Cincinnati's Deadliest Windstorm - July 7, 1915

July 7, 1915 – Downtown Cincinnati and vicinity is heavily damaged by what is first thought to be a tornado.  38 people died, hundreds were injured and property damage was estimated at more than a million dollars, the heaviest in local history at the time. 

St. Philomena’s steeple-a landmark on Cincinnati’s riverfront skyline later cleared in the 1950’s for construction of Fort Washington Way and eventually the Lytle Tunnel, fell. Houses were heavily damaged on East Pearl Street where it landed. 

A vehicle at Gibson House was blown 200 feet to 4th and Walnut Street where it lodged on the foundation of the old Carlyle Building.  Cincinnati’s Ice Company’s plant at Court & Broadway lay in ruins while another building had an entire wall sheared away.  

At 6th and Mound Street, a boarding stable that was open day and night for horses and rigs for hire was destroyed.  Eighteen people died when 5 buildings on West 6th Street collapsed.  Close by on West 8th Street, 11 members of two families died when their homes collapsed. 

The Great Storm also caused the wreck of a Cincinnati train in Terrace Park.  Three men were killed when the train carrying racehorses was blown off the track. 

Communications were cut off to the outside world and farmers were hit hard. 

Originally, believed to have been a tornado from the devastation it left behind, the storm is now known as one of Cincinnati’s deadliest winds.  No tornado was ever reported. 

The damage was all towards one direction leading to the belief that it was a type of microburst.  It struck during the evening as a violent wind and rainstorm and left behind unbelievable destruction. 

Pictures from the storm were issued as postcards in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.  Ludlow and Covington were also hit hard by the storm.