The Western Gateway: Identification and Recommendation of the Hoosac Tunnel National Register Historic District

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Changes in the Land: Archaeological Data from the Northeast" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Hoosac Tunnel is a 7.6 km long railroad tunnel within Hoosac Mountain located in northwestern Massachusetts, extending between the towns of Florida and North Adams. The project was deemed of utmost value to encourage efficient trade between opposite sides of the Hudson River, which is why, regardless of its obstacles, the construction continued and was completed by 1877. Overall, the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel was and remains one of the largest engineering feats within North America. The Hoosac Tunnel itself was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, however, none of the associated structures required for the construction (e.g. the Deerfield dam and compressor building and machine shop) had been documented, let alone assessed for eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. A recent hydroelectric relicensing project within the region, required under Section 106, has identified seven archaeological areas associated with the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel, and as a result, has recommended the creation of the Hoosac Tunnel National Register Historic District. This paper will discuss the recent findings and their association with the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Changes in the Land: Archaeological Data from the Northeast

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25641