The Tunnel Guy…
Charles Bulfinch was hired after he gave President James Monroe a tour of the tunnels he built throughout the Boston Back Bay Neighborhoods. In 1785 he developed an elaborate public works project taking down the trimounts in Boston to fill in the mud flats of the Charles River. It proved to be a convenient ruse to help him hide all of the tunnel dirt from the State House, governor’s mansion, and various Beacon Hill mansions.
After he gave the president a tour of Boston, then they toured Salem through the tunnels that emulated his Boston project in 1801 by filing in 5 ponds and a river leaving the Salem Common. The tour went through Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Crowninshield’s , Stephen White’s, Joseph “Jr.” White’s, Superior Court Justice Joseph Story’s, and Senator Nathaniel Silsbee’s homes by tunnel.
Bulfinch will restore our capitol after it was razed by the British during the 1812 War and connect all of its major buildings by a series of tunnels that are at least 4 levels deep. To find out more book a tour on the Salem Smugglers’ Tour of the Historic Salem Common! www.salemtunneltour.com
More than Witches!