One hundred and two years ago, on July 10, 1919, a tornado ripped through portions of Bradford’s High Street, Clarion Street, and the Rochester Street area, killing a young child and an old woman, totally demolishing five homes, and damaging 75 others.

It was said to have “all the primitive fury of a Hun invasion” as it tore a narrow path across the city…. many buildings were wholly or partially unroofed, chimneys torn down, trees uprooted, hundreds of panes of glass destroyed and other damage done along the edges of the path swept by the storm.”

It had been a typical summer day, but that afternoon about 3 p.m., the sky turned a dark, inky black, a tremendous rain began, and the strong wind picked up. Lightening flashed. Trees and branches fell onto the various telegraph and telephone wires throughout the city, including the fire alarm system which caused the fire bell to begin clanging uncontrollably. People, worried and frightened, looked up as a strange eerie color was seen in the west.

At 3:30 p.m., a black funnel could be seen over Quintuple Hill, coming from the West Branch area. The tornado had first touched down in St. Bernard cemetery, toppling 50 headstones, and knocking down the grave marker of the late Rev. William Coonan who had died in 1915. The twelve ton, thirty-two-foot-high obelisk of the Barry family was lifted and rolled nine feet down the hill. An angel on another obelisk weighing 1,000 pounds belonging to the Kinney family was torn away but undamaged. A nearby barn and 30 apple trees next to the cemetery were leveled.

Ahead of the tornado people could see a swirling cloud of tree branches, boards, dirt, and other debris that had been gathered by the wind and heard a roar, sounding like that of a train as it approached.

Minutes later, the huge funnel touched down on the upper Erie railroad yard where a large warehouse owned by the South Penn Oil Company stood. Built of heavy timbers, covered with sheet iron with a shingle roof, the structure was picked up as if it were a toy, twisted around and dropped back down to the earth, leaving nothing but a shattered pile of building material. It was “as if it had been bombed with overseas war machinery.”

Now the tornado turned to the northeast. Clarion Street, which branched off Elm Street, lay directly in its path. Here, five houses were totally destroyed. The debris from the home of Joseph Miller, No. 49 Clarion St. was scattered for hundreds of yards. Four of his eight children were in the house when the twister hit; two ran to safety in a neighbor’s house, but Frank, age 13 and Florence, age 9, who stayed behind, were injured and later taken to the hospital. At 53 Clarion, Mrs. Sylvester Hart was holding 13 month old Ludwig in her arms when the tornado struck. The wind snatched her up and tossed her across the creek into branches of a downed tree but she held tight and never let go of the child. Both were relatively unhurt, although in shock. Her other child, two-and-a-half-year-old Anthony Frederick Hart was not so lucky — he suffered severe head injuries and died later that day. Three other houses across the street were destroyed “stripped of nearly all evidence that human habitations had existed there.” The remaining houses were moved from their foundations; roofs torn off, windows smashed and porches ripped away.

Next on the tornado’s path was Rochester Street. Two houses were lifted from their basement walls, carried high in the air, and then smashed downward, completely splintered and destroyed. Buildings on both sides of the street were badly wrecked, and those left standing were missing windows and chimneys. Due to fallen trees and house wreckage, the street was impassable.

On High Street, similar damage occurred, houses shoved off their foundations, outbuildings carried away, trees twisted out of the ground, and countless broken windows. At 162 High Street, a 2 x 4 board was driven right through the corner of the house.

As the tornado climbed up Mount Raub hill, it reached the old B.B. & K. narrow gauge railroad grade where the second death occurred. Mrs. Mary Radle, age 82, who lived in a small house near the old grade was literally carried 200 yards up the hillside by the storm, then dashed to the ground. Her body was found several hours later.

The next day, the Bradford Era interviewed Jack Middleton, who was on a B.R.& P. train that was stopped in Bradford during the tornado. He said “in all my experience as a resident of England and as a soldier in the Boar War, I never saw anything like the scene that unfolded as the tornado came sweeping along. The dark cloud kept spinning along, accumulating an ever-increasing pile of refuse. Parts of dwellings, barns, sidewalks, etc. were soaring through the air and there was a constant roar.” He added that he believed the tornado simply skipped over the train he was on.

Minutes later, the tornado went on its way, up and over Mount Raub, Sawyer City and Dallas Road lay ahead, and they suffered equal destruction.

As soon as the storm had passed, huge crowds of people congregated at the scene of devastation. Volunteers from The Bradford Chapter of the American Red Cross quickly organized and immediately arranged aid to the homeless victims, finding them shelter in private homes and hotels around the city. Mayor North called out extra police to patrol the area.

The next day the sun shone, and despite the loss of nearly everything, the people in the damaged neighborhoods greeted the day with optimism and enthusiasm. The newspaper reported that they displayed “cheerful zeal in the work of rebuilding.” Men were seen nailing shingles on roofs; whole families worked at replacing windows, former neighbors and relative brought food, clothing, and furniture and offered temporary housing. People sorted through piles of boards and debris, looking for personal items.

Rochester Street was cleared of rubbish and made passable again. Life went on, in testament to the resiliency of Bradford’s inhabitants.

A relief fund was established to help the unfortunates. An editorial in The Era praised the relief efforts, saying “Yesterday’s tornado disaster calls loudly to the generous spirit of the community. The heart of Bradford is always moved by the cry of distress and generous response is assured.” In two weeks, the relief fund reached over $12,200 or about $189,000 in today’s value.

Today, time has erased all signs of the worst tornado that ever hit Bradford.