Construction on the Paw Paw Tunnel began in 1836 with a workforce composed largely of English, Welsh, German and Irish laborers. Plagued by accidents, disease, worker riots, and financial woes, the tunnel finally opened in 1850. Six million bricks were used in its construction which required cutting through 3,118 feet through stratified shale with hand tools and black powder charges. A strike in 1922, a flood in 1924, and the decline in demand for coal, which was a major source of freight revenue for the canal, after World War I led to its closure in 1925.
