The Blue Ridge Tunnel

Description:

In one of the greatest engineering feats of his time, Cladius Crozet led the completion of Virginia's Blue Ridge Tunnel in 1858. Two centuries later, the National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark still proudly stands, but the stories and lives of those who built it are the true lasting triumph. Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Hunger poured into America resolute for something to call their own. They would persevere through life in overcrowded shanties and years of blasting through rock to see the tunnel to completion. Prolific author Mary E. Lyons follows three Irish families in their struggle to build Crozet's famed tunnel and their American dream.

subjects: Railroad tunnels,  History,  Railroad construction workers,  Biography,  Chesapeake and Ohio Railway,  Blue Ridge Railroad,  Railroads, united states, history,  Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company,  Blue Ridge Railroad Company (Virginia)

Places: Blue Ridge Tunnel (Va.),  Blue Ridge Mountains,  Virginia

Times: 19th century