Only one week after the Titanic’s sinking, natural disaster swept over Williamson County. At 6 P.M on April 21, 1912 a tornado with accompanying high winds did serious damage to the town of Bush destroying 22 two story homes, a railroad roundhouse and a store with 18 casualties.

These photos were found at the Williamson CountyHistorical Society. There were no notes other than some brief notations on some of the images as to where some were taken and the title “Views of Marion after the Storm”. None the less, thanks to an article printed in a Sesquicentennial publication written by Paula Davenport of the Southern Illinoisan and the 1906 Business Directory I was able to gather some info on the storm and the addresses of most of the pictures except for the residential homes.

(Photo courtesy of the Williamson County Historical Society, storm info by Paula Davenport, Southern Illinoisan)