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History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Tornado/Cyclone of 1914
June 24
Destructive
storm struck the northwestern section of the city, inflicting
significant
property damage, especially in an area of North Second St.
Most
frequently referred to as a “cyclone.”
The
storm also destroyed the Fourth St Bridge.
__________________________________________________
Watertown Gazette, 06 25 1914
WATERTOWN VISITED BY A CYCLONE
The Worst Storm Ever Experienced Here.
Causing Many Thousands of Dollars’ Worth
of Damage.
Shortly after 2 o’clock Wednesday morning
this city was visited by a cyclone, the damage caused running into the
thousands of dollars. It was the worst
storm ever experienced here, and had it occurred during the daytime when people
were moving about, no doubt many lives would have been lost. The storm came up from the west and lasted
only about 15 or 20 minutes, but during that short time it made 
a sad wreck of many homes in the northern
part of the city. The west side of the
city suffered but little and that only in the loss of a few large limbs from
shade trees, and small damage to the roof of the canning factory and to the
roof of a home owned by John Evans in North Church Street, caused by a large
tree being blown over onto it. Several
large trees were blown down in the southwestern part of the city. The north side suffered the greatest
loss. With all the havoc tendered it
seems strange that no lives were lost.
Mrs. Edward Lietzke,
who occupied the upper flat of the Gruel place at Lynn and North Second streets
narrowly escaped death in the storm. She
arose from her bed and while closing a window on the west side of the house a
large piece of timber struck the window and the entire mass struck her in the
face and breast and inflicted dangerous cuts.
She was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital as soon as medical aid could be
procured and at this writing it is thought she will recover. The William Hartig
Brewing Co. and Kohlhoff Bros & Knispel, proprietors of the Badger State Bottling Co. and
ice dealers are the heaviest losers. The
Hartig bottling building
was demolished, their small ice house was totally destroyed and the brewery
building suffered slight damage.
Kohlhoff Bros. & Knispel’s
large ice house at the foot of Lynn Street was unroofed and the ends and
sides torn asunder. Just east of the
ice house, the home of Henry J. Wetzel was badly damaged, a chimney on the house
was blown down and broke through the roof, falling in a bed from which two
children had just risen and had they been a moment longer delayed from getting
out of bed, they certainly would have been killed.
The homes of Henry Kroening,
Edward Else, Frank Schlieve, Jos. Fischer, H. A.
Schumacher, Anton Kratschiner suffered greatly and
many other homes in North Second, North Third and North Fourth streets were
more or less damaged.
The west
walk on North Fourth Street bridge was torn to pieces and hundreds of large
shade trees were torn from the roots.
The early morning scene presented in that
section of the city would lead one to believe that the city had been bombarded
by a dozen or more battleships. To the
north and east of Watertown many farmers suffered considerable loss to barns,
silos, etc. Nearly the entire population
of our city was attracted to the scene of destruction on Tuesday, and early on
Wednesday a subscription list was started with good success to help those who
could ill afford the loss sustained.
PATH OF
DESTRUCTION
< click to enlarge
Cross References:
Watertown
Daily Times article of 06 26 2014, cyclone or
tornado?
Lynn
Haney
June
25 at 1:01am
We
lived in the house on 2nd & Lynn that Mrs. Lietzke
lived in! I remember my mother telling us
the story about how a woman looking out the upstairs bedroom window got hit by
a piece of wood during a tornado. Brings
back many memories of that house.
Anthony
Reichardt
June
25 at 12:47am
My
Grandmother, Bernadette Scheiber, was 12 years old in
1914. She lived at 512 N. Washington
and said that she remembered the tornado passing between her home and the one
to the north. Her father, Frank Scheiber, ran his business as an undertaker and also sold
pianos out of a small building (510 N. Washington) on the property up near the
sidewalk. (That building's address is
now 508 N. Washington). The photo shows
what the property looks like today
PALM SUNDAY TORNADO OF 1965
April
10, 1965: Twenty-two barns were damaged
or destroyed in the town of Watertown on Sunday when a tornado ripped through
this area. Two homes were completely ruined and seven others received partial
damage. Eleven sheds and two garages were partially wrecked or torn down. The
homes of Jack Wollin on the River Road and of Merlyn
Bass in Rock River Paradise were a total loss. The home of John Koser in Rock River Paradise was almost completely ruined.
Keith Schlitz, Coffee Road, lost part of his home and all other buildings. A
barn, all sheds and 20 head of cattle were destroyed on the Edwin Schroeder
farm located on the Little Coffee Road. William Boettcher, County Trunk XX,
reported that one barn was completely smashed by the wind, and one barn, a shed
and his home were damaged. Two silos were also severely damaged.
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin