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The 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Montgomery County Police Department

1922 Montgomery County Police Force

Here posing in front of Reed Brothers Dodge on July 4, 1922 is the first known photograph of the entire MCPD. Pictured left to right: Earl Burdine, Lawrence Clagett, Guy Jones, Chief Charles Cooley, Leroy Rodgers, and Oscar Gaither. Photo taken by Lewis Reed on July 4, 1922.

July 4th marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Montgomery County Police Department. Cattle rustling, bootlegging and stealing poultry were among the most common crimes when Montgomery County hired its first police chief and five officers in July 1922. So widespread was the theft of chickens and turkeys that some residents employed a homespun form of crime prevention by cutting off a specific claw on their birds to identify them. “Officers knew who all the chicken thieves were,” said one historical account of the era put together by the police department, “and upon getting a report of missing Rhode Island Reds, or some other breed, would head straight for the thieves’ hideaway to try to catch them ‘red handed’ before the birds got to the frying pan.”

Posing in front of Reed Brothers Dodge on July 4, 1922 Chief Charles Cooley, center, and his men of the first mounted unit of the Montgomery County Police Force, were on their first day of duty. For several years, since there was no police station, the officers would meet for “roll call” on the steps of the Red Brick Courthouse in Rockville at 2:00 p.m. every day to let each other know they were alive and well. Chief Cooley was given the privilege of a Model T Ford. The chief was paid $1,800 a year (the chief now gets $112,564) while the officers got $1,500. Each of the officers was issued a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a .38 Smith & Wesson handgun, a black jack, law book and was allotted $300.00 a year for the upkeep of their motorcycle. Jones patrolled Silver Spring, Rodgers the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area and Burdine, Clagett and Gaither the Upper County areas.

The county’s population in the early 1920s was just 35,000 (it’s now more than 800,000). Much of the county was farmland, which accounted for the thefts of livestock. It also was the Prohibition era, when bootlegging and moonshine still factored routinely on an officer’s shift.

The officers worked 14 hours at night, 10 hours in the day, with two days off every two weeks. But they were on call at all times. Since there was no mobile radio contact (the first one-way radio system was installed in cars in the early 1930s), the officers tended to hang around the courthouse or a local firehouse that had a phone.

One of the officers came up with the idea of placing a flashing red beacon light on a pole atop the Rockville courthouse. When flashing, it would alert police that they had a call or were wanted at the office. In 1927, similar lights were used at district stations in Silver Spring and Bethesda.

As part of the 100th anniversary celebration, there will be a Commemorative Ceremony at the Red Brick Court House on July 7, 2022 from 10am-12pm that will mirror the swearing in that took place 100 years ago. The Chief will reveal the contents of the time capsule that was buried 25 years ago, as well as reveal the contents of what will be placed in the new time capsule. This event is free of charge to attend. For more info and other scheduled events, click here: https://www.mcpd100.org/live-events

Congratulations MCPD and thank you for your many years of service!

Some of the Earliest Occupations in Montgomery County

Do you know what a Qwylwryghte, a Stock Maker, or a Hackneyman does? These are some of the old occupations, of which many are archaic, that may show up on old documents relating to our ancestors. Some of the occupations do not exist today or are called other names. Below you can find representations of many varied occupations that Montgomery County residents engaged in during the early 20th Century, though the list is not at all comprehensive.

Blacksmith/Wheelwright/Cabinet Maker

A qwylwryghte — don’t ask me to pronounce it! — is one who makes wheels, or works with wood.

Philip Reed outside of his Blacksmith Shop ca. early 1900s.

Philip Reed (1845-1918) outside his blacksmith shop in Darnestown, ca. 1901

Formerly located on Darnestown Road near the intersection of Seneca Road, Philip Reed operated a blacksmith, wheelwright, and cabinet making business next to his home. These occupations overlapped due to the similar skills they required: the same metal-working tools that were used for horseshoeing could be used to make wheel-rims and other metal wagon parts; the same woodworking skills that created wagons could be used to make pieces of furniture for the home. As late as 1910, there were still approximately 60 blacksmith shops in the county.

Stock Maker

Philip Reed

Philip Reed (1845-1918), Maker of Gunstocks for Sportsmen

From the June 13, 1940 edition of The Montgomery County Sentinel:

We also read that Philip Reed built up great fame for the town as a maker of gun stocks for sportsmen – he was the father of the Reed Brothers, our local auto dealers. Edgar Reed tells us his grandfather was a cabinet maker and wood carver, but that the wood working talent no longer seems to run in the family.

