July 3, 1911: High Temperature in 25 Cities Across US

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.

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.)