On this day in 1891, storms ripped through both Duluth and Superior. the storm was reported as “without parallel in Duluth” when considering how much fell in how much time, and that “for five minutes water fell at the rate of seven feet a day.” The storm began about 2:30 in the afternoon, and between 3:08 and 3:13 let loose with three-tenths of an inch of rain, blown into sheets by a thirty-four mile-an-hour wind. Cedar blacks used to pave Lake Avenue were scattered along the road. An inner wall of the St. Louis Hotel, recently destroyed by fire, collapsed. A crew from the Duluth Street Railway Company was working on a power line between Superior and Fourth Streets along Twelfth Avenue East. During the rainfall, one of the workman started to move the company’s team of horses to a more sheltered location, when wind blew a live wire onto the rail. One of the horses stepped on the rail and was electrocuted, dying horribly in the street. The newspaper reported that across the bay, Superior experienced “a genuine tornado,” although maximum wind speed was recorded at about forty miles an hour. The storm toppled “chimneys, outhouses, and small framed dwellings” and a two-story brick building at the corner of Tower Avenue and Third Street. At least four people died. Read the Duluth News Tribune’s coverage here: Storm1891_1891-07-17_01_DNT, Storm1891_1891-07-17_02_DNT, Storm1891_1891-07-17_03_DNT, Storm1891_1891-07-17_04_DNT, Storm1891_1891-07-17_05_DNT.
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