A Stock Maker carves gun stocks from wood (usually walnut) and fits them to the metal parts of the gun (receiver and barrel). Very high grade firearms may have stocks fashioned from very costly blanks, mostly of one of the walnut varieties, specially chosen for its rare and highly figured grain. The fashioning of high end gun stocks calls for an extremely high level of skill and craftsmanship.

Liveryman

The meaning of Hackneyman is a man who hires out horses and carriages.

Livery-Stable Keeper, Darnestown

An unidentified livery stable in Montgomery County.

Closely related to the blacksmithing and wheelwrighting industry, the livery-stable keeper provided horses that were used in everyday tasks and transportation. The liveryman boarded horses for rent and also provided carriages and wagons. Compared to our modern world, the blacksmith-wheelwright correlates to the auto repair shop, and the livery to the car rental business.

School Teacher

early 20th century school teacher

Ethelene Reed

At the turn of the century, teaching was one of the only respectable fields open to educated women who wanted to work. Many unmarried women worked as teachers during the 1900s, and in the early days, they were often required to leave the profession once they were married. The 1920 census indicates that Lewis Reed’s wife, Ethelene (pictured above), was a teacher in the Maryland public school system until her daughter Mary Jane was born in 1922.

Ice Cutter

Ice harversting on pond in Darnestown with pitchforks

Men harvesting ice with pitchforks and hand saws on a pond in Darnestown, 1910. Note the blocks of ice stacked up along the shoreline.

Most people wouldn’t consider the months of January and February a season of harvest in Darnestown, Maryland. But in our not so distant past, this was harvest time for—ICE. Rivers, lakes and ponds are generally frozen and ice was harvested like a winter crop to keep food cold all summer long. Before modern refrigeration, ice for refrigeration was obtained organically through a process called “ice harvesting.” Ice cutters would risk their lives going out with saws, tongs, and pitchforks to methodically cut and drag blocks of ice from a nearby frozen pond. Those blocks would then be stored in hay-packed ice houses, later distributed throughout towns and cities during the heat of summer. However, people did not put ice in their drinks as we do now. The possibility of debris having been in the water as it froze – even a bug now and then – discouraged the idea.

Store Clerk/Cashier

Clerks at J. F. Collins General Store on East Montgomery Avenue in Rockville, 1914. At left is A. F. “Seen” Beane, who bought this store from Collins in the 1920s and continued doing business in downtown Rockville until his retirement in the 1960s.

The cash register was invented in the late 1800s, and by the 1900s almost every retail organization had one. Store owners sometimes conducted business with their customers, but the more lucrative establishments would hire one or more clerks as assistants to interact with the public. By 1915, more than half of all clerical workers tended to be young women.

Chauffeur-Mechanics

1910 Chauffeur

Chauffeur Lewis Reed is tending to the motor, 1910

Chauffeur-mechanics of the early 1900s were the first group to earn a living working on automobiles. At the dawn of the early 20th century, society was transitioning from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles. Having grown up in a blacksmith family, Lewis Reed was well positioned to move to the new technology. The 1910 census indicated that 23-year-old Lewis Reed was working as a machinist. Lewis Reed worked as a chauffeur from roughly 1910-1914, before he became involved in the business of selling and repairing automobiles.

Motorman and Conductors

Trolley motorman and conductor

Motorman and conductor on a Georgetown trolley car, ca. 1908

The debut of Rockville’s trolley cars in 1900 marked the beginning of a golden age of local mass transit. Each car had a two-man crew (a conductor and a motorman) one to operate the car and the other to collect fares.

Mill Worker

Early 20th Century Mill Worker

Two workers pose inside an unknown mill.

A mill is a building equipped with machinery that processes a raw material such as grain, wood, or fiber into a product such as flour, lumber, or fabric. In the 18th and 19th centuries, mills were powered by water in creeks or rivers. In a flour mill, water flowing over the mill wheel was converted by gears into the power to turn one of two burr stones. Kernels of wheat were then ground between the two stones. The grinding removed bran (the outer husk) from the wheat kernel, and then crushed the inner kernel into flour.* Flour mills were an important part of rural communities across the country, including Montgomery County, and millers were respected members of their community.

