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THE HURRICANE OF 1938

5/27/2017

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Canobie Lake Park experienced widespread damage due to felled trees
     Just six short years after Canobie Lake Park was reopened by Pat Holland, following its closing in 1929 when the trolley company that owned the park went bankrupt, the park was hit by its second major catastrophe. On September 21, 1938, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes struck southern New Hampshire, including Windham and Salem. As the storm raged through region, the strong winds that felled many trees also took with it the power and telephone lines, leaving Windham’s residents in the dark. Incidentally, at the time of the hurricane there were still several areas of Windham where homes did not have access to electricity. 
     According to Rural Oasis, the homes along Haverhill Road did not have electricity until shortly before the hurricane struck. Several residents on Lowell Road refused to spend $1,500 on poles, and did not reach an agreement with the electric company to bring electricity to their homes until 1939; the residents eventually were allowed to pay just a $5 deposit, with interest paid on the deposit by the electric company being used to install the poles. In 1945, seven years after New England’s most historic hurricane brought down the existing power lines of Windham, all of Windham had access to electricity. For the benefit of posterity, Rural Oasis also recorded details about the power transmission to Windham, as it would have been at the time of the hurricane.
     In 1929, a project began to bring a 220,000 volt power transmission line to West Windham. The New England Power Company cleared a strip of land 350 feet wide from Monroe, New Hampshire to Tewksbury, Massachusetts, a distance of approximately 125 miles. At one time during the construction of the southern portion of the transmission line, a group of almost 100 men from the power company briefly stayed in West Windham. All of the steel for the local section of the line was sent to Anderson Station in West Windham, and delivered by truck to wherever it was needed. Once unloaded near the site, a team of horses was used to haul the steel to the site where the tower was to be constructed.
     Although, New Hampshire was spared the torrential rainfall that had hit states further south, such as Maryland and Delaware, it was not spared from countless felled trees, extensive structural damage, and the sheer destructiveness of the storm. Salem, NH: Volume 1 relates an interesting account of the storm’s impact on Rockingham Park. During a race at the track, when the hurricane was not at its full strength, jockey Warren Yarberry was blown off of his horse. The track itself also suffered damage, including many stables left without roofs.
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Extensive damage to the Dodgem car building, with numerous trees down; at left two men are working on clearing trees felled by the hurricane
     When the storm subsided soon after, extensive property damage in both towns was reported, especially along the Windham and Salem shores of Canobie Lake. Numerous buildings and structures at Canobie Lake Park were destroyed, closing the park for months while repairs were made. With a substantial amount of trees felled, there was debate over what to do with all the trees in order to facilitate a quick clean-up. Eventually the decision was made that numerous logs from Derry, Pelham, Salem, and Windham would be dumped into a section of Canobie Lake. The downed trees in New Hampshire totaled approximately 1.5 billion board feet.
    However, not all of the lumber from Windham was carted off to the shore of Canobie Lake and summarily dumped into the lake. Reverend Leslie C. Bockes, who ran the West Windham Builders’ Camp as a summer camp for inner city children, saw that much of the fallen trees in West Windham did not go to waste. With hundreds of acres of downed trees on his several hundred acre property, Bockes enlisted the help of teenage boys to clear debris and cut the lumber into more manageable sizes. There was such a great amount of fallen timber that Bockes constructed a sawmill on the property to turn what otherwise would have been wasted material, into usable, saleable lumber.
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BELLA VISTA BEACH: THE STORY OF JOHN EVANS

5/11/2017

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Bella Vista Beach in the 1950s, just a decade after being sold to the Thwaites
     John Evans and his wife, Emma, were natives of Lawrence, Massachusetts, when they made the trip to Windham in 1923 to purchase the Bella Vista Farm. Located along the shore of Cobbett's Pond, John Evans planned to clean up the marshy waterfront of the farm, and transform the property into a swimming beach and summer day trip destination. Before opening Bella Vista Beach, Evans had began his working career as a dealer in wood and coal, and eventually became a contractor and a building mover. He was known for being a hard worker, a trait which was undoubtedly useful in clearing the marsh at the former Bella Vista Farm. After two years of hard work, the Evans opened Bella Vista Beach to locals and vacationers alike. The property featured a dance hall, which was constructed above the water; Evans contracting skills would have certainly proved useful when constructing the building. It would not have been unusual for a crowd of several hundred to gather at the dance hall and dance to the music of a fine orchestra. Unfortunately, the dance hall burned in 1931.
     The Evans took up residence in what was formerly known as the Chadwick House (the house was recently demolished), situated behind Bella Vista Beach, along Range Road. The couple had four children: Ethel, Preston, Clifton, and Bernice. As with any family business, John and Emma had children ready to help wherever needed at Bella Vista Beach. Preston Evans often helped with the boat rides, which were an attraction at all of the beaches along Cobbett's Pond. One day, a young Preston Evans was giving boat rides at Bella Vista, and happened to bring a young lady for a cruise around the pond. When Evans docked the boat at Bella Vista at the end of the ride, the two had formed a relationship that eventually led to marriage. However, they were very young and the romance did not last.
     Following his divorce, Preston's son, John, moved in with his grandparents in their house along Range Road. John and Emma enrolled their grandson in the Boston Latin School. Sadly, his grandmother, Emma Evans, passed away on March 11, 1937 in Methuen, Massachusetts. Upon graduating from Boston Latin, with World War Two raging, John Evans II joined the Army and served in the European Theater. While serving as a signal officer, he was wounded at Monte Casino in Italy. His bravery and service was not forgotten by his hometown, as his name was forever memorialized upon a plaque along with the names of other Windham veterans.
     Just after the end of World War Two, John Evans II, who had achieved the rank of Captain, married a Parisian French woman, who had been trapped in France during the Nazi occupation of the country. She had three children from a previous marriage, her first husband was killed at the beginning of World War II, all of whom were sent to the countryside to live with relatives; she had stayed behind to take care of her elderly parents. During the war, she played a role in the French Resistance, while being forced to work in a German weapons factory. 
     When Captain John J. Evans II returned home, he purchased land in New Hampshire and settled down. While he was away fighting in World War Two, two major events occurred in the Evans family. First, John Evans Sr., owner and operator of Bella Vista Beach, passed away November 26, 1942; both John and Emma are buried in the family plot in Windham. Just five years later, the Evans heirs, namely Ethel Evans Bahan, sold Bella Vista Beach to the Thwaites; John Evans II was disappointed that his family's business had been sold.
      Although the family business had been sold, all of John and Emma's children were very successful in their lives and work. All but Preston moved to the Panama Canal Zone, where they either worked on the canal, or were married to canal workers. Ethel, who had inherited Bella Vista Beach and the family home, married Cecil Bahan, who was a master dredger on the Panama Canal. Ethel and Cecil were eventually joined in Panama by their niece, who met a canal engineer, and eventually married him. Ethel's brother, Clifton, was a also a dredger on the canal. 
    Even though the family dispersed and led successful lives away from Windham after the passing of John and Emma Evans, the Evans family remained impacted by Windham. The lives of the Evans family will forever be intertwined in the history of Windham, as will the history of Windham be forever intertwined with the Evans family, all because of John Evan's entrepreneurial spirit and foresight to open Bella Vista Beach.
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    Derek Saffie is an avid Windham historian who enjoys researching and sharing his collection with all those interested in the history of the New England town.
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