From The Times newspaper: 1892: Marseilles now a lake Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 10:55 pm | Updated: 12:11 am, Sat Apr 19, 2014. Charles Stanley, charless@mywebtimes, 815-431-4063 A catastrophic flood is nothing new for Marseilles. In 1892, after a few days of rain, a prolonged heavier downpour that started on May 3 caused severe flooding that covered much of the city and cut it off from the outside world. From appearances, only a miracle can save Marseilles from threatened inundation, reported the Chicago Herald on May 4. The almost unceasing rainstorms that have raged up and down the Illinois and Fox valleys since Sunday night have precipitated upon this large area thousands upon thousands of tons of water in excess of any heretofore encountered flood. The Illinois River was estimated to have expanded to nearly a mile wide, and deep enough in the channel to float the largest lake vessels. In (Marseilles) the situation is desperate, the newspaper reported. The most disastrous work of the flood in this vicinity occurred in the town of Marseilles, the Chicago Tribune reported on May 5. The Illinois River rose to a point 18 feet over low-water mark. The storm took the people unawares … peacefully slumbering, when, at their very doors was a raging flood, the New York Times reported, also on May 5. In Old Town, Marseilles, a small bridge across Gum Creek (was torn from its foundations and) lodged at the mouth of a culvert and, blocking the current, backed the water up and flooded the entire district. The volume of water from the bluffs north of the city continued to increase until a valley of low land in the manufacturing districts (along the river) was completely covered. Small bridges were carried away and railroad tracks washed away until connection with the outer world in all directions was cut off. With the creek blocked, the great mass of water spread out over the Old Town, which now is a lake, many families leaving their homes in boats for places of safety, the Ottawa Republican-Times reported under a headline of The Flood Gates of Heaven Torn Down. The storm started about 10 p.m. and increased in intensity, according to the Republican-Times on May 7. The storm reached the height of its fury at about one oclock this morning and remained a raging demon until nearly daybreak. There had been a frantic attempt to protect the citys factory district along the river. Hundreds of men worked in vain with shovels and teams of horses to build up the river bank by driving piles topped with 2 feet of soil. Despite all efforts, the manufacturing district was totally covered by water this afternoon, the Chicago Herald reported on May 7. As the water rose, building after building would close down, and the employees leave to await the subsiding of the flood. It will be two or three days before the more fortunate of the flooded factories can be entered at all, and it will take as much longer to remove the accumulations of mud and debris, which came with the inundation.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 12:34:59 +0000
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