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Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 29., The tornado of 1851. (search)
The tornado of 1851. Few residents of West Medford today know of, or can form an idea of the scene of devastation and ruin presented in this now beautiful section of Medford after the tornado or cyclone of seventy-five years ago had passed through it. Friday, August 22, 1851, was a hot, sultry, oppressive day. As the afternoon waned, the quiet was ominous. An old resident, who had been a sea captain, made remark, If I was at sea I should expect a waterspout. Suddenly, at about quarter past five, there appeared in the west beyond Wear bridge a whirling cloud, something in shape like a spreading tree or an inverted cone. Its lower part seemed to writhe about like the trunk of an elephant, reaching toward the earth. As it came on over the river, it began its terrible work, as if with teeth and jaws of steel. Its track covered a space of about eighty rods wide, taking the general course of High street with varying force and incredible velocity. Passing over the valley of M