"Tracks to the HAunted Hoosac Tunnel"
Florida, MA
To the East Portal Hoosac Tunnel
September 18th, 2016
Excellent write up by History and Hauntings of America
The tunnel was one of the greatest undertakings of the region and work was started on it in 1851. It was not finished for almost 25 years! During that period, hundreds of miners, using mostly black powder, shovels, picks and their own hands, fought against the unyielding rock of Hoosac Mountain. By the time the tunnel was finally finished, more than 200 men had died in what came to be known as the “Bloody Pit”. They died in fires, explosions, tunnel collapses and in one case, by the hand of another. It would be the cold-blooded murder that occurred in 1865 that would give the tunnel its reputation for ghosts.
It was during that year that the explosive known as nitroglycerin was introduced to America. The construction crew of the Hoosac Tunnel would have the honor of being among the first crews to use it. On the afternoon of March 20, 1865, three explosive experts named Ned Brinkman, Billy Nash and Ringo Kelley decided to use nitro to continue their work on the tunnel. They placed a charge and then ran back toward a safety bunker that would shield them from the effects of the blast. Brinkman and Nash never made it there however. For some reason, Ringo Kelley set off the charge before the other men could make it to shelter. The two men were buried alive under tons of rock.
Sources and Bibliography:
Hauck, Dennis William - Haunted Places: The National Directory (1996)
Drake, Samuel Adams -New England Legends and Folklore (1910)
Norman, Michael & Beth Scott - Historic Haunted America (1995)
Allmaker, Ali - Local Haunts (Berkshire Eagle) (1984)
Yankee Magazine (1973)
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