These overturned railroad cars described in the newspaper account give evidence to the power of the storm that hit Lone Rock on May 21, 1918. The box cars were among the first casualties.

The collapsed building in the left foreground is the Farmers and Merchant Bank and the Core and Wells hardware store. It was in this building that P. C. Pitkin, editor and publisher of the Tri-County Review was killed. A photo very similar to this appeared in the Richland Center Rustic of May 24, 1918. This view is looking north, the buildings are on the west side of the street.

This view is from a point about two blocks west of Oak Street, just north of the railroad tracks and looking north.

The plank driven through the wall demonstrates the freakishness of the tornado.

These houses were among the more than twenty residences destroyed.

Having occured nearly 84 years ago, there are few left who were there at the time. But there are some. They were children then and they remember the cyclone of 1918.

More information about the 1918 tornado can be found at the following sites:

NOAA Richland Co. Tornados
WX-FX

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© C. J. Tustison 2002 - 2005