Suncook, New Hampshire Flood

March 1936

Suncook River Ice Breaks, Parts of Mills Closed

SUNCOOK. March 19.-- The ice covered Suncook river, which rose to alarming proportions Tuesday broke up this morning and at noon the hurtling stream presented a fearsome sight as the swirling ice pounded and pushed. Scores braved the rain to watch the huge cakes sweep over the unfit dam on Main street. At this point the water had not reached the peak attained in the recent flow but was rising steadily. The Buck street road to Epson was closed early last evening. At a point four miles from Suncook, in the section known as Bombay bridge, the road was under two feet of water.

It was reported that a dam in Gossville had collapsed, adding to the mounting menace.

At about 10 o’clock Supt. John O. Bellerose of the Pembroke water works was called to investigate a break in the system in the vicinity of Epsom. More than 300 residents of Pembroke street were without water.

The Webster mill machine shop located on the ground floor was knee deep in water while in the adjacent Pembroke mill the lower weave room was shut down indefinitely. The retaining wall near the Main street bridge had to be banked with three feet of sandbags to halt further damage.

Manchester Leader and Evening Union, Manchester, NH 20 March 1936

Transcribed by Helen Coughlin.  Thank you, Helen!

Search for more information on the Suncook Flood and other disasters in the  Historic Newspapers Collection.  The number of newspapers on line has recently doubled - search over 1000 different newspapers. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

Search for ancestors in Suncook NH among billions of names at ancestry.com. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.

History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire 1884 Read it online at ancestry.com.  Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.