1938 Hurricane
New Ipswich Historical Society
Marion Davis Audio-Tape Transcriptions
Sometime before her death in 1986, Marion Davis recorded her memories at the encouragement of her brother, Walter Buck. The recordings were transcribed by a secretary.
The Friends of Wapack have made these available to the Historical Society. Marion was born on February 8, 1894 in Fitchburg, MA.
September 21, 1938
After 8 years of running the lodge in summer Mr. Robbins decided that business was growing so that he would have to come over permanently to help me. During the summer of 1938 we had shingled the main building just in time for the hurricane, which hit us in good shape. It scooped shingles off of the roof. It was Sept. 21 in 1938. That's not all the damage it did to our property. It lifted our 3-car garage right off of its foundation. One end fell out, and the corner where the side had fallen out dropped down onto a car, broke the bows in one car, rested on another one. After it had set back against the maple trees next to the lodge. Also at the cottage up on the hill the roof of the porch had g been taken 200' right over the cottage itself; never hit the chimney or did any damage other than rip it right off of the roof of the house and turned it around bottom side up. In the Annex the windows at either end of the attic were open at an angle. Rain drove in the whole length of that attic and leaked down thru, staining ceilings and wallpaper. It was about 4 in the afternoon when Mrs. Ullich came down from up on the hill, and she said, "The screens are blowing out; something's the matter". So we went up but there was not a thing we could do; the wind was getting stronger. We came down and went out to the barn and on the open shed the roof was beginning to left. Mr. Robbins grabbed a big heavy chain and tried to lay some logs into that and all of a sudden it went higher and the posts that supported it fell out and down came the roof. So we got out of there. We had a few roosters in a pen in the barn. They wouldn't stay in it; they went out into the brush quite a ways from the building itself and huddled there.
Photo Archives
1938 Hurricane
James Roger diary entry
25th January 1913
Frost; fine day; wind west to northwest. David and Daniel burning brush at Fox place. I fixed hen yard and let out the pullets and went to mail; also swept Church and lit Coal fire and went to Selectmen’s rooms with the Hall a/c (account) for 1912; paid them $11.52. Got letter from Alice and Hamish; also parcel of cake from May.
Dips and humps still to be seen in the woods, the remnants of overturned root balls of large pine trees felled by the storm.