One hundred years ago — June 2, 1925 — a tornado ripped through Chaska and Carver at about 7:15 p.m. killing three in the Carver area and leaving a huge trail of destruction in its path.
According to the headline in the Weekly Valley Herald, the local newspaper prior to the establishment of the Chaska Herald, damage estimates from the storm totaled more than $200,000.
The Chaska Historical Society distributed an email communication this morning, authored by Charles Pederson, alerting supporters to the 100th anniversary of the tornado.
“Never in the history of Chaska has anything like this occurred and we hope never again,” the Herald editor wrote in the newspaper later that week in 1925. “It will take a long time to recover from the shock and the damage inflicted.”
The storm caused significant damage to the newspaper office, forcing a delay in the publication of that week’s edition.
“The editor was so busily engaged digging himself out of the wreck that we have had little time to make personal investigation,” the editor wrote in his first-person account.
The Guardian Angel’s School, Carver County Courthouse, Chaska Creamery, American Crystal Sugar, Rex Theatre, Chaska Mill, Chaska High School and numerous residential homes were among the many structures that were heavily damaged. Numerous trees in City Square Park were downed by the high winds and the gazebo was damaged.
The Park Pavilion near Carver collapsed on a farewell party being held there, killing three partygoers, according to the newspaper report.
