125 years ago today, Grand Forks was blown awayGRAND FORKS — A
hundred twenty-five years ago today, a tornado ripped through
the heart of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. By: TJ Jerke, The
Dickinson Press GRAND FORKS — A hundred twenty-five years ago
today, a tornado ripped through the heart of Grand Forks and
East Grand Forks. It killed eight, injured 100 and caused an
estimated $60,000 in property damage, or about $1.6 million in
today’s dollars. Yet it has been largely lost to the collective
memory of area residents. No plaques remember its victims. No
history books attested to its destructive power. That’s where
Vince and Nancy Godon, of Grand Forks, and Kelly Kramlich, of
Aberdeen, S.D., come in. In 2006, the Godons, both
meteorologists for the National Weather Service office here,
were researching climate data in University of North Dakota’s
Chester Fritz Library when they stumbled across a photo of
damage done to Old Main, once the university’s first building.
The photo read in light pencil, “Universi