History of the 1935 earthquake

HELENA – Ninety years ago, Helena was struck by one of the worst earthquakes in the state's history. The 1935 earthquake saw hundreds of earthquakes hit the areas, half of the buildings in the city were damaged or destroyed, and four people were killed.

The first shocks began on October 3, 1935, and continued intermittently in the following weeks. Although most were small in nature, with the largest measuring 5.0 on October 12, they warned of a larger earthquake to come.

(Watch: History of the 1935 earthquake)

History of the 1935 earthquake

October 18, 1935 began as a gorgeous fall day for the Queen City in the Rocky Mountains. The temperature reached the high 60s. Jack Benny's film was headlining the Marlowe stage. High school students were celebrating before Saturday's football game against Butte.

Everything will change at 9:48 p.m. The ground beneath Montana's capital city shook violently and shuddered uncontrollably when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck the area.

Although they are few in number, there are still those who remember the big tremor. Peