Historic Treasure of the Week - January 26, 1992
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - January 26, 1992
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Book documents city’s tornadoes, floods
In the spring of 1913, Vigo County was left reeling from two disastrous bouts with nature.
A soft-cover book called "Terre Haute’s Tornado and Flood Disasters," issued by the Terre Haute Publishing Co. and printed by the Viquesney Co., contains descriptions and photographs of these two events.
No sooner had residents of the southern and eastern sections of town started to recover from the tornado on Easter Sunday, March 23, than flood waters spread ruin over areas to the north and west, and to surrounding counties.
This photograph shows water rushing over the pavement just west of the Wabash River Bridge, looking toward West Terre Haute. This article will concentrate on what was reported to have happened in the West Terre Haute area, which was one of the hardest hit.
The day after the tornado, it was becoming painfully obvious that the rising water of the Wabash River and surrounding creeks was posing a threat to everything in its path.
Those living in Taylorville, now called Dresser, began to evacuate Monday night, but the worst came on Tuesday when the levee broke in three places. After that, every building in Taylorville was flooded.
Many people came to Terre Haute, some to the Light House Mission.
The saloons of George Albrecht and William Anderson were the last to be abandoned. The area was then placed under quarantine.
Water was deep in the lower part of the Valentine Packing Co. Hogs in a pen were moved to an upper deck of the building to escape being washed away.
A broken levee near Sugar Creek forced residents of Toadhop, one mile west of West Terre Haute on the National Road to abandon their homes.
Clear Creek, five miles west, also overflowed with its waters covering a large territory.
River Road to St. Mary of the Woods was completely submerged. The National Road was impassable, covered with water to Ninth Street in West Terre Haute.
Water was two-feet deep all along Paris Avenue, the main business street of the town, and at least a foot of water stood in all the stores. The floor of the Palace Theater was flooded. Nearly two feet of water stood in Cassady’s drugstore.
Some grocery stores remained open and anyone who could reach them secured their food free of charge. One of these was the McIlroy grocery.
Every mine in the vicinity of West Terre Haute closed down, and some 5,000 miners were out of work.
About 4,000 people were homeless. Many fled to Terre Haute. Some flocked to the hills west of West Terre Haute. About 200 people on Ferguson Hill, a mile and a half west, were cut off from the rest of the world, surrounded by water. Others climbed to the second and third floors of buildings.
Some were housed in St. Leonard’s Church, also surrounded by water with boats bringing in supplies of food. The Congregational Church housed about 50 people, including a pregnant woman nearing her delivery date. A boat was standing by to fetch the doctor should the need arise. About 150 families were stranded in their houses.
When it was reported that some boatmen were requesting payment for carrying people from their homes, West Terre Haute Sheriff Dennis Shea issued an order that all boats in town be made part of the rescue fleet and penalties be given anyone charging a fee.
Transportation came to a halt. The interurban tracks west of West Terre Haute were washed away for a great distance. Nearly a mile of tracks on the grade of the Vandalia Railroad gave way. The road bed for the Big Four Railroad west of the river was under water, and water flowed over the Macksville grade.
Street car traffic was discontinued across the Wabash River Bridge, but pedestrians continued to cross. There was concern for the safety of the Vandalia and Big Four bridges, but they held.
The river reached a high point on Thursday, March 27, when it crested at over 31 feet. The next day, to everyone’s relief, it slowly began to fall.
This book is part of the reference materials in the files and library at the museum.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.