Great Molasses Flood location (1919 tank failure on Commercial Street)

On January 15, 1919 a 2.3-million-gallon molasses storage tank owned by the Purity Distilling Company ruptured at 529 Commercial Street, sending a wave of molasses through Boston's North End and killing 21 people. The molasses flowed down streets toward the harbor, damaging buildings, derailing a streetcar, and requiring an extensive cleanup that reached into Boston Harbor. The event is a documented and unusual urban flood tied to that specific Commercial Street location.