Farmer

Agricultural steam tractor

An agricultural tractor powered by a steam engine, a design used extensively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Thomas Kelley's Pumpkin Farm 1920

Thomas Kelley’s Pumpkin Field, early 1920

Above is a photograph of three men in suits pumpkin picking in Thomas Kelley’s field of pumpkins in Pleasant Hills, circa 1920. Tom Kelly farmed much of the land around the Pleasant Hills homestead and was famous for his “Kelly Corn” farm wagon of fresh dairy produce during the summer months, as well as the corn that fed visitors to the Montgomery County Fair each August and, of course, his pumpkin patch in the fall.The turn of the century was a time of transition, and the families who went from horses to tractor horsepower witnessed the birth of mechanization on the farm. The newest farm machinery to hit the market near the turn of the 20th century were traction engines powered by steam; essentially the predecessor to today’s modern farm tractor. They could plow, they could haul, and you could put a big belt on the fly wheel and drive a saw mill. The engines would normally run on coal, wood, or even straw: whatever would sustain a fire.

Francis Flack of Montrose on steam tractor with roof, 1909. Built by Geiser Manufacturing Company, makers of the Peerless line of steam tractors.

Steam helped improve the efficiency of most farm chores, including plowing, planting and harvesting. And steam-powered equipment also was used for other heavy duty tasks, including rock crushing and wood cutting, to aid in clearing the land. Francis A. Flack (1875-1961), a life-long resident of Montgomery County, was a successful farmer in the lower section of the county near Garrett Park. The work depicted below–sawing felled trees into usable lumber–took place on his farm in 1909. Flack is pictured in the lower left photo.

As a Michigan farm boy, Henry Ford recorded his first sight of a traction engine:
I remember that engine as though I had seen it only yesterday, for it was the first vehicle other than horse drawn that I had ever seen. It was intended to drive threshing machines and power sawmills and was simply a portable engine and a boiler mounted on wheels.

It was the steam traction engine that inspired Ford to design and manufacture automobiles. By the early 1930s, gasoline-powered farm equipment, evolved from the automobile industry, had mostly replaced steam powered machines.

Road Worker (Heavy Equipment Operator)

Building a road requires moving earth and rocks, leveling the roadbed and digging trenches for drainage ditches. These tasks fell to those who operated the large steam-powered excavating machines and steam shovels. Pictured above are rare, historical photographs that Lewis Reed took of the construction of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC as it was being graded in 1912. (click on thumbnails to view gallery)

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving large amounts of heavy material such as rock and soil. Steam shovels played a major role in public works in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When digging at a rock face, the operator simultaneously raises and extends the dipper stick to fill the bucket with material. When the bucket is full, the shovel is rotated to load the railway car. Steam shovels usually had a three-man crew: engineer, fireman and ground man.

Census Taker

Tabulating Machine Company

Two-story building that housed Hollerith’s card manufacturing plant, assembly plant, repair shop, and development laboratory, as it appeared in 1911.

The U.S. Census of 1900 reported about thirty Rockville residents employed by the federal government, with the majority working for the Post Office, War Department, or Census Bureau. Before becoming interested in automobiles, Lewis Reed was one of the original employees of the Hollerith Computing Tabulating Recording Company, a Georgetown-based manufacturing firm that eventually became International Business Machines, Inc. (IBM computers)

Then & Now: Tenallytown & Rockville Pike Trolley Line

The latest installment in my Then & Now series takes us to south of Montrose Road where the Tenallytown and Rockville Pike trolley line intersects with Rockville Pike. The black & white photo was taken by Lewis Reed in 1910. The corresponding color photo is a Google Maps image, more than 100 years later. Matching the photos was a bit difficult as the location has changed so much, but you get the idea.

The Tennallytown and Rockville Railroad, which opened in 1890, was an extension of the Georgetown & Tenallytown Railway. The street car line was extended to Rockville in 1900 terminating at the fairgrounds. During the fair each fall, traffic was so heavy that two-car trains were run to accommodate the crowds. Later a further extension was made through Rockville on Montgomery Avenue to the Chestnut Lodge Sanitarium on the far side of town. In 1935, the Rockville trolley line ceased operation, leaving gasoline-powered buses as the only mode of public transportation serving this corridor until the Metrorail Red Line opened in 1984.

THEN: Tenallytown and Rockville Pike Trolley Line, 1910

In this photograph dated 1910, a trolley heads south from Rockville toward Tenallytown through open farmland. The view appears to be looking north and shows the area south of where Montrose Road intersects with Rockville Pike. The Pike is the white strip running diagonally behind the trolley car. The elevated vantage point, possibly from an adjacent rooftop or the roof of a barn, affords an excellent view of the rural countryside.

