“Forty-six souls were lost here.” Those words echo in the cold air near the Summer Street Bridge. Today, it stands as a silent observer. It is a monument to a tragedy few remember. Let’s turn back time to November 7, 1916.
The Summer Street Bridge was not always so still. It was a retractile drawbridge. This bridge had two sliding sections that moved diagonally. They created an opening for ships to pass. In 1916, a streetcar named Car #393 approached this very bridge. It was packed with about sixty passengers.
Imagine the scene. It is 5:13 pm. Motorman Gerald Walsh is at the controls. Conductor George McKeon is also on board. The streetcar is running late. It needs to fill a gap in the schedule. Walsh had never worked this route before. McKeon hadn’t either. But they knew the area well.
As Car #393 neared the Summer Street Bridge, disaster struck. The bridge was opening for a ship. The inbound roadway had already slid back. Walsh missed the small stop sign at Melcher Street. He slowed briefly for a passenger. But he noticed the open bridge too late.
The wheels screeched. The streetcar crashed through metal gates. It plunged into the Fort Point Channel. The heavy streetcar sank quickly into the frigid water. It was about thirty feet deep.
Walsh and McKeon escaped. About fifteen passengers also survived. Tugboats and pedestrians pulled them from the water. But forty-six passengers drowned. Many were trapped inside the crowded streetcar. It was Boston’s deadliest disaster. That is until the Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942.
Divers worked through the night. They recovered bodies from the wreckage. Newspapers reported inflated body counts. The streetcar was raised at 3:30 am.
The Public Service Commission blamed Walsh. They said he failed to stop. However, the signs were hard to see. Many drawbridges lacked them. Walsh was tried for manslaughter. Some witnesses said he ignored a red lantern. Walsh said he saw no lantern. The jury found him not guilty. Yet, he never ran a streetcar again. McKeon died in combat in France in 1918.
Car #393 returned to service. But operators refused to drive it. They thought it was cursed. The company converted it to a work car. Later, it was scrapped. The streetcar route became a bus route in 1953. Today, the MBTA route 7 bus follows the old streetcar path.
The Summer Street Bridge stands as a reminder. It is a reminder of the lives lost. It is a reminder of a tragedy that shaped Boston’s history. Although the draw is welded shut, the story of the Summer Street Bridge lives on. It echoes through time. It urges us to remember those who were lost.