Typed letter signed by Clifford M. Holland, Chief Engineer of the Holland Tunnel sent to a Harvard classmate in response to a letter concerning the beginning of the tunnel's construction by Clifford M. Holland - 1920

New York, 1920. Unbound. Very good. This one-page letter on the stationery of the New York State Bridge and Tunnel Commission and New Jersey Interstate Tunnel Commission, measuring 8" x 8.5", was written to Mr. Leon C. Hills of Washington, DC, on October 17, 1920. The lot also includes a newspaper clipping annotated Sunday, Feb 26, 22 about the tunnel titled, "Hudson River Tunnel Means Jobs for Many." The letter and clipping are in nice shape; lightly toned.

Holland's letter is apparently in response to a newspaper article (not the clipping in this lot) in a Washington newspaper announcing that funds had been appropriated to build the tunnel. It reads in part: "We are now engaged in a big undertaking which is occupying every minute of my time, but it is very interesting and a great pleasure. . . .".

In 1920, funding was approved for what was then known as the "Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel Project," and in 1922, construction began in New York at the corner of Canal and West Streets. Holland, the tunnel's designer and chief engineer, died on October 27, 1924, the day before the tunnel was completed. Doctors attributed his heart attack to the stress of overseeing the tunnel's construction. The tunnel was named in Holland's honor two weeks later on November 12, 1924.