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.
The Beardsley Saloon was located at 214 South Broadway. James Beardsley (on right with mustache) is standing with an unidentified man behind the counter. The saloon had a stove in the center and pool tables located in the back.
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 five people pictured were all members of the First Methodist Church Choir; seated: Mr. Wilson (in chair), Bertha Schuster (in black dress), Nellie Bonham (higher seat); standing: Lulu Crouch, Bert Nichols.
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.
M. V. Rowley's blacksmith shop was located at 22-24 North Broadway. The interior of the shop is shown with a man shoeing a horse and featuring horse shoes hanging from the rafters, forges, tools, anvils and a stove.
A large stove dominates one wall of the Kennedy Saloon. Wooden chairs are placed on either side of the stove. On the opposite wall is the bar with Mr. Kennedy standing behind the counter. Other features include a large mirror over the bar and several spittoons on the floor. A man is sitting in one of the chairs by the stove reading a newspaper.
The banks of the Zumbro River are spanned by a bridge at Oronoco. This bridge, built about 1876, was the second bridge at this location and was later replaced by a concrete bridge in 1918.
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.
A small group of people are standing in front of the Pierce House (built in 1877) with a carriage and team of horses in the street. The hotel was located at 215 South Main Street (now First Avenue SW). Over the years the name of the hotel changed several times: 1884 Commercial House, 1893 Grand Union Hotel, 1895 Rochester Hotel,1920 Olmsted Hospital, 1922 Rochester Hotel, 1923 Rochester's Nurses Home, 1928 Maxwell House (Hall) and 1968 Maxwell Guest House.
Martha Muir (Dieter) was born in Glasgow, Scotland on August 16, 1824. When she was about eighteen years old, she immigrated to the United States with her sister's family and settled in Ormo, Wisconsin. She married Jacob Dieter on July 21, 1859 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She lost her husband during the Civil War and she died on January 17, 1904.
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.
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.
People are pictured walking through the landscaped gardens, flower beds and walkways of the Rochester State Hospital. The hospital, also known as the Second Hospital for the Insane, opened in 1879. Farm fields are visible in the background.
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.
The force of the winds from the 1883 tornado blew the railroad bridge into the Zumbro River. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Vedder's Farm Machinery Depot was the largest in Southeastern Minnesota. It was built in 1879 and located on the corner of 5th and Broadway. About 75 feet of his store was destroyed. Albert D. Vedder and his wife were in the cellar and saved from death by heavy timbers that lodged above them and kept the ruined masonry from crushing them. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.
Only a few houses remain standing after the 1883 tornado. This is the view from Cole's Mill showing the residential section of Rochester. The tornado struck Rochester in the early evening of Aug. 21, 1883.