June 2nd, 1925
by Mary Raabe
first published in 2017
The streetcar bridge with Moline factory warehouse debris. Photo from HHS Archives.
It was about 7 o'clock in the evening. The hard-working residents of Hopkins had just settled in. Supper was over. The dishes were done. Moline workers were relaxing on the porch. Children were playing outside and the promise of summer was in the air. The fury hit without warning - a twister so severe it could easily be a stage three tornado by today's standards.
The devastation started in Carver County, continued slowly through Eden Prairie and Hopkins, finally coming to an end in St Louis Park - but not before causing millions of dollars in damage and leaving seven people dead.
In Hopkins, the winds lifted up a 500 foot long Moline warehouse, reducing it to a pile of kindling before smashing it against the old streetcar bridge. The Milwaukee Road Depot was destroyed, and at least a dozen homes were severely damaged or flattened. The Justice Lumber Company was scattered over Excelsior Boulevard, the State Highway Machine Shop was obliterated, a small cheese factory was blown up, and the phone company building was left in ruins.
The devastation started in Carver County, continued slowly through Eden Prairie and Hopkins, finally coming to an end in St Louis Park - but not before causing millions of dollars in damage and leaving seven people dead.
In Hopkins, the winds lifted up a 500 foot long Moline warehouse, reducing it to a pile of kindling before smashing it against the old streetcar bridge. The Milwaukee Road Depot was destroyed, and at least a dozen homes were severely damaged or flattened. The Justice Lumber Company was scattered over Excelsior Boulevard, the State Highway Machine Shop was obliterated, a small cheese factory was blown up, and the phone company building was left in ruins.
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Amazingly, Hopkins reported only one death out of the seven total fatalities. John Anderson, a visitor to Hopkins, had just finished greeting old friends at the home of J. E. Wells and was waiting for the streetcar in front of the Moline factory. his body was found in the debris of the little building in which he had been waiting.
Reconstruction began immediately. Crews from all over the state came to the aid of everyone affected, and many stories can be found in our Historical Society library of Hopkins people helping one another. |
State Highway Machine Shop building debris with Justus Lumber Company in the background. Photo from HHS Archives.
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The old Burnes school house sustained irreparable damage that day. Hopkins’ first school building was built in 1862 on an acre of land donated by George Burnes on the northwest corner of Washington Avenue and Excelsior Boulevard. The following paragraph was taken from the Hennepin County Review, printed 9 days after the storm.
“The old historical school building that had stood on the Burnes land just east of the railroad track in East Hopkins is nothing but a bunch of kindling wood. This is the school erected in 1862 and it has been proposed a number of times to remove it to the county fairgrounds to be preserved as one of the first school buildings in Hennepin County. The tornado settled its fate probably for all time."
“The old historical school building that had stood on the Burnes land just east of the railroad track in East Hopkins is nothing but a bunch of kindling wood. This is the school erected in 1862 and it has been proposed a number of times to remove it to the county fairgrounds to be preserved as one of the first school buildings in Hennepin County. The tornado settled its fate probably for all time."