The storm clouds rose on what must have been a warm and humid April 28, 1893. But the people of Cisco surely had no idea what was in those clouds. What was coming was one of the biggest, most devastating tornadoes that the state of Texas had ever seen. As it barreled through town, it virtually wiped out the entire city. Of the 40 businesses in the city only one remained intact while of the 500 houses only one remained standing. All the hotels and churches were wrecked.
They say that it lasted only 2 minutes but when it was over, 28 people had been killed and hundreds injured. The Texas Central Depot and Texas Pacific Depot were both flattened. A Texas Central freight train was waiting at the depot for orders, the locomotive weighing 20 tons was derailed while fully loaded train cars were picked up and moved 80 feet from the rails.
The May 5, 1893 Dublin Progress continued, “Trees were entirely uprooted and hurled through the air for miles. Houses were lifted from their foundations in one portion of the town and put down outside of the incorporate limits in the shape of kindling wood.”
A call for help was sent out and Dublin responded. A Comanche Chief newspaper article was printed in the May 12, 1893 Dublin Progress, “All praise is due our sister city of Dublin for her prompt and generous response to Cisco’s appeal for aid. That town raised over $700 and sent a force of sixty carpenters to help rebuild the homes laid waste by the cyclone. Charity and sympathy for the suffering make up one of the brightest jewels in Dublin’s crown.”
The Dublin guys were the first on the scene to start the repairs. According to the May 5th Dublin Progress, “A great many residences which were at first thought to have been a total wreck have been repaired and are now comfortable.”
The businesses in Cisco gathered items as they could, to send to Dublin. Dublin stores put these items up for sale so that our neighbors in Cisco could have money to buy food and start a new life.
When it was all over, the people of Texas sent $50,000 in aid to repair and start anew the city of Cisco.
Dublin had a number of churches at that time. I think that helped the city have a strong sense of “Who is our neighbor and how can we help them?”