South Bend, Indiana Flood
June 1855
About the middle of June, 1855, there was a
great fall of rain, which swelled the river with
great rapidity, so much so that on Sunday night,
the 17th of that month, the danger became so
imminent that a number turned out, and worked
all night on or about the darn at South Bend.
The river still rose, reaching the highest mark
it had ever attained, and still continued its
upward course, increasing the danger at every
hour. At about 9 A. M., Monday morning, when
citizens of the town were still fighting the
waters, which had risen to a point about two
feet above its previous high-water mark, the
head-gates of the race gave way, and the torrent
poured through, with all the drift logs and
other debris that it had accumulated. First it
swept off the woolen factory’s dye house, then
spent its severest force on
Mr. Matthews’
oil mill and Rose &
Kimball’s veneering mill, until at
last, having torn out the river hank of the
race, it converted what was intended as the race
into a portion of the river, leaving the mills
and other buildings above and below the bridge
as islands in the stream. After this work of
destruction, the water did not rise any higher,
but Monday night part of the bridge which
crossed the river was washed away, cutting off
communication with Lowell and the northeastern
part of the county. Fortunately no lives were
lost, though Silas De
Camp had a narrow escape from being
drowned. When the head-gates gave way, he was,
with many others, at work on “the point,” and
was swallowed up, as the ground under him gave
way, by the torrent, and swept under the tons of
drift that were rushing along on its surface,
but fortunately came up below the drift, and
coolly swam ashore. The damage done the
manufacturing interests was immense and quite
discouraging to those who had their all
invested.
History of St. Joseph County, Indiana,
1880, pages 539-540
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