The great wind storm of 1919 left Ypsilanti in the dark

A large tree near the corner of North Huron and Cross Street partially fell over, obstructing traffic. Workers of the telephone company would be busy Sunday, as the tree was lodged on telephone wires. The porch was blown off one house, and a large tree crashed against the porch of another doing considerable damage.

“Considering the severity of the wind storm, the city’s electric services escaped with very little damage,” said Public Utility Director Older, to the Daily Ypsilanti Press.

“The two most serious breaks were caused by the blowing off of the roof of the Smith garage, on Grove Street, and a tree that went down near the laundry. The latter put out of commission the lights on the west side of the city, and they were out all night."

“We have kept right at it repairing damages, and the system is once more in working order. The blowing down of trees cannot be guarded against, and the older the city the more numerous will be this kind of interference with wires; until all lines are either underground or the trees have disappeared.”

“Roy Smith, taxi driver, was seriously burned Saturday night when he ran into some live wires while taking two passengers to their homes. The live wire charged the car with electricity and Smith got out and went for assistance. Before he returned the screams of the two passengers attracted the attention of William Young, city employee, and Harvey Wade, caretaker of the First National Bank. The men rescued the pair by dragging them through the taxi window. The running board was highly charged with electricity and the pair had received a number of shocks by stepping on the running board. After being released the couple were able to walk home,” reported The Ypsilanti Record of Thursday, Dec. 4, 1919.

The storm broke the poles of the interurban line, as electric street railroad, bringing service to a halt. Passengers reroute from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti and Detroit had to be transported by automobiles from the Washtenaw Country Club to Ypsilanti. There they were taken to the Michigan Central Railroad Depot at Cross and River Street, to continue their travel by train.

At the Depot, the drama of joy and grief was played out. At one end of the waiting room a wedding party celebrated with confetti throwing and screams of laughter, while at the other end a young mother quietly held her dying child. Between the two were those sitting or pacing as they waited for the train.

“I have been since 2 o’clock getting from Detroit,” said one man, “and I have quite a ways to go yet.”

“I want to go to Chelsea,” said another, “and I am compelled to buy a ticket to Jackson as the train doesn’t stop at Chelsea.”

“The weary mother, with her deathly sick babe, paid no attention to the screams of laughter coming from the group of wedding merrymakers, or to the nervous pacing back and forth of anxious travelers. Occasionally she would lift a corner of the blanket in which the babe was wrapped, her eyes glistening with moisture as she gazed on her speechless and motionless babe,” noted the Daily Ypsilanti Press.

The last passenger purchased a ticket just as the west bound train pulled into the Depot. “A fellow passenger helped up the waiting mother with her baby. She thanked him with her eyes and found a seat when a young girl impetuously forced her to take the one she had vacated.”

The bride and groom had taken the east bound train a few moments before. The storm passed, the wires repaired and the mess cleared and life returned to normal; at least for most people.

James Mann writes a monthly column on Ypsilanti history for AnnArbor.com.