A timber was impaled through a fourteen inch oak tree by the force of the 1883 tornado. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Several people are viewing the damage from the 1883 tornado. A man is standing next to a piece of furniture and a boy is sitting with a large toy horse. Among the debris on the ground is a stove, windows and an umbrella. The inscription on the photo is: ""Cascade Park, 20 houses destroyed, 8 persons killed near here."" The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Two children are sitting on piles of bricks at the rear of the destroyed Rochester Harvester Works building. Piles of lumber and bricks surround the children. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
The destroyed C. Smith's residence is shown with the roof on the ground. In front of the collapsed building in a pile of rubble is a boot and a stove. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Part of the destroyed residential section is shown in this photo taken after the 1883 tornado. Several homes are badly damaged and many are completely destroyed. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Cole's Mill , located in North Rochester, lost part of the roof and sections of the walls in the 1883 tornado. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Winter view of a homstead cabin near South Juncion, Manitoba on the Minnesota side of the border. The individuals include Richard and Ole Holland, Knute Olson and Sophus.
Note on back of photograph reads: Taken Feb 27th 1897 on N.P.R.R. [Northern Pacific Railroad] in 1st cut east of River 17 ft from top of drift to the rail. Morris can be dimly seen in the distance just east of Pomme de Terre River (F.E.W.) [Frank E. Ware].
Note on back of photograph reads: Jewel Rotary Snow Plow working in N.P. Yards. Column in center is smoke, that on either side is snow. (about where round house now stands) Feb. 1897.Exhibit: Weather or Not May 2001 -
Two women are walking among the debris, another woman is sitting down. The trees have lost their leaves in the storm. Very little is recognizable among the piles of rubble except a chair and a wagon wheel. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
The destroyed Proud's residence is shown in this photo with the wagon wheels among the debris in the front. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
View is to the northwest on 4th Street South from about 7th Avenue. In the foreground Adolph Bowman and Molly Otto sit in a row boat on a flooded coulee. Beyond a man sits on the railing of a flooded bridge which normally crosses the coulee. In the middle distance beyond the row boat stands the Ole M. Martinson house, now home to the Rourke Art Gallery 523 4th Street South.
View is to the southwest from Main Avenue and 3rd Street South. Scene shows the flooded Woodlawn Park neighborhood. In the foreground is the Dudrey Brothers' Cooperage with the black smoke chimney. The Moorhead Municipal Water and Light plant smokestack is in the far distance. A small house in the foreground at right is cabled to a tree to keep it from washing away.
A woman and three small children sit in a row boat tied up to a picket fence on a flooded Moorhead street, probably in the Woodlawn Park neighborhood. Fooded homes line the far side of the street.
View is to the west from 4th Street South toward the Ole M. Martinson House, home to the Rourke Art Gallery at 523 South 4th Street. Visitors sit in three row boats and stand on the sidewalk on 4th Street.
View is to the north from the Moorhead Manufacturing Company's Flour Mill on the Moorhead side of the river just south of the Main Ave bridge. The Main Ave bridge is visible in the foreground as is the Northern Pacific Railway Bridge weighed down with locomotives and box cars to keep the bridge from washing away. In the distance at left can be seen steam tractors parked on the North Bridge weighing it down. These tactics worked as no bridges were lost during the flood.
The destructive force of the tornado is evident in this scene of destroyed homes in the residential section of North Rochester. In the early evening on Tuesday, August 21, 1883, a cyclone devastated the city of Rochester. About one third of the city was completely destroyed and the remainder was heavily damaged. North Rochester, or Lower Town was the hardest hit. This section of the city was largely inhabited by working people.
This photo was taken in North Rochester near the Cook and Proud residences. People are looking through piles of rubble. A dead horse is in the foreground, possibly impaled with a tree or branch. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
The west end of Cole's Mill was blown in, the roof blown off, the corner of a wall torn out, the machinery damaged and the cooper shop destroyed. Eight box cars were overturned and two carloads of flour were in the mill race. John M. Cole, the proprietor of the mill was found dead in the street between the mill and his residence. He had apparently left the mill to go home when he was killed by the storm. In the foreground is the leveled home of Paul Thompson, who worked for the mill and occupied a home rented from the mill. The stove is all that is recognizable of any of the house furnishings. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
This large building was completely destroyed by the 1883 tornado. Roof timbers are broken and laying on a pile of loose bricks. The caption reads ""Machine Shop"". The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
This photo shows debris caught in trees, trees with no leaves and piles of rubble everywhere. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.