Connecticut is not generally known for tornados. However, on August 9, 1878, starting in Community Lake, a deadly tornado swept through Wallingford, killing 29 people and causing severe damage to homes and buildings close to the center of town. The book pictured below, History of the Wallingford Disaster, was published within the following two months, with detailed accounts of the tornado’s destruction and its aftermath. An artist on the scene made the engravings pictured in the book. The graded school building (first two photos below) is where Moses Y. Beach Elementary School now stands. The graded school building, though destroyed, was used as a temporary hospital for the wounded and a place to bring the deceased.
