Since I have to go shoot yet another
episode of “High School Bowl” (and, if you think we're shooting
them a lot these days, we really are, but only have a few left to go)
I'm going to leave you with the newspaper article I wrote for the big
show tomorrow night. I've promised to do it a few times, and since I
always try to keep my promises, here 'tis.
Tomorrow, how I'm still trying to wrap
my mind around the fact that we sold out the show three days before
we hit the stage. And how the next few days are going to
be...insane.
Sadly, perhaps, just the way I like it.
8-)
(jim@wmqt.com)
******
One of the
rainiest days in Marquette history led to one of the worst scenes of
destruction in the downtown area of the city since the Great Fire of
1868.
July 28th,
1949 started off as a hot & sticky day in Marquette, part of a
nation-wide heatwave that would eventually claim a hundred victims
throughout the U.S. That afternoon a cold front began to move
through the area, with a leading edge that brought rain to a wide
swath of the Midwest.
The most
torrential of that rain hit Marquette County.
Between
7:15 pm & 10 pm that evening 3.93 inches of rain fell on the city
of Marquette, which at the time set a one-day record, according to
the National Weather Service. The rain (and the lightning that
accompanied it) knocked out electric and phone service to most of the
city, and overloaded Marquette’s water and sewer system. It
also flooded buildings, tore out railroad lines, and washed out an
entire block of a Marquette city street–
The 100
East block of Spring Street.
The excess
rain water, which was running down the street’s hill, eroded the
pavement and dug a gaping valley through the middle of the street.
It also damaged the walls and foundations of the structures that at
that time lined Spring Street. On the south side of the street
40 feet of a wall of the Tonella & Rupp store was damaged, while
at the bottom of the hill the south wall of the Reliable Service car
dealership was washed away, threatening to collapse the three story
tall building’s foundation.
The
rushing water also washed out both the LS& I and the DSS&A
railroad tracks that ran along Lake Street at the bottom of the
Spring Street hill. All of that damage, combined with flooding
along the Whetstone Creek and in south Marquette, led city officials
to estimate that the three hours of rain caused over half a million
dollars damage (equal to about $8 million today).
 |
| Photo courtesy Superior View Studios |
The damage
wasn’t limited to just the city of Marquette. Ishpeming
reported receiving over 5 inches of rain during those three hours,
but with no major incidents to report other than a few flooded
basements and broken windows. Passenger train service from the
Chicago & Northwest Railroad was also shut down in Marquette
County as track washouts near Goose Lake made travel impossible.
The damage
ended as soon as the rain stopped. Almost all Marquette
residents had their electricity restored by the next day, and
receding waters allowed the resumption of passenger train service the
day following. Work also began on the buildings damaged by the
Spring Street flood, an area that became a popular destination for
city residents looking to take pictures of the destruction and,
perhaps, to pick up a souvenir or two.
The street
itself was eventually filled in and rebuilt by city crews over the
next several months. The businesses operating along that block
of Spring Street continued operations throughout the entire time.
Several
days after the storm, C.O. Tucker, who was a meteorologist with the
National Weather Service in Marquette, did the math and estimated
that 694 MILLION gallons of water fell on the city during the three
hour downpour.
Since
then, according to the National Weather Service, the one day rainfall
record for Marquette has been broken twice–-with 4.1 inches on
October 24th, 1959, and then again with 5.1 inches on May 12th,
2006. But neither of those storms seems to have caused the
massive amount of damage as was caused by the storm that hit
Marquette the evening of July 28th, 1949.
