Cyclone of 1912

On June 30, 1912 , Mayor Peter McAra Jr. was escorting some Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) Railway dignitaries around Regina . His goal was to show the men that Regina was a new, modern city full of growth and excitement. He had much to be proud of – in the eight years since the incorporation of Regina as a city, there had been trees planted, sewer and water lines installed, and a municipal railway established. The population had grown almost five-fold, housing developments had started in areas near the city that had once been bald prairie, and many businesses had expanded into the warehouse district north of the railroad tracks. The city had been confirmed as Saskatchewan 's capital and a lavish new Legislative Assembly had been constructed. Truly, Regina was unrecognizable from the unattractive barren patch of bald prairie it had been when the CPR built their railroad tracks through the area less than thirty years before.

But as McAra stood on the front lawn of his Victoria Avenue house with the GTP officials that afternoon, he watched the modern city he'd been bragging about turned into a pile of rubble.

A horrific storm struck the city at 4:45 p.m. Within a matter of minutes, the downtown area was completely destroyed. Although the storm was called a ‘cyclone' for many years, it appears that two funnel clouds – tornadoes – struck the city that day. The funnel clouds started south of Regina and tore a path northward that chewed up houses, businesses – and people. In the end, 28 people died during the terrible storm, and over $1.2 million in property damage occurred. 2,500 people found themselves homeless by the end of the day.

The worst of the damage occurred in the heart of the downtown area. Many of the buildings were utterly destroyed. The affluent stretch of houses between Wascana Park and Victoria Avenue were decimated. The storm was capricious, razing some houses to the ground while leaving others right next door virtually untouched.

Regina 's residents were left to pick up the pieces of their broken city. The dead were buried, the injured were treated, and the rubble was hauled away. An apocryphal story says that Boris Karloff, best known as Frankenstein's Monster of movie fame, was acting in a play at one of Regina 's theatres that day. Karloff supposedly stayed in Regina and helped with the cleanup operation.

It took only a year for most of the city's buildings and houses to be rebuilt. Carpenters and other tradesmen came from as far away as Winnipeg to help with the massive rebuilding efforts. The debt stayed behind considerably longer – it took almost 40 years to pay off the loans that the city and its residents took out to aid in the rebuilding efforts.
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   Title: Presbyterian church wrecked by cyclone, Regina Sask.
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-A-506
 
  Title: North end of Regina after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-A-512
 
  Title: Damaged homes on Smith Street
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1026
 
  Title: Damage to the YWCA by cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-282
 
  Title: Side view of Princess Theatre after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-772
 
  Title: Damaged office building after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1012
 
  Title: Damage to Metropolitan Methodist Church
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1013
 
  Title: Damage to buildings on Lorne St. after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1015
 
  Title: Damage to businesses after the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1017
 
  Title: Damage to houses after the June 30 cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1020
 
 

Title: Damage caused by the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-H-2

 

Title: Regina downtown after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-H-3

 

Title: Warehouse district after the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-H-11

  Title: Damage to buildings after the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1027
 
  Title: People in front of damaged building
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1031
 
  Title: People in front of damaged house
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-B-1033
 
  Title: “ Regina before & after Cyclone June 30 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image:
p. 18
 
  Title: “ Regina before & after Cyclone June 30 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 19
 
  Title: “ Regina before & after Cyclone June 30 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: Front cover
 
  Title: “ Regina before & after Cyclone June 30 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 1
 
  Title: Downtown stores damaged by cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-244
 
  Title: Demolished house after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-246
 
  Title: Metropolitan Presbyterian Church after the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-247
 
  Title: Destroyed Winnipeg Elevator Company buildings after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-A-259
 
  Title: Destroyed and damaged houses after cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-B-100
 
  Title: Winnipeg Elevator after the cyclone
Date: 1912
Retrieval Number: CORA-RPL-B-104
 
  Title: “ Regina Tornado June 30, 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: Front cover
 
  Title: “ Regina before & after Cyclone June 30 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: Front cover
 
 

Title: “ Regina Tornado June 30, 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image:
p. 2

 
  Title: “ Regina Tornado June 30, 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image: p. 3
 
  Title: “ Regina Tornado June 30, 1912 ”
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1912
Page Number of Scanned Image:
p. 16
 
  Title: The City of Regina Golden Book
Date(s) of Creation/Date of Publication: 1908-1972
Page Number of Scanned Image:
p. 170
 

 

 

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