This place was dedicated in October 2013 to memorialize 13 miners who perished on the 19th of October 1867 as they worked underground at the base of the Central Shaft of the Hoosac Tunnel.
Published in multiple newspaper accounts across the country, this incident is described as the deadliest day in the 27-year construction of the 4.75-mile long train tunnel. One reporter, in the Springfield [Mass.] Republican wrote, "The community of this place has been horrified by one of the most terrible disasters that has ever occurred in Massachusetts, and, with few exceptions, in this country - a disaster by which thirteen able-bodied men, full of health and vigor, were ushered without note or warning into eternity..."
The Central Shaft was the midway location of the Hoosac Tunnel located about six miles east of North Adams on Florida Mountain. The shaft was more than 580 feet deep. A wooden platform and a 10ft x 60ft building stood over the mouth of the shaft. At about 1 p.m. on that fateful day an explosion on the surface ignited a fierce fire that spread rapidly and consumed the building and platform in less than 30 minutes. Burning timbers along with a half ton of drills, tools, and other machinery and a rock-filled mining car, fell down the shaft onto the 13 men.
The men who perished were: Patrick Conolley, James Burnett, James Fitzgerald, Thomas Mulcare, Edwin Haskins, brothers Thomas and Peter Collins, Michael Whalen, James Cavanaugh, John Curron, Thomas Cook, James McCormick and Joseph Messier. A year would pass before all 13 bodies were recovered.
This memorial was funded by the town of Florida from their cemetery account.
P.Demers of the Berkshire Eagle newspaper wrote an on-line article about the 19 Oct 2013 dedication, taking place 146 years after the fatal fire. The dedication included attendees from the historical societies of Rowe, Florida and North Adams, along with rail enthusiasts, a folk band, town officials, spectators and the pastor of the Florida Baptist Church.