Hello Friday. April 26 2024 
Picture this: it’s Jan. 15, 1919. World War I has just ended, Prohibition is coming soon, and it’s lunch time. You’re in the North End neighborhood along the waterfront on Commercial Street, where you could find Copp's Hill + Langone Park today. 
Front cover of the Boston Daily Globe | Image from @newspaperscom via @marywatson48 It would be hard to miss the large storage tank, standing over 50 ft tall (about three stories) and measuring approximately 90 ft in diameter (nearly the length of a football field).
The tank was owned and operated by the Purity Distilling Company, which was known for producing grain alcohol. The storage tank was instrumental in producing the highly profitable beverage, holding the key ingredient — fermented molasses.
It was also used to make munitions and other weapons for the war. When full, the tank could hold 2.5 million gallons, which helped the company make nearly five million gallons of alcohol a year. 
Scenes of the North End after the flood | Photo via @thisdisasterpod Moving molasses isn’t as easy as one might think, especially when you factor in the freezing temperatures Boston is known for in the winter.
The tank had just been refilled on Jan. 12, adding an additional 1.3 million gallons to the already noticeably compromised tank. Rumor has it that rumbling sounds could be heard from the leaky container and sometimes the ground would shake.
FYI — one gallon of molasses weighs 11.5 lbs. So the tank was holding approximately 12,000 tons on the day in question (enough to fill three and a half Olympic swimming pools). The combination of the weight + gases was what some experts believe caused the following events.
Around 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, the tank collapsed, spilling 2.3 million gallons of molasses on to the streets of Boston, which as you probably guessed — caused the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.
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The Esplanade Association is looking for four artists to use a spark of imagination to transform electrical boxes into public art. The project is taking place this spring and the organization will cover up to $200 for materials needed to complete the project.
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Editor's Pick: Is Boston a bike-friendly city? We’ll let you decide. In the meantime, here is a Twitter thread from the Boston Cyclist Union asking “what piece of advice would you give to someone who wants to start biking around Boston?”
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