On
Thursday, April 12, 1945, at 10:20pm just hours after
residents learned of the death of President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, a tornado struck Quincy without
warning. Nineteen people were reported injured but
no one died.
The storm had touched
down in Palmyra, Missouri, before striking Quincy.
It then continued on to Mendon, Plymouth, and Industry,
Illinois.
Mayor Edward Schneidman
declared a state of emergency. Governor Dwight Green
activated the state militia, and nearly 175 state
police officers were sent to Quincy. On Friday, sightseers
were so thick that the militia has to fix bayonets
to clear people from the streets.
Losses from the tornado
were estimated at about $1 million.
A second serious storm
hit the city on July 2. This storm destroyed many
of the trees in the city, damaged numerous buildings,
and cut CIPS transmission lines that interrupted services
to all Adams County. |
Photographs
donated by the Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County...
(click
each image for a large version)
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Alley
between 5th & 6th, on Hampshire next
to the Hotel Quincy |
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Between
6th & 7th, looking west down Hampshire |
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Between
5th & 6th, looking east down Hampshire |
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Rear
of St. Peter's Catholic Church at 8th & Maine |
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Chatten
Implement Company, 10th & Broadway |
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Stern
Building, northwest corner of 5th & Hampshire |
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Rescue
of two residents, rear of Werneth's Market,
between 6th & 7th on Hampshire |
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Hampshire
Street, between 5th & 6th, looking
west |
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South
side of Hampshire, between 5th & 6th |
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Adams
County Court House, south side, east wing
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St.
Peter's Catholic Church |
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St.
Peter's Catholic Church |
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Hampshire
between 6th & 7th, taken from rear
of building |
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Consolidated
Oil Building, Front Street |
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Photographs
donated by Arlene Middendorf... |
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Richardson
Lubricating Company, Front Street |
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Adams
County Court House, Vermont Street side
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Adams
County Court House, Broadway side |
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Belasco
Theater, 6th & Hampshire |
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Hampshire
Street between 5th & 6th Streets |
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7th & Hampshire, south side of street
next to Musselman Building |
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Jefferson-Johnson
Motors, 323 Maine Street |
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Rear
of St. Peter's Catholic Church, Meyer-Schutter
Grocery at 120 South 8th Street. |
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East
side of 4th Street, between Jersey & York |
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