News & Features
February 2005

Natural Disasters have no boundaries
Flood of 1936 decimated area
By Pauline Merrick
Brookfield Historical Commission

Brookfield has certainly never experienced a disaster approaching the magnitude of the recent tsunamis in Southern Asia. In March of 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression, the residents did face a major flood of the Quaboag and associated rivers. Next time you cross the Quaboag via the bridge on Route 148, notice the date that the bridge was built—1936.

Excerpted from the Brookfields' Union newspaper, Friday, March 20, 1936:

WASH OUT—The Flood of 1936 along the Quaboag River caused an estimated $15,000 in damage to roads amd bridges in Brookfield. This aerial photo was shot in West Springfield.

Friday noon found Brookfield facing the gravest flood conditions in the memory of any of the residents. The day before was thought to be bad and many roads were in precarious condition. Friday morning found many roads in a worse condition but passable, while at noon these same highways were under water. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Sharon of Mill Street probably suffered more inconvenience as well as money loss than any other one family in town. For days it was impossible to reach the house from the front or east side, the house looking as if it were located in a lake.

The Quaboag River reached the floor of the bridge and Saturday morning overflowed the causeway, the road being buried under two feet of water.… This situation was acute for a time as most of the dairymen reside across the river. If it became completely impassable, Rice Corner, Quacumquasit, Potopoag and Over River districts would be marooned from town center. Every back road to Fiskdale, Sturbridge and Charlton was closed.

The Quaboag River bridge was closed at nine o'clock yesterday morning. Dairymen reached the center by boat, and in some cases horses and wagons ventured over. Milk deliveries were made from the riverbank by wagon—in some places it was necessary to travel by foot. Trains were proceeding with great caution along the route.

At Lake Quacumquasit, water poured through the first floor of the Nichols cottage near the Perley Holmes estate. Water rushed in through the windows of the Ali store. The bridge between Lakes Quaboag and Quacumquasit was submerged and road covered with floating debris. Water in cottages has reached a point above the windows, and furniture may be seen floating about in many of them. One low cottage at Quaboag is completely submerged with only a portion of the roof showing.

Reported the following week, Friday, March 27, 1936:

Brookfield is settling down to the task confronting most of her neighboring towns, that of cleaning up and checking up after the flood experience, an experience that loomed very big and formidable until she glanced at the pictured suffering, in the papers reporting from her neighbor city of Springfield. As days go on and letters are received from former residents now in Springfield and Hartford, the $15,000 damage to roads and bridges in Brookfield seems only a trivial matter. Though the sum of $15,000 is given as needed; this does not include damage to two roads and bridges, which at the time of the estimate were still under water.

The boats going from the west side of the (Quaboag river) bridge along the section once the causeway, with a highway known as the Captain Thomas highway (and incidentally the finest piece of road construction in this town in years) to dock in the yard of the James Mulvey estate in Over River district, continued to be a thrilling move... To add to the worry, the ice on Lake Quaboag started to break and driftwood from wrecked buildings along the shore became entangled in it and it was feared it would wash down the river and hit the bridge, which was about ready to wash away.

The high winds of Sunday did more to wreck cottages and cause property loss. Saturday many cottages were reported as tipping but Sunday many could stand the battle of the elements no longer and toppled into the water. Much damage was done to Ward's dance pavilion.

On Wednesday, the water at the lake was receding, going down at the rate of half an inch an hour and the ice was broken and floating off but not jamming as feared.