Church Hill Tunnel Commemoration Tours

The eastern entrance to the Church Hill Tunnel showing the collapsed roof at top.
VCU Libraries Commons

Tonight during the Church Hill Tunnel Commemoration Tours, I’ll be signing copies of Haunted Virginia Cemeteries where I share the story of the infamous Richmond Vampire.

But before we dive into the legends and local spookiness, let’s pause for a moment of respect. The tunnel collapse wasn’t just eerie, it was tragic.

Railroad fireman Benjamin Mosby was on the locomotive when the boiler exploded after the collapse. Scalded, his teeth shattered, he crawled nearly 3/4 of a mile through the dark, broken tunnel. His first words when he reached the outside? “Call my wife and tell her I got out—and that I’m not badly hurt.” Even in agony, his first thought was for her.

Engineer Tom Mason also suffered. His son kept vigil at the site, hoping their father would emerge from the rubble.

As Walter S. Griggs Jr. reminds us in The Collapse of Richmond’s Church Hill Tunnel: “Words on paper do not capture the tragedy that had taken place under Church Hill.”

So tonight, while we swap ghost stories and whisper about the Richmond Vampire, let’s also remember Mosby, Mason, and the human cost buried beneath the legend.