16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, July 3, 1911: My, but I’m so roasted, worse than yesterday, I guess. Made an errand up to McEwensville this evening in behalf of my popper.
This is a recent view of the buildings Grandma would have seen as she walked into McEwensville. A hundred years ago the road would have been dirt.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
A hundred years ago today the horrible heat wave continued across most of the country. The effects were devastating in this era before electric fans or air conditioning. This is the second day in a row that Grandma said she was roasted.
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune reported the July 3, 1911 temperatures for 25 cities across the nation
HOT WAVE CONTINUES TO EXACT HEAVY TOLL
Scores Throughout Country Succumb and Hundreds Are Overcome
Mercury Officially Climbs to 104 in Four Places Far Apart.
People Seeking Relief in Big Cities Sleep in Parks and Roofs.
High Temperatures in Many Cities on Monday
Louisville, Ky . . . 104
St. Joseph, Mo . . . 104
Davenport, IA . . . 104
Yuma, Ariz. . . . 104
Boston . . . 102
Albany. . .102
Kansas City. . .102
Columbus, O. . . .102
Dubuque, Ia. . . . 102
Fresno, Cal. . . 102
Chicago. . .100
Harrisburg . . . 100
Fort Wayne . . . 100
Cincinnati. . . 100
Springfield . . . 100
St. Louis . . . 100
Indianapolis . . .100
Wash’ton, D.C. . . 99
New York City . . . 98
Philadelphia. . . 98
Northfield, Vt. . . 98
Pittsburg. . . 98
Lynchburg, Va. . . 98
Wichita, Kan. . . 98
Minneapolis Morning Tribune (July 4, 1911)
An aside: It’s interesting to see which cities were included in the list, as well which cities were considered to be so major that they didn’t need state names after them. It’s also interesting to see how some state names were abbreviated in 1911. For example, Ohio was abbreviated with an O. (I wonder what the abbreviation was for Oklahoma in 1911.)
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