{"id":2626,"slug":"hawks-nest-tunnel-site-gauley-bridge-west-virginia","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Hawk's Nest is the tunnel — the '30-'32 that's the drilling, the 3 miles that's the Gauley Mountain. The 764 are the dead — the silicosis that's the disease, the 'white cloud' that's the dust. The 2/3 were the Black — the migrant workers who were the recruited, the 'tunnelitis' that's the cover-up.","The Union Carbide is the power — the New Kanawha that's the subsidiary, the 'civil engineering' that's the loophole. The lawsuits were the '33-34 — the 538 that's the filed, the $200,000 that's the settlement. Hawk's Nest is the worst — the industrial disaster that's the US, the silica that's the killer.","The file keeps Hawk's Nest: the 1930 tunnel, the 764 dead, the Union Carbide, and the silica.","Hawk's Nest is the archive's Gauley Bridge file — the industrial massacre."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Hawk's Nest is the archive's Gauley Bridge file — the dust that killed.","A tunnel keeps its dead — the file's suggestion being that Hawk's Nest's hold is the cover-up: the 'civil engineering' loophole, the 'tunnelitis' lie, and the 764 who died."]}],"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel site","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["DARK_HISTORY","LOCAL_FOLKLORE","INDUSTRIAL"],"groups":["dark-history","legends"],"desc":"The tunnel where silica killed—hundreds dead for water to a power plant.","full_desc":"Hawks Nest Tunnel site is a site in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia. The tunnel where silica killed—hundreds dead for water to a power plant. Its accounts name only a collective — the tunnel dead. The dossier holds 2 reported claims, 1 legend, 1 documented fact and 1 named or described presence — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors.","address":null,"city":"Gauley Bridge","county":null,"state":"West Virginia","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":38.166763,"lon":-81.209625,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Park / natural site","research_notes":"WV lore batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2157,"type":"NAMED_GHOST_LEGEND","description":"The dead are said to be seen near the tunnel entrance. The lore files them collectively as the tunnel dead. The reports at Hawks Nest Tunnel site are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. It circulates as local folklore — the kind communities keep rather than verify. The name gives the haunting a face, and the sightings give the name a job.","evidence":"LOCAL_FOLKLORE","evidence_label":"Local folklore","entity":"The tunnel dead","where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]},{"id":2158,"type":"HISTORICAL_LEGEND","description":"The silicosis deaths are documented history. The site in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia gives the account a documented setting: real place, real history, unresolved reports. Coverage gave the claim its audience; proof remains another matter. The report is preserved in sources like 'Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster'. The tale is the site's other archive — oral, embroidered, and outlasting the documents.","evidence":"MEDIA_REPORTED","evidence_label":"Media reported","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The tunnel disaster is documented; the death toll is in the hundreds. The record dates it to 1930–1931. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster'. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":"1930","date_end":"1931","confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[{"name":null,"summary":"The dead are said to be seen near the tunnel entrance. Hawks Nest Tunnel site in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. Local lore carries the account; no documentation has ever caught up with it. The report is preserved in sources like 'Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster'. Legends accrue where records go silent; this one filled the gap and stayed.","earliest":null,"evidence":"LOCAL_FOLKLORE","source":{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"entities":[{"name":"The tunnel dead","claimed_identity":"The tunnel dead","verified":null,"summary":"The dead are said to be seen near the tunnel entrance. The accounts name only a collective — the tunnel dead. Hawks Nest Tunnel site in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia carries the report the way old places do — as part of its identity. Sources including 'Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster' keep the claim in circulation. The name travels further than the proof; the sightings keep renewing the lease.","behavior":"The dead are said to be seen near the tunnel entrance.","area":null,"first_ref":null,"source":{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawks_Nest_Tunnel_disaster","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":2,"history":1,"legends":1,"entities":1,"sources":1}}