:1910s in Boston]]
[[Category:1919 disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:1919 in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1919 industrial disasters]]
[[Category:Cultural history of Boston]]
[[Category:Disasters in Boston]]
[[Category:Engineering failures]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:Floods in the United States]]
[[Category:Food processing disasters]]
[[Category:Industrial accidents and incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:January 1919 in the United States]]
[[Category:Molasses]]
[[Category:North End, Boston]]
[[Category:Flash floods]]