The Earthquake of September 5, 1944, will long be remembered by area residents. Measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, the quake lasted 40 seconds, aftershocks continued until Sep 13. More than 1,000 chimneys fell, and tombstones were damaged and turned. Oddly, all damaged stones south of the river turned counterclockwise, while on the north side, the tombstones turned clockwise. 

Memory Shared: We were so scared. After the earthquake stopped, Mom and Dad let us three kids sit outside on the porch curled up under blankets off our beds. All we could hear was the sound of breaking glass as neighbours cleaned their kitchens, throwing broken china and glass into metal garbage cans.