{"id":2497,"date":"2016-02-22T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historyapolis.com\/?p=2497"},"modified":"2024-01-10T13:43:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T19:43:32","slug":"minneapolis-is-ruined-the-tunnel-disaster-of-1869","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/2016\/02\/22\/minneapolis-is-ruined-the-tunnel-disaster-of-1869\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Minneapolis is Ruined&#8221;: The Tunnel Disaster of 1869"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"author\">\n<p>Published February 22, 2016<br \/>\n<a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/historyapolis.com\/KevinEhrman\/\">KEVIN EHRMAN-SOLBERG<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"lead-para\">\n<p>It\u2019s map Monday. Our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/historyapolis.com\/the-minneapolis-riverfront-an-underground-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last post<\/a>\u00a0here at Historyapolis dug into\u00a0the\u00a0buried history of the Minneapolis riverfront, and explored the intricate tunnel\u00a0system that powered the city&#8217;s milling district. These subterranean canals were the lifeblood of 19th century industry.<\/p>\n<div id=\"img-btn-screen\">\n<p class=\"modal-screen\"><a id=\"img-btn-screen-txt\" href=\"#\">Launch Application<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><!-- The Modal --><\/p>\n<div id=\"myModal\" class=\"modal\">\n<p><!-- Modal content --><\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-content\"><span class=\"close\">x<\/span><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"iframe-modal\" src=\"http:\/\/historyapolis.com\/KevinsProjects\/background-blank\/index.html\" name=\"search_iframe\" width=\"100%\" height=\"93%\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- End modal plus modal button --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Today, we are going back underground to\u00a0examine another\u00a0lost piece of industrial history. This\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/arcg.is\/1SEJJhj\">web map<\/a>\u00a0tells\u00a0the story of the Eastman tunnel and its catastrophic collapse in 1869\u2014one of the largest disasters the city has ever seen. The tunnel was the brainchild of William Eastman and John Merriam. In 1865, the two businessmen purchased Nicollet Island. They dreamed of exploiting the power of the nearby falls, and in 1868, began\u00a0constructing a 2,500 foot tailrace tunnel. This tunnel\u2013dug deep below\u00a0the Mississippi riverbed\u2013would power the mills Eastman and Merriam intended to build on Nicollet Island.<\/p>\n<p>The venture was a fiasco. In 1869, the tunnel collapsed and the river flooded in, creating a massive underground vortex. Over the next six years, recurring collapses turned the riverfront into a series of sinkholes and whirlpools that swallowed multiple mills. Minneapolis and St. Anthony both faced economic ruin. The immense water power &#8220;at the base of their prosperity&#8221; was at stake. If left unchecked, the\u00a0&#8220;tunnel disaster&#8221; could destroy the falls and permanently cripple urban development along the river corridor. Without a waterfall to build on, Minneapolis would lose its reason to exist.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2489\" style=\"width: 308px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2489\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2489\" src=\"http:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS-298x300.png\" alt=\"One of the many sinkholes formed in the aftermath of the &quot;tunnel disaster.&quot;\" width=\"298\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS-298x300.png 298w, https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS-768x772.png 768w, https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/fallscollapse_HCHS.png 795w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2489\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the many sinkholes formed in the aftermath of the &#8220;tunnel disaster.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This <a href=\"http:\/\/arcg.is\/1SEJJhj\">geo-spatial application<\/a>\u00a0attempts to shine new light on the tunnel that nearly wiped out the milling district. Click through the application for a tour of the ill-fated tunnel, and see\u00a0the impact\u00a0its collapse\u00a0had on the city.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Images used in this post are from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hennepinhistory.org\/\">Hennepin History Museum<\/a>. The application was built in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lib.umn.edu\/borchert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Borchert Map Library<\/a>. The 1861 map used in the application was provided courtesy of Borchert. Other sources include: &#8220;River of History: A Historic Resource Study of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mvp.usace.army.mil\/Media\/NewsStories\/tabid\/9472\/Article\/626089\/engineering-the-falls-the-corps-of-engineers-role-at-st-anthony-falls.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Engineering the Falls: the Corps of Engineers&#8217; Role at St. Anthony Falls,<\/a>&#8221;\u00a0The Minneapolis Tribune, and the &#8220;Field Surveys under Direction of F.C. Farquhar\u00a0on 1873 and 1875,&#8221; from the City of Minneapolis Municipal Archives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published February 22, 2016 KEVIN EHRMAN-SOLBERG It\u2019s map Monday. Our\u00a0last post\u00a0here at Historyapolis dug into\u00a0the\u00a0buried history of the Minneapolis riverfront, and explored the intricate tunnel\u00a0system that powered the city&#8217;s milling district. These subterranean canals were the lifeblood of 19th century industry. Launch Application x Today, we are going back underground to\u00a0examine another\u00a0lost piece of industrial&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[111,173,182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3971,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497\/revisions\/3971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mvt.rpw.mybluehost.me\/.website_3d6664ec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}