Terre Haute Postcards - Disaster Scenes (1)

More postcards from my collection...

Tornado, March 23rd, 1913

This unused postcard has no other printed text.

Tornado, March 22, 1913

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on 2nd May, 1913, has the following printed text...

Leslie Whitton,  New Phone 869, 16th and Van R.R.., Terre Haute, Ind.

This unused postcard has the following printed text...

Leslie Whitton,  New Phone 869, 16th and Van R.R.., Terre Haute, Ind.
AZO stamp trade mark

I do not know what this scene is of but presumably it is one of the March 1913, tornado that Leslie Whitton photographed.

Tornado, March 22, 1913

This unused postcard has the following printed text...

Tornado, March 22, 1913, Terre Haute, Ind.
Leslie I. Whitton, 16th and Van R.R.., New Phone 869

The next postcard, belonging to the folder of the 1913 tornado and flood, is of the same scene as this one.

These next three come from an unused, undated set of 15 called the "Indiana Flood and Cyclone Views" It was published by D. V. Peden of 128 East Vermont Street, Indianapolis. Apart from Terre Haute there are views of Brookville, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Logansport and Peru. Where the postage stamp was to be pasted it says "One Cent Stamp Here". I was hoping that this would give some clue as to the date, but according to the History of Postage Rates in the United States site, the 1c rate for postcards covered the entire time up to January 1952.

Terre Haute Home Wrecked by Tornado

The "Home" in this case is the Louden Boarding House, destroyed by the tornado of 1913. It was located at First and Voorhees Streets. The Greenwood School which was nearby became the rescue station and morgue. The tornado struck at about 10pm on Sunday, March 23rd, 1913, coming out of the southwest with winds in excess of 100mph. Days after the tornado, the Wabash River flooded to a depth of 31 feet 10.5 inches causing major flooding made worse when a levee north of the town burst.

Factory District of Terre Haute Wrecked by Wind

Wabash River at Terre Haute. Town of Taylorville Submerged

Taylorville is a small community over the Wabash river opposite Fairbanks Park.

1913 Terre Haute Flood

This postcard is unused and has no other text. It does have an AZO stamp cartouche that dates it between 1904 and 1918.

Take a look at this and then the previous card, they are almost parts of the same panoramic view.

Terre Haute Flood

This postcard was posted in Terre Haute on April 11th, 1913 and has the printed text...

Flood, Mar. 27, 1913, Terre Haute, Ind.
Leslie I. Whitton, 16th and Van R. R., New Phone 869

This page created 7th March 2005, last modified 19th June 2009