The Great Molasses Flood

Associated With

Purity Distilling Company - creator or operator

Defining Feature

Rupture of a 50-foot tank holding 2.3 million gallons of industrial molasses

Status

Historical event - Historical industrial disaster; 21 people were killed and 150 injured

Overview

At about 1 p.m. on 15 January 1919, a tank burst in Boston’s North End and released molasses.

The rupture released 2.3 million gallons of molasses, sending a dense wave through nearby streets and buildings. It killed 21 people and injured around 150.

Years of legal action followed, culminating in a 1925 finding that held the tank’s owner negligent.

Why It Mattered

The flood showed how the failure of industrial infrastructure could devastate a surrounding neighbourhood. The 1925 finding that held the tank’s owner negligent made corporate responsibility central to the disaster’s legal outcome.

Tank and Distribution

• The tank was built in 1915 beside elevated railway tracks in the North End.
• Molasses delivered at Copp’s Hill Wharf was stored before transfer to rail cars and distilleries.

Legal Finding

• A 1925 finding held the tank owner negligent.

Surviving Photograph

• The Library of Congress preserves a glass-negative image captioned “Boston molasses explosion” in the American National Red Cross photograph collection.
• The catalogue dates the negative to the period between 1919 and 1929.

Gallery