The Great Tornado of 1896
Mount Clemens residents suffered a great natural disaster on May 25, 1896, when the area was assailed by torrential thunderstorms that spawned a huge tornado. Portions of the city were leveled by the cyclone, which lifted buildings from their foundations and dropped them long distances from their original locations. The Mount Clemens Press of May 28, 1896 reported: "The house of Edward Moser on Belleview avenue was moved several feet from its foundation and the roof of the main part torn off. Mr. Moser saw the storm coming and went to the barn to make things secure. Just as he was about to close the door of the building he was snatched up by the wind and hurled several hundred feet through the air, landing near the Frederick Breitmeyer place. His arm was dislocated and he suffered bodily injuries. The barn was picked up and carried several hundred feet east of its foundation."
Residents clear tornado damage near the old
water works after the May 1896 storm
(photo donated by Henk Photography)
At the Charbeneau settlement, five houses and four barns were wiped out, and an immense timber from one of the barns was hurled into the residence of Captain Charbeneau. Fortunately, the inhabitants of the homes escaped serious injury.
One resident, Mrs. Dominicus Pohl, had to be dug out from the ruins of her house which had been crushed by the storm's fury, and died of her injuries four days later.
The Mount Clemens Sanitarium (eventually to be renamed the Colonial Hotel) was under construction on Gratiot Avenue at the time. The derrick had just been completed, but the tornadic winds leveled it, causing the contractor a loss of several hundred dollars and a costly setback in construction. Several of the center walls of the buildings were also blown down.
While Mount Clemens was fortunate to escape without great loss of life, the damage to homes, trees and property was enormous. Numerous buildings had been reduced to kindling. Mayor A.T. Donaldson called a public meeting to raise funds for the care of the victims. The town's theatrical community rose to the challenge with a benefit performance at Nelson's Opera House.
In an odd footnote, the storm's devastation briefly became a tourist attraction. The Rapid Railway put on extra cars and offered a 35-cent excursion to view the ruins. The Monitor reported that the Grand Trunk Railroad brought 24 cars packed with gawkers through Mount Clemens on the Sunday after the cyclone struck.
For more information on the tornado of 1896, we recommend:
[Home | Library Events | Search Catalog | Databases and E-Books | Reference Desk | Children's Services | Digital Media Archive | Genealogy | Local History ]