Monument to Peter Woodland
in The Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery
Garfield and Chapel Avenues
Photograph circa 1910
Courtesy, Jersey City Free Public Library
Partially restored monument near the cemetery office building.
Photo: C. Karnoutsos 2013
Monument to Peter Woodland
in The Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery
Garfield and Chapel Avenues
Photo: C. Karnoutsos 2013
On October 26, 2013, the Order of Knights of Pythias of New York rededicated the monument to Peter Woodland, a Pythian and superintendent of Holland Tunnel operations, buried in Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery. Woodward died trying to save the lives of his fellow workers.
On July 21, 1880, Woodland was working 60 feet below the Holland River in a pressurized compartment when he noticed gushing water pouring through the brick tunnel. The grand archway of the working shaft at the foot of 15th Street in Jersey City (Pier No. 9) had collapsed at approximately 4:30 a.m. Woodland guided eight men to the safety of the air chamber and closed the door. Woodland stayed behind with nineteen other workers in the air chamber. The miners, who were called "sandhogs," found themselves trapped in what was known as a "blowout" (escaping air) from the opening. Water and silt rose to drown Woodland and the nineteen men.
As early as 1871, Col. DeWitt C. Haskins, president of the Hudson Tunnel Railroad Company, attempted the construction of a Hudson River tunnel. The tragic event of 1880 temporarily disbanded the project. In 1908, William Gibbs McAdoo completed the tunnel as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, which for many years was called the Hudson Tubes. In 1962, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey acquired the railroad and the train tunnels as part of the PATH transportation system.
The Knights of Pythias raised funds for Woodland's burial and monument. They erected a statue of Woodland atop the engraved stone that reads: "Erected by the Order of Knights of Pythias in memory of Brother Peter Woodland, of Hector Lodge No. 49, of Philadelphia, Pa., who was killed at the disaster at the Hudson River Tunnel, Wednesday, July 21, 1880, aged 32 years. He sacrificed his life that others might live." Woodland lived at 158 Pavonia Avenue and left behind a wife and daughter.
Over the years, the memorial was subject to vandalism and neglect. In 2009, a group of New York Pythians organized the Woodland Monument Refurbishment Fund for the memorial's restoration. They raised money from donations and the sale of commemorative coins. In the first phase of the renovation, the monument was remounted on a concrete platform. The restored statue of Woodland will be placed on the platform next to his monument to avert further damage in the next phase.
Woodland's heroism was also memorialized by the Massachusetts Knights of Pythias in Lynn, MA, with the naming of the Peter Woodland Lodge #72.
"Causes of the Tunnel Disaster. New York Times. 30 September 1880.
Grundy, J. Owen. The History of Jersey City. Jersey City, NJ: Progress Printing Co., Inc., 1976.
Klein, Daniel. Jersey Journal Anniversary Section 2 May 2017. http://www.nj.com/jerseyjournal150/2017/04/long_before_path_trains_tragedy_struck_inside_huds.html
"Twenty Men Buried Alive: Caving In of the Hudson River Tunnel." New York Times. 22 July 1880.
