Boston1954

Do you know of anything that happened in the place where you were born that would stand out from regular historical events?

I once had a book out from the library that described a great flood in Boston, Massachusetts. BUT what stands out is that it was a flood of molasses. A tank holding 2.3 million gallons, gave way on January 15, 1919.

People living in the area said that the popping rivets on the tank sounded like a machine gun. As it started flowing through the streets, the level was between 8 and 15 feet deep. The force threw a truck into Boston Harbor, and pulled a train off of its tracks. Before it was finished flowing, the thick liquid killed 21, and injured about 150 people. I have read that it eventually found its way into the sewer system giving the city's rats a nearly un-ending source of food. The rat population exploded.

Sometimes, when I hear about floods of water, it brings this unique event back to my mind.

Marjpf

Could you imagine the mess that was left afterward? The flies and rats would be everywhere. At 8 to 15 feet deep, it would have seeped into peoples homes. Interesting bit of history.

quiltsRfun

Does the fact that Butch Cassidy robbed the payroll in the town where I grew up count? It was a coal mining community and all the miners were waiting for their pay which was in cash. As the story was told to me, shots were fired and Butch and his gang rode off with the money. There's some disagreement among my family as to whether or not my grandfather was among the miners waiting for his pay.

Not quite as unusual as Boston's but that's my story.

Lacelady

I grew up in the first Garden City in the UK, and it also had the first roundabout in the world. It was invented because it was a junction of three roads crossing each other, i.e. 6 exits from the roundabout.

raptureready

The town that I live in has a tiny bit of a colorful history. J.C. Hise (a wieghtlifter) lived here. His brother borrowed his wieghtlifting bar to pry a motor out of a car. When he returned it, it was bent. J.C. tried it out and it worked better than it had before--invention of the buffalo bar still used today. J.C. Hise could dead lift 700lbs.
Our first Presbyterian Church was built with wood from the local lumberyard, but it wasn't all paid for. The owner of the lumberyard wasn't the least bit shy about spreading the word to anyone that would listen about how much money that "no-good church" still owed him. One day he was talking about it when a lady (?) of questionable character asked just exactly how much was owed. When he told her, she lifted her skirts and petticoats right on Main Street, pulled a large wad of bills from her garter and paid off the Presbyterian's debt then laughed about how their debt had been payed off with his own money.

oksewglad

And we thought it was the Tea Party that made Boston famous! Now we all need to search our local history books!

Pam

Rapture, I liked your story about the lumberyard. Too funny!

Pam

I did a quick google search and did not find out anything "different" about Owosso, Michigan, so I will add something that they did NOT write about.

Once upon a time Owosso was a bustling, growing progressive city in the middle of Michigan and they had cable cars. The only reason I know this is because my great grandfather was struck and killed by one! After my grandfather died and we were cleaning out the memorabilia we found a newspaper article about his father's death, no one in the family had known about this.

Sorry, no molasses floods, but some water ones!

quilter68

Philadelphia, PA You all know the rest of the story.

QuiltingQueen

The largest pot bust in Wisconsin was just outside of my home town on a crop farm. They planted the pot between the rows of corn!

A couple of years later my girlfriend bought the farm for raising her horses. Every once in a while the her horses would race around their pasture and she figured that they had 'weed' for lunch rather then grass!