Intersection of Ludlow and Barnham Streets, in the city’s Northside section, during the Great Flood of 1914. The late-January flood was a result of an unseasonable warm spell dumping the melted remains of the Great Blizzard of 1914 (which itself had also indirectly led to the Cronin & Sons sawdust factory explosion) into the already swollen banks of the Ostahanoc River.
The flood, plus the Great Downtown Fire of 1911, the Great Carsonhurst Tornado of 1912, the Great Tin-Cart Riots of Late 1913 and the deaths of two mayors from a flu epidemic in late 1914, helped to cement city’s reputation as a center for disaster and instability that would last for years.
– RJ White
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