1917 tornado

From ‘Rose City’ to ruins
Tornado of March 11, 1917, still one of city’s worst-ever disasters
Three men were found buried in this rubble but were miraculously unhurt, according to notes written on the back of this photo. The tornado did kill 22 people and still ranks as one of the city's worst disasters.  Photo courtesy Henry County Historical Society.
Three men were found buried in this rubble but were miraculously unhurt, according to notes written on the back of this photo. The tornado did kill 22 people and still ranks as one of the city’s worst disasters. Photo courtesy Henry County Historical Society.
April program to feature author of Lincoln Funeral Train book
The Henry County Historical Society will team with Historic Knightstown Inc. to present a program April 13, as Knightstown author Robert Reed discusses his upcoming book on the Lincoln Funeral Train.

The 2 p.m. event will be held at the New Castle-Henry County Library Auditorium. It will come just two days before the date Lincoln died – April 15, 1865.

Reed, a well-known author and journalist, has done extensive research on the Lincoln Funeral Train and the reaction it received on its journey from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Ill. Part of that path, of course, took the train through the southern portion of Henry County. Through newspaper archives, Reed has compiled stories and reactions of people as the train passed through.

For more information, contact the Henry County Historical Society at 529-4028.


By DARREL RADFORD
[email protected]

The month of March was not kind to New Castle in the early 1900s. In recent columns, we’ve told stories of the 1913 flood and the mysterious disappearance of Catherine Winters, both of which happened in March. Just four years later, something even more devastating would come this way during the third month of the year.

At 3:02 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, 1917, many New Castle lives were changed forever. In just a few terrifying minutes, 22 people were killed, hundreds were injured, 500 homes were damaged or destroyed and many of the city’s triumphant greenhouses were leveled in what would be part of $1 million suffered in property damage.

As if Mother Nature were a surgeon and had a knife in her hand, a tornado cut a deadly and precise path through town. Late historian Herbert Heller wrote that the storm hit the western part of the city and cut a swath varying from a few feet to two blocks wide easterly across New Castle.

The tragedy dominated headlines not only here, but across the state and even in St. Louis, where a newspaper headline there proclaimed “Rose City In Ruins.” Many of the greenhouses were in the tornado’s path of destruction. “The frail construction of the glass-covered buildings fell easy prey to the wind,” one newspaper reported.

Local historian Herbert Heller wrote that because of the storm, the frames of the Heller Brothers Greenhouses which held the glass roofs were sold “and the business never again reached the peak of earlier days.”

A Fort Wayne newspaper report captured the terror of the moment.

“The moans of dying and screams of persons less injured who were pinned under the ruins of their homes was heard on every side,” it read. “Most of the dead were taken from homes that were completely demolished.”

Local newspaper reports were just as grim.

“Men, women and children are seen on every hand with arms in slings, bandages around heads and liberal patches on faces,” a New Castle paper read. “The two morgues were filled with a never-ending stream of visitors from daylight until late in the evening. It was estimated that 10,000 or more viewed the remains of victims in the disaster. Tear-stained eyes of many visitors indicated that they had friends among the dead, but the majority of the visitors were attracted to the city only from curiosity.”

“Rose City” would never quite be the same again, and yet, kindness and charity seemed to bloom in all directions.

The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offered sugar, flour, meats and potatoes to New Castle residents. More than $9,000 in donations poured in from all around the state. Cities from Ohio to Illinois to Texas contributed. The Maxwell Motor Co. in Dayton sent $2,000. Montgomery-Ward in Chicago sent another $1,000.

Compassion overshadowed shock, according to local newspaper reports. Hundreds found themselves homeless, but were welcomed with open arms by their more fortunate neighbors.

“Later reports of relief work show that nearly every one in the city who can accommodate any of the storm sufferers are offering their homes to them,” one newspaper report read.

Obviously, there were no bulldozers or cranes available at that time for clearing debris. City officials called on farmers to bring teams of animals in to help.

“It is the belief of the people of New Castle and especially those directly in charge of relief work that scores of farmers will be glad to offer the use of their teams two or three days for this work,” a newspaper account read. “A hundred teams can be used and those willing to donate the same should call the relief committee.”

Other interesting tornado facts:

— The Western Union Telegraph Co. sent and received approximately 12,000 messages in the days following the tornado.

— Several garages were lifted off their foundations and carried several hundred feet away.

— “An interesting feature of the storm was the fact that no horses were killed but a large number of automobiles were damaged,” a local paper reported. “Overturned automobiles that had been torn out of their garages were seen on every hand.”

— The Indiana Rolling Mill, one of New Castle’s larger factories at the time, was demolished. C.W. Mouch, president of the company, was in the offices at the time. He joined Mr. and Mrs. Harry Newhouse in a large vault were the books and records were kept. All escaped uninjured.

— Nearly all houses were destroyed on Lincoln Avenue, South Main Street, South 14th Street and A Avenue. Damage was also heavy from 18th to 25th streets.

— The fact that it was Sunday probably saved New Castle from even more deaths. The South School — of course, empty at the time — was completely demolished.

More information on the 1917 New Castle tornado is available through the Herbert Heller “Historic Henry County” books available at the museum and the New Castle-Henry County Public Library. A map showing the path of the tornado is featured in the book “New Castle: A Pictorial History” which is also available for review at the museum and the library.

Darrel Radford is executive director of the Henry County Historical Society and a staff writer for The Courier-Times.