Tornado of 1920

On March 28, 1920, Palm Sunday, a tornado ripped through Elgin just as many people were leaving church.

In an era where a radio was still extremely rare and only one house in a block had a telephone, there was no way to warn the community of what was coming their way. After a devastating three minutes, businesses and homes were destroyed, churches were half gone, and buildings had been leveled.

In the end the tornado claimed 8 lives and injured 100 as it made its way from St. Charles to Elgin and then on to Wauconda.

View a collection of photos from the 1920 tornado on Illinois Digital Archives.