Reprinted from the 51st Waterford Fair Booklet, October 7, 1994.
On the afternoon of June 16 this year, a powerful wind storm ripped through the Waterford historic district, taking with it many 200 plus year-old trees. These trees had witnessed the development of Waterford from an 18th Century milling center to a thriving 19th Century commercial town serving the needs of the surrounding farming community. The result was a monstrous tangle of downed electric and telephone wires, broken tree limbs, and upturned tree roots as tall as a grown man. The clean-up process took days of around-the-clock work by power companies, VDOT and tree services.
The storm hit the northeast side of town, working around to the southwest. The highest points of the town and surrounding hills suffered direct hits.
The damage to buildings was largely the result of huge trees falling on porches or roofs and ripping great gashes in the fabric of the buildings. The homes on the north side of the Big Hill and the east side of High Street felt the full impact of the storm, being vulnerable because of their location on higher ground than most of the town. Two grand Victorian style houses narrowly avoided damage as many of the very large trees between them were destroyed by the wind. One owner described how the wind and resulting internal pressure in her home sent the roof access door to their attic sailing across the garden. Likewise, at Mill End, an imposing house across from the Mill at the lower end of town, the greatest damage was suffered in the gardens surrounding the house where some 22 trees were damaged or destroyed.
The Waterford Foundation’s Mill was a victim of a tree falling from Mill End, which is located on higher ground. The impact of the full length of the enormous tree split the tin roof and pulled the bricks loose down the north face of the two upper stories. Ironically, its location on lower ground did not save it from damage because of the height of its four stories.
