Thursday, June 28, 2018

Tornado of 1924

On June 28, 1924, a deadly tornado struck Sandusky and Lorain. Over eighty people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured. In Sandusky, over one hundred homes and twenty-five businesses were destroyed. Those killed in the Sandusky area included R.F. McKee, William Hampton, Howard Van Blarcum, Jacob Schaefer, Minetta Margard, and Howard Wobser, age 14, from Castalia. Mrs. Julius Kardatzke of Vickery, John Hinton, a native of Kentucky, and Mrs. Eleanor Stacks, from Cleveland, later died from injuries sustained during the tornado. 

The standpipe at the Water Works was crushed by the tornado:


The roundhouse at the B & O Railway was destroyed. R. F. McKee and Jacob Schaefer, who lost their lives during the tornado, had been employed by the B & O Railway.


The Kilbourn Cooperage on East Water Street was destroyed, along with much of its stock:


Area residents viewed the damages at  on Market Street:


The National Guard was brought in to assist in the clean up following the devastating tornado:


These are just a sample of the photographs and postcards in the holdings of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Visit us to view these and hundreds of other images from the 1924 Tornado. Extensive coverage of the 1924 Tornado was featured in both the Sandusky Register and the Star Journal, both available on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Jack Vance, an Associated Press operator working at the Register on June 24, 1924, was hailed as a hero for his coverage of the tornado. He was given the distinction of “breaking” the big news story.  Mr. Vance was in his office at the Sandusky Register as the tornado hit Sandusky. In the darkness of the storm, debris hit Vance’s window. He took his copy about the tornado over to the Western Union Telegraph Company, but there was no wire. He rushed to the telephone, only to find that there was no connection. There was an automobile outside the Register’s building. Jack Vance jumped into the car, and drove to the New York Central Railroad office, where the story was transmitted over the railroad wire.

3 comments:

Ed Daniel said...

Our parents, Cyril and Eleanor (Klingbeil) Daniel were married on June 24 , 1924, in St. Mary's Church in Sandusky. On their honeymoon they took the train to Cleveland, Niagara Falls, and Montreal. They were on the train on their way to Quebec City when they saw the headlines of an English-speaking Montreal paper, being read by a passenger in the seat in front of them, that a tornado had struck Sandusky on the 28th. Needless to say, they were very upset, not only for family members back home, but also because their brand new house, being built at 1126 Fifth Street by Dad's uncle Ben Erney, was only 5 blocks from the bayfront. They cancelled the rest of their planned trip, and took the next train back to Sandusky. Fortunately, when they returned home, they found that the house had sustained no damage. Over the years, 5 of us children were raised in that house. The house still stands, 94 years later, a testimony to Uncle Ben's building expertise!!

Anonymous said...

Terrific memories!

Unknown said...

Thank you for the terrific writeup!

I think I may have Jack Vance's Telegraph key (bug)
It came to me in a large morse code key collection I purchased last year

Here are some pictures:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14D1Aj6FajCPHdzliGwi8qlkH2dckIElY?usp=sharing

best,

brian