← Club 49 Prospecting, the free gold & adventure map of the American West

The Hoosac Tunnel, the Bloody Pit

Documented folklore from the Club 49 map, told straight and sourced.

The story

It took twenty-four years, from 1851 to 1875, to drive four and three-quarter miles through the Hoosac Range, and it killed at least 195 men doing it, which is where the name came from. It was the first tunnel in America driven with nitroglycerin, mixed on site, and one of the first anywhere lit by electricity. Workers reported hearing voices in the bore before the two headings met, and the stories never stopped. Understand this clearly: the Hoosac is an ACTIVE freight rail tunnel with no clearance and no escape. People have died trespassing in it. Look at the portals from a legal distance and leave it at that.

The ground it haunts

North Adams and Florida, Massachusetts (Berkshires). Source: A real tunnel, a real 195-man death toll, and an active railway - do not enter. The Club 49 map pins this legend at its documented country, beside the real mines, active claims, land status and modeled honey holes of the same ground. Open the free map and go stand in the story.

See every spot on the free map →
Club 49 Prospecting is a free members map: 764 ranked honey holes, 20,000+ documented gold sites, stocked fishing waters, foraging sightings, gems, springs and the lore, across the American West. Free forever. club49.app