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The April 1 tour of the tunnel was cancelled due to flooding and lighting issues. Any
future tours will be announced here. Thanks to all those who attended, especially Capt. Lou of WATD radio (see link section
for info on Capt. Lou and his mariner radio show).
In the basement of Jo's Pub there is a watertight door which is an entrance to the Boston Harbor Tunnel System. The building
at 125 Main Street, which is now Jo's, was a control center for the tunnel system from 1922 till 1952. The door is opened
occasionally for tours, and hikers can walk from Hull Gut all the way to Deer Island and several other spots on the harbor.
Click on the map below to see the extent of the system. There are photos posted below of last year's tunnel tour. If you would
like to be included in the next tour of the system, sign in on the tunnel guest-book at the bottom of
this paragraph and fill in the questions.
Sign up here (click) View the sign up log
The Boston Harbor tunnel system is an outgrowth of two earlier networks of tunnels under the harbor which
reached from Deer Island to Scituate Harbor. The first tunnels were dug in 1764, from Fort Independence to Fort Warren. Military
engineer Sylvanias Thayer greatly extended the system in the early 1800's to a system of 58 miles of tunnels with many large
underground structures. One of these structures included a barracks for 2,000 troops and was connected to Long Island by a
mule-driven narrow gauge railway.
The system got its second major revamp in 1894 when many of the existing harbor fortifications were
built or redone. The huge barracks (194 feet below the 23 foot deep bottom) was retained, but 22 miles of the network were
sealed off and not maintained. President Hoover toured the tunnels in 1929, walking from Deer Island to Fort Strong on Long
Island.
In 1943 the network of tunnels was upgraded, though 5 miles of the older network were sealed off. Now only
Great Brewster, Little Brewster (Boston Light), Deer Island, Long Island, and Peddocks Island (two entrances) are served,
plus Hull Gut and Weymouth Fore River on the mainland. In recent years tours of the tunnels have been held in April and December
(a Christmas eve walk to Boston Light on Little Brewster by Santa and many followers).
The Peddock's entrance of the tunnel was left open for a few days in September. Mike, Steph,
Dennis H., Alice H. John F. and myself walked from Peddocks to the Pub and back. Photo below taken by Dennis near the
entrance door.
| click to enlarge |
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| Norm Reynolds (right) and John Ford |
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The April 2005 Tunnel Walk was a success, with 12 of us walking to Boston Light. The door to Peddocks
Island was frozen shut so we could not visit Mike's house. We got a quick tour of the lighthouse and the keeper's cottage
before returning. We could hear a large tanker float over us while we crossed under Nantasket Roads.
| click to enlagre any of these photos |
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| Norm opens the door to the tunnel and gets a bit wet. |
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| Donna climbs down the ladder in the pub to from the tunnel. |
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| Robin leads the way. No albino rats here, nope. Follow me. |
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| the main generator room was very hot, perhaps 130 deg.F |
Please remember: Jo's is a snivelling-free
zone. Many establishments on the south shore allow snivelling, we do not.
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| The sealed off spur going towards Scituate is very old and lined with brick. |
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| The main pump gallery |
| click to enlarge |
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| Nearing Boston Light. The tunnel is clean and well maintained here. |
| click to enlarge any photo |
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| "Daddy, I want to play twister, not walk any more" |
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| John Ford leaves tunnel at the end of the tour, about 2200hrs. |
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| Captain Mike was the last one up and shut off the lights. |
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