1910 trolley car

A trolley heads south from Rockville toward Tenallytown through open farmland. This view appears to be looking north and shows the area south of where Montrose Road intersects with Rockville Pike. The Pike is the white strip running diagonally behind the trolley car. Photo by Lewis Reed, 1910

NOW: The Bethesda Trolley Trail

Today, the six-mile Bethesda Trolley Trail connects Bethesda and Rockville for bicyclists, runners and pedestrians, following the route of the Tenallytown and Rockville Railroad, the former trolley line.

Woodglen Drive follows the old Bethesda Trolley Trail route today. The junction now is far from the tranquil road it once was. Google Maps image.

If there’s an historic wayside marker on the side of the road in Montgomery County, chances are, one of Lewis Reed’s images is on it. From Trolley to Trail Marker in Bethesda is one of many markers in Montgomery County that feature images from Lewis Reed’s collection of photographs.

From Trolley to Trail Marker in Bethesda

Location: Marker is in Bethesda, Maryland and can be reached from Norfolk Avenue near Rugby Avenue.
Duplicate: Another nearly identical marker is located at the exit ramp from westbound Montrose Parkway to northbound Rockville Pike (MD 355).

From Trolley to Trail Marker in Bethesda

From Trolley to Trail Marker in Bethesda

From Trolley to Trail Wayside Marker in Bethesda.

From Trolley to Trail Wayside Marker in Bethesda. Close up of photos on marker taken by Lewis Reed.

Gallery of Early 20th Century General Stores in Montgomery County

Some of the earliest general merchandise stores in Montgomery County were located in Rockville, and on the roads leading to it. They were community-oriented businesses: the owners were friendly and knew all the locals. Day books kept by merchants at this time indicate they kept open accounts for their customers, allowing them to buy items on credit, and occasionally accepted payment of items in trade rather than currency. Toward the end of the century, some general stores found it more profitable to stop being “general” and specialized stores (selling only drugs, hardware, or farming equipment) became more common.

Rockville Business District, 1914

The heart of Rockville’s business district ran east-west on East Montgomery Avenue and Commerce Lane, spanning approximately eight blocks. Proximity to the courthouse influenced many hotels, professionals, and businesses to locate along East Montgomery Avenue, Commerce Lane (now West Montgomery Avenue), and Washington Street. Craftspeople and merchants often lived on the second story of their building or in a dwelling house next door.

The shops sold groceries, baked goods, sewing machines, hats, lumber, and hardware. Families lived above their stores, renting rooms to others. From right to left is the H. Reisinger Bakery, Confectionery, Ice Cream and Lunch Room, 5 and 10-cent Bargain Store, W. Hicks General Store, Suburban Electrical Company (SECO), and a two-story dwelling.

Rockville Business District, 1914

A view of the North side of Commerce Lane near the courthouse. Right to left: H. Reisinger Bakery, W. Hicks General Store, Suburban Electrical Company (SECO), and a two-story dwelling. Note the trolley car approaching from the left. Photo by Lewis Reed

W. Hicks General Store, 1914

Washington Hicks operated the general or dry goods store in Rockville from the late 19th century until 1940. His son W. Guy Hicks continued to run the store until his retirement in the late 1950s. The upper story of the building was the living quarters of Mr and Mrs B. F. Hicks. The building was later acquired by W. Valentine Wilson, who tore it down and replaced it with the “SECO” for Mr Wilson’s Suburban Electric Company. The ground floor was made into a moving picture theater in 1915. Sidney Lust took over the operation of this theater between 1931 and 1935 and renamed it the Arcade. He closed it down on April 21, 1935 and opened the new Milo later that year.

W. Hicks Store MontogomeryAve , 1914

Washington Hicks operated this dry goods store in Rockville from the late 19th century until 1940. His son W. Guy Hicks continued to run the store until his retirement in the late 1950s. The photo shows the storefront in 1914. Photo by Lewis Reed

H. Reisinger Bakery & Confectionary, 1914

Below: H. Reisinger Bakery, Confectionery, Ice Cream and Lunch Room, 5 and 10-cent Bargain Store on Montgomery Avenue, Rockville. Prices were very low– in 1899 and 1900 Reisinger’s regularly advertised bread for 4 cents a loaf– yet wages were low also.

From The Baltimore Sun, 22 Sep 1912, Help Wanted Section:

WANTED – A sober, reliable all-around CAKE BAKER and ICE CREAM MAKER for retail trade; $14 per week, board and lodging. H. REISINGER Rockville, Md.

