1907 RPPC Dubuque, Iowa - Storm of August 15 - Photo of Downed Railroad Bridge

Description: This is a real photo postcard of a railroad bridge washed out by a freak storm on August 15, 1907, in the Dubuque (Iowa) area. This is likely a bridge that spanned Catfish Creek as the article clipping indicates. It took a lot of research to just find this small article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Perhaps some Dubuque newspapers from this time were more elaborate but, even though it sounded like this storm was particularly damaging, it's not listed as one of Iowa's historical storms. It seems like it was a mostly forgotten storm. Therefore, this is a rare photograph of that storm's damage. The article is a bit difficult to read so here is a transcript (bad grammar and all): DUBUQUE ALSO SUFFERS.Dubuque, Iowa, Aug. 17-One of the fiercest storms in the history of the city broke over Dubuque Thursday night, causing destruction to property that will amount in the thousands, delaying traffic, washing out railroad bridges, delaying trains, destroying telephone and telegraph wires, and causing what narrowly escaped being a serious panic in the big tent of the Barnum & Bailey show, thousands of people having gathered for the evening performance.The absence of wind alone saved the day, as it was the thousands of frightened people were driven from the tent in the pouring rain by the circus hands who feared a collapse of the big tent. Fifty feet of embankment of the Milwaukee railroad bridge at Catfish has been washed away, 100 feet of track of Rockdale destroyed, a large lumber shed of the Frudden Lumber company washed into the river, and lumber amounting to thousands of feet swept into the raging torrent of the Mississippi. One thousand telephones are reported out of order because of the storm, and crops throughout this section are terribly injured. Strange that such a storm didn't find its way into Iowa's history books. Condition is overall good. Some light stains (mostly noticeable on the back) but no tears or creases. Standard postcard size

Price: 49.5 USD

Location: North Liberty, Iowa

End Time: 2024-12-24T01:45:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.25 USD