1885 Subway Construction Cave-in?

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Justin7

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Does anyone have any information concerning a subway construction cave-in in 1885. I know nothing except that there was at least one fatality.
 
Unless you can be any more specific all I can tell you is there was no subway construction going on in 1885. The subway wasn't started until 1894 and opened in 1897.
 
I don't know. A relative sent me a family history that has an ancestor of mine dying in a subway construction cave-in in 1885. I found it interesting and decided to look into it a little more, but clearly there has been a mistake.

It's possible that the year is wrong as this has his widow remarrying in 1898 and 13 years does seem like a long time for a woman to be on her own (and caring for a child) in the 19th century.

I suppose it's also possible that it wasn't actually subway construction, but some other project. I think the bay was being filled in at this point and perhaps it was somehow related to that.

I have very little to go on, but thank you.
 
Stack of protest petitions at a pre-construction NABB meeting fell over and crushed someone.
 
In some places 'subway' is used to mean a pedestrian underpass rather than a tunnel for trains. Is that possible here?
 
I wonder what ancient pedestrian underpasses were out there? The old smuggler tunnel in the North End is the only one I can think of!
 
Funny. I was just thinking something like that...the water system. Some of those tunnels have to be big and old.

P.S. Just looking at Hoosac Tunnel history, on the thought that "Boston" and "Mass" might have meant the same thing to someone. There were a lot of deaths in that project, but I couldn't pin anything to 1885.
 
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Here's a couple possibilities I've concocted:

A) It's a misprint--perhaps your ancestor died in 1895 during the actual subway construction... that would've left 3 years where his widow was a single mother before marrying. That seems quite realistic.
B) That pedestrian tunnel theory could be plausible, or perhaps even tunneling for the commuter rail. Were there ever any tunnels for the commuter rail(s)?
C) Pneumatic tubing--apparently thousands of yards of pneumatic tubing was laid under the city during the nineteenth century. Maybe miners had to go underground to lay it all.

Just some random guesses. Sorry if I'm out of line.
 
The Megis Transit system, an experimental type of elevated train was built around that time in Cambridge. It was a steam train that wrapped around a monorail. Might be a possibility.
 
Also, wasn't the sewer tunnel from Columbia Point out to Moon Island built around that time?
 
JohnCostello said:
The Megis Transit system, an experimental type of elevated train was built around that time in Cambridge. It was a steam train that wrapped around a monorail. Might be a possibility.
Click to expand...

It was all elevated and there was only a small test loop built.
 
Are you sure this relative lived in Boston? I ask because there were train tunnels being dug under the Hudson River between NJ and NYC at that time which, after the cave in, were abandoned, only to be later salvaged (don't quote me on this) for the Hudson & Manhattan system, better known today as PATH.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone. I'm not really sure about anything. The record I'm looking at is poorly sourced. It looks like I'm going to have to some real research when I get a chance if I actually want to figure this out.
 
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