H. Reisinger Lunch Room Montgomery Ave, 1914

H. Reisinger Lunch Room Montgomery Ave, 1914. Photo by Lewis Reed

General Store at Quince Orchard, 1906

A small school for white children was established on the northeast corner of Darnestown and Quince Orchard Roads around 1850. It was damaged during the Civil War and eventually burned down in 1873. The school was rebuilt on the same site in 1875 but was moved across the road next to Pleasant View Methodist Church in 1902 after the fire destroyed the school for black children. The General Store at Quince Orchard was built on the same site shortly after the school building was moved.

General Store at Quince Orchard 1906

General Store at Quince Orchard, 1906. Photo by Lewis Reed

Windsor Store in Darnestown, Early 1900s

Mr James Windsor, grandfather of Curry England, opened the Windsor Store at the corner of Seneca and Darnestown Roads in approximately 1878. He operated the store for many years, and also served as Darnestown’s Postmaster for some 20 years. During the 1800s mail arrived three times a week by stagecoach from Rockville and local people gathered for the arrival, creating a regular social event. The Darnestown Post Office was discontinued in 1911. The Windsor building survived until 1969, when it caught fire and burned to the ground.

James S. Windsor Store Darnestown,, early 1900s

James S. Windsor Store Darnestown, early 1900s. Photo by Lewis Reed

Downtown Germantown, ca. 1906

The original downtown Germantown was located at the intersection of Route 118 and Clopper Road. At the turn of the 20th century, most of the activity shifted to the railroad station and mill. General stores, a post office, a bank, and houses were constructed in this new downtown area. Everything from lengths of cloth to a medium rare steak could be purchased at the general store and post office on the right. Opposite the store were the mill and various small industries.

Downtown Germantown, 1906

Downtown Germantown, 1906. Photo by Lewis Reed

Halpine-Lenovitz General Store, 1906

The Halpine Store, also known as the Lenovitz General Store, was built on Rockville Pike in 1898, taking advantage of the prime location on the trolley and railroad lines and the Pike. The store sold food, gasoline and other items to locals and Pike travelers. There is a young African American man standing in front of the store. Note the telephone or telegraph poles, and the trolley tracks paralleling the road. The nearby Halpine railroad station also brought customers to the area, and the store became the social/community gathering place for the Halpine area.

The proprietors, Benjamin and Anna Lenovitz, lived on the second floor. The building burned in 1923 and a new fire-resistant brick building was rebuilt in its place. This building, at 1600 Rockville Pike, became a Radio Shack, selling computers and electronics.

Halpine-Lenovitz General Store at Rockville Pike and Halpine Road, 1906

Halpine-Lenovitz General Store at Rockville Pike and Halpine Road, 1906. In this photo, there is a young African American man (unidentified) standing in front of the store. Note the telephone or telegraph poles running the length of the street. Photo by Lewis Reed

Clarksburg Main Street, 1913

In the early 20th century, Clarksburg was the third largest town in Montgomery County, after Rockville and Poolesville. Clarksburg had four general stores, two hotels, and an academy of learning. It also had a blacksmith, a doctor’s office, tanneries, shoemakers, winemakers, tailors, wheelwrights, fertilizer businesses, skilled farmers, master carpenters and two town bands.

Mainstreet Clarksburg, 1913

Main street (Frederick Road Rt 355) Clarksburg, 1913. Photo by Lewis Reed

Unknown General Store, Early 1900s

While every store was different, there were similarities among them, including a front door that was often decorated by tin signs advertising for tobacco, cigars, shoes, hardware, and more. The sign in front of this unidentified mercantile advertises Battle Axe Shoes, Stephen Putney Shoe Company. Usually, general stores featured double doors that opened inward and lots of barrels that might contain any number of items — from pickles, to crackers, potatoes, flour and candies. The store was usually an unpainted, two- story frame building fronted by a raised porch for convenient loading and unloading.

Unknown Country Store

Circa 1900s country store on a dirt road. Note the sign advertising Battle Axe Shoes. Two ladies standing on the porch. Location Unknown. Photo by Lewis Reed

J.F. Collins General Store, 1914

On a bleak night in February 1921, a pistol shot was fired while others yelled, “Fire!”. From John Collin’s store on East Montgomery Avenue — beloved by local children for Cracker Jacks and penny candy — flames reached toward the sky. Volunteers arrived with buckets while others operated the hose reels and hook and ladder truck. The main street was saved with help from men and equipment of Washington, D.C., but Collins’s store was a smouldering ruin. A few weeks later, fifty concerned townspeople elected officers of the newly formed Rockville Volunteer Fire Department.

