Case file · Folklore / legend
John Henry and the Big Bend Tunnel
The steel-driving man who beat a steam drill and died with his hammer in his hand is placed by tradition at the C&O's Big Bend Tunnel near Talcott, built 1870–72.
1872 CE · 37.65, -80.75 · status: disputed
The account
A statue stands above the tunnel. Tunnel workers told of hammer blows heard after his death. Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson has argued instead for a convict laborer named John William Henry at the Lewis Tunnel in Virginia.
The sceptical view
Whether John Henry was one real man, which tunnel he worked, and whether the contest happened are all still debated.