Negro Mountain Tunnel
| County | Somerset |
|---|---|
| Opened | Never used for Turnpike |
The Negro Mountain Tunnel was a planned South Penn Railroad tunnel. Like all the South Penn tunnels, Negro Mountain was unfinished when the railroad folded. Unlike Quemahoning Tunnel, which was eventually finished and used for trains, and the seven original Turnpike tunnels, Negro Mountain was never finished and never used for vehicular traffic at all.
Name
Negro Mountain is one of the ridges of the Allegheny Mountains. Its summit, Mount Davis, is in fact the highest point in Pennsylvania. There are several stories of how it got its name, which is considered rather crass by modern standards, mostly revolving around a Negro man accompanying a group of whites, killed by Native Americans during the French and Indian War.
Proposals have been put forward to rename the mountain, both in Pennsylvania and Maryland, but have not passed.
External Links
- Negro Mountain and the tunnel at Wikipedia
- "A descent into Negro Mountain Tunnel", with excellent photographs
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