J. F. Collins General Store, 1914

Clerks at J. F. Collins General Store on East Montgomery Avenue in Rockville, 1914. At left is A. F. “Seen” Beane, who bought this store from Collins in the 1920s and continued doing business in downtown Rockville until his retirement in the 1960s.

Find photos like these and much more on Montgomery History’s online exhibit, “Montgomery County 1900-1930: Through the Lens of Lewis Reed“.

The 5th Deadliest Tornado in American History (Aftermath)

One of the deadliest tornadoes in American history hit Gainesville, Georgia on April 6, 1936. And Lewis Reed was there to capture the aftermath. On the 86th anniversary of this epic tornado, I have posted eleven original snippets of history that Lewis Reed captured through the lens of his camera that day.

It all started as part of a storm system that hit Tupelo, Mississippi on April 5th, 1936. The Tupelo tornado, which registered as an F5 on the Fujita Scale, emerged from a complex system of storm cells and created a monster soon known as the fourth-deadliest tornado in U.S. history. It tore through houses, killed entire families and was even said to have left pine needles embedded into trunks of trees. One of the survivors of that storm in Tupelo was none other than a one-year-old Elvis Presley.

Unfortunately, the tragedy of that storm didn’t stop there. The system moved east overnight.

Take a look at some of the sobering aftermath photos of the deadliest tornado to ever hit Georgia … through the lens of Lewis Reed. As always, click the photos to get a better look.

1936 Gainesville Tornado

View of part of the damage done to the Pacolet Manufacturing Company when a tornado struck the area. This textile mill had been established in 1901. New Holland was a community located just north of Gainesville. Photo by Lewis Reed

The devastating tornado continued beyond Gainesville, next striking New Holland, about two miles to the east, where it heavily damaged the massive Pacolet Mill, a major producer of textiles (as well as nearly 100 homes). The Digital Library of Georgia states that the Pacolet Mill was heavily damaged. Remarkably, no one in the mill was injured, as the workers saw the storm coming and evacuated from the upper floors, then ran to the building’s northeast end which remained intact after the tornado struck. (They knew where to take refuge as a result of an earlier tornado which struck in 1903, killing about 50 people in the mill.) After extensive repairs, Pacolet Mill resumed operation.

1936 Gainesville Tornado

Another view of Pacolet Mill. Photo by Lewis Reed

The overall destruction was barely able to be tallied. Department stores collapsed killing dozens of people, residential areas were devastated with nearly 750 homes destroyed and more than 250 were badly damaged. Buildings caught fire, trapping people inside. It was even reported that the winds were so high that letters from Gainesville were blown almost 70 miles away and found in Anderson, South Carolina.

1936 Gainesville Tornado

A man stands on second floor piles of rubble amidst the ruins of a demolished business. Only a few partial walls and floors were able to withstand the tornado strike. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

Stunned survivors survey what’s left of their town in this view of the widespread damage in the city streets. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

A man stands by piles of rubble amidst the ruins of a house. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

The storm that struck with ‘lightning swiftness’ hit the Royal Theatre straight on, also doing major damage to train cars and train tracks running through town. Utility poles were blown over and hung with twisted metal. Photo by Lewis Reed.

1936 Gainesville Tornado

This photo documents the power of the tornado to toss around even massive railroad cars. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

Shambles of homes struck by the tornado. The twister stripped trees of their leaves and left branches hung with twisted metal. Photo by Lewis Reed.

1936 Gainesville Tornado

Eight to ten feet of debris piled up along a street while a few houses remain erect despite having sustained damage. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

Many of the businesses experienced extensive damage. Some stores later offered “tornado sales” to dispose of the damaged goods. Photo by Lewis Reed

1936 Gainesville Tornado

House leaning at a precarious tilt after having apparently been moved from its foundation. Photo by Lewis Reed

The death toll in Gainesville was officially 203, though some accounts place it higher. Property damage was in excess of $13 million dollars, or what would be $1.3 billion in damage by today’s standards. More than 1,600 persons were injured and more than 750 homes were damaged or destroyed. The storm that hit Gainesville on April 6, 1936 remains the fifth deadliest tornado in U.S. history. President Franklin Roosevelt toured the city three days later, and returned in 1938 to rededicate the courthouse and city hall after a massive citywide rebuilding effort.

Sources:
Wikipedia – 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak
The Digital Library of Georgia