On Sunday morning December 26, 1909, the residents of
Chelsea who were just about recovering from the effects of the
disaster of 1908, were waking up to experience a new disaster.
A violent blizzard driven by terrific gale force winds and
accompanied by an extremely high tide, was lashing the coast of New
England from Block Island to Eastport, Maine. Power and lights were
knocked out from Plymouth to Portsmouth. Towns and cities were
plunged into total darkness. Streets along harbor and beach fronts
were inundated with water to the depth of several feet.
The storm created thousands of dollars worth of damage
along the coast. Seashore property at Winthrop, Beachmont and Revere
were swept away. Eight houses at Short Beach, were destroyed. The
Merrymount, the Lincoln and the Howland pavilions, Holt’s Boathouse,
along with a number of ice cream and amusement stands in Revere, were
smashed by the fury of the storm.
The angry winds, with gusts clocked as high as eighty four
miles per hour, whipped up a tidal wave officially recorded as the
highest this vicinity had experienced since the ‘storm of 1851’, when
Minot’s lighthouse, off Cohasset was washed into the sea taking with
it the lives of it’s two lighthouse keepers. The blizzard was
reported to be the worst since the ‘Blizzard of 1888’, a storm that
took a toll of four hundred lives in the north Atlantic States. The
tides of December 26, 1909, reported at a height of sixteen feet, was
higher than the tides of November 27, 1898 when the steamer
“Portland” a 280 foot side wheeler, out of Boston,
(destination: Portland, Maine) with all aboard 192 passengers and
crew, was lost in the storm without a trace.
The storm was raising havoc in Chelsea. The wind driven and
unusual high tide swept up the Island End River reaching a height of
three feet above the level of the dike, a phenomenon uncommon for
these parts. The dike, about an eighth of a mile long and of earth
construction, measured ten feet in width at the top and thirty feet
at the bottom. The extremely high wind drove enormous waves of water
directly against the wall and over the dike. Finally at about 10:40
A.M. with the continual violent pounding directly against the dike
and the water being forced over the wall, breaks resulted in three
different areas. The largest break was about 250 feet long, the
second break was about sixty feet long, while the third break was
about forty feet long. The waters cascaded through the breaks
inundating the district with 5 ½ to 6 feet of water. Cellars
were flooded, first floor occupants found their furniture and other
possessions floating in two and three feet of water.
Patrolmen James Dolan and Benjamin Vaughn were standing on
Auburn Street when they first heard the roar of water. Believed to be
the first to realize what had happened, they immediately notified the
station on the police call box, called for assistance then went about
rescuing and evacuating the residents in the area.
Like a scene reminiscent of the great Chelsea Fire of 1908,
twenty months previous, the citizens of Chelsea were caught up in the
throes of a mass evacuation fearing for their lives. Many were in
near panic. Some were carrying bundles of valuables, while others
were carrying infants and small children, having a struggle keeping
their balance in the swirling water. Scantily clad and almost frozen,
a few fled the distance to Powderhorn Hill where they were given
immediate warmth and shelter in private homes. The Police station,
fire stations and various civic organizations opened their quarters
providing relief and shelter to the unfortunate refugees. The
National Guard opened the armory with a set up of mattresses and
blankets. The evacuees were allowed to remain in the armory until it
was considered safe to return to their homes, which for some, meant
days. The flood area extended from the Island End River to the
railroad, to Spruce Street, to the boundary of Admiral’s Hill. All
the streets within this confine: Williams, Spruce, Second, Auburn,
Summer, West Third, Elm, Maple, Locust, Cypress and Carter Streets
became raging rivers filled with chunks of ice and debris. More than
three hundred homes were flooded while about three thousand people
were forced to flee their homes. Terrified men and women with
children, some being carried, others struggling to keep up with their
parents, waded through knee and hip deep water filled with floating
cakes of ice. Close to the Everett line on Locust Street a man and
wife, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Harkins, were trapped in their home by
the flood and drowned. Their bodies were discovered late in the
afternoon by the Everett Police. Many horses turned loose from their
stables to prevent drowning, were wandering around unrestrained,
adding to the turmoil. Thousands of dollars worth of property were
destroyed throughout the flooded area. The streets in the area were
damaged considerably. The gas was shut off because flood waters put
out the fires in the gas company plant on Auburn Street and water
filled the gas mains. Electric wires were down everywhere. The city
was without power and light. People had to resort to the use of
candles and kerosene lanterns.
On February 17, 1789, a charter was granted by the General
Court, to Samuel Watts and twelve other marsh owners, to build a
dike. The dike was built, extending from Jonathan Green’s farm
(Admiral’s Hill), across a marsh and Island End River to high ground
near the Everett line. This dike, after a few years, became useless.
When the Winnisimmet Land Company purchased the Thomas Furber farm,
comprising 133 acres of marsh land giving them a total of 200 acres
of the 300 acres of marsh land. They also secured all rights to the
dike. The Land Company revived the charter of 1789 and in 1845
entered into an agreement with the United States government to
rebuild the dike, each party paying one-half the cost. The dike was
rebuilt in accordance to plans of three of the best Civil Engineers
in the country at a cost of $10,000. This dike was well built and
withstood the wear for sixty-five years. It was said that in 1869 the
dike and deeds were transferred to and accepted by the City of
Chelsea. There was nothing in the city records of that year to show
any such action occurred. The next year, there was an item in the
records of 1870, of the construction of a new tide gate in the dike
at a cost of $8000.00.
Upon investigation after the flood of December 26th, it was
determined there was no actual break in the dike itself. Instead, the
inrushing water passing over the dike wore it away in three places,
down to the level of the original marsh land. Under ordinary
conditions the dike would have held back the waters. Legal status for
damages had to be determined. “The city did not build the dike,
was not responsible for it’s care and the dike was built upon private
land.” Chairman William McClintock and the Board of Control
believed the first thing to be done was to rebuild the dike to insure
the safety of the residents and property. Once the repairs were
completed the board would then take up the matter of the legal status
and settle the responsibility. It was decided that the quickest and
most durable form of repair would be a pile and sheeting bulkhead.
Emergency repairs began within three days and was finished
in eighteen days. The break occurred on Sunday morning December 26th,
on Monday morning December 27th, contractors Thomas Ruggles and W.
Rendall had been hired at fifteen percent of the cost. All plans of
construction and repair had been completed and a pile driver was in
place by afternoon. On Wednesday December 29th, a second machine was
landed on the dike. By this time the Chelsea engineering department
had completed building earthen dams around each of the three breaks.
Tides were still running high, but there was no further danger. The
dams prevented further flooding and allowed the work to progress. A
double row of piles with stringers and a row of three inch tongue and
grooved planking were driven down between the stringers and spiked in
place. Both the piles and sheeting were driven deep enough to prevent
any possible undermining by the tide. The dike was thoroughly
repaired and raised at least nine inches above it’s original grade
all at a cost of $6,500. The construction was pushed day and night
mostly through zero weather. When completed it was a durable
structure that eliminated any further recurrence of the flood.
A DETAILED LIST OF LOSSES FROM THE FLOOD