Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Remembering the Flood of 1955

In August 1955 a massive flood swept through Litchfield County, Conn., caused by what  an article in The Lakeville Journal at that time described as “great rattling curtains of rain.”

The fast-moving  torrents of water impacted nearly every town in this largely rural county. It was the more developed towns that were hardest hit. The impact of the rushing waters was bad enough in the country towns,  which still had, largely, unpaved roads and smaller-scale residential and commercial buildings. 

But in the more developed towns such as Torrington and the once-thriving Winsted (which has a river running through its downtown area), the destruction was deeper and more complete. 

Paved roads, factories and storefronts were completely crushed. Rebuilding would require a Herculean effort and a great deal of money. 

Town residents pulled together. Torrington eventually came back to life. But in Winsted, it was harder. There are people who say that this factory town never quite recovered, spiritually or economically, from the flood of ‘55.

The Torrington Historical Society will host an online program about the flood on Wednesday, May 19, at 6:30 p.m. The talk is free to the public and is sponsored by Connecticut Humanities.  

Torrington Historical Society Executive Director Mark McEachern will focus on the impact the flood had on Torrington in his talk, “Black Friday: The Flood of 1955.”

According to the preview information on the show, in the flood of 1955, “Torrington sustained its worst disaster on record. Seven lives were lost, 20 homes and 28 firms were destroyed and there was extensive damage to homes, businesses and industries. 

“But, in a spirit not seen before or since, people came together, helped their neighbors and with the aid of state and federal services, rebuilt their city. “

To illustrate his talk, McEachern will share photos from the historical society’s extensive collection of images of the flood and its aftermath, including many taken by professional photographer James Miller, a Torrington resident. 

The photos here are not from Torrington; they are from Winsted. They were in the files for The Lakeville Journal issue of Aug. 25, 1955. That issue can be seen in our online archive https://scoville.advantage-preservation.com. Although you won’t see all these Winsted photos, you can read about and learn how our small area towns weathered the storm.

 

To register, go to the Torrington Historical Society  home page at www.torringtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Lakeville Journal file photos

Lakeville Journal file photos
Cynthia Hochswender

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Shinbone Alley brings spooky songs to Spencertown

Seeing isn’t always believing. Sometimes it’s the lack of a defined picture that can be the most compelling. And when Alex Harvey of Shinbone Alley sings his supernaturally charged sea shanties and street ballads, the unseen will be downright scary. On Oct. 30, the historically inclined storyteller and performer will create a spooky evening of forbidden tales and yarns through a carefully chosen series of songs at Spencertown Academy of Arts.

The repertoire for the performance is a bit fraught. Over the years, Shinbone Alley has explored the world of folklore through music. Though the group usually features two musicians, Harvey, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, will be performing solo. That is, of course, unless you include the spirits.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield

Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa meet in Sheffield
Vieux Farka Touré
Proivded

Desert winds rarely blow into the Berkshires, but on Nov. 5, they will carry the Malian blues and Moroccan Gnawa music to Race Brook Lodge.

That evening, Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, often called “the Hendrix of the Sahara,” and Moroccan musician Samir LanGus will play at the lodge’s Event Barn in Sheffield, Massachusetts, at a benefit for the foundation Touré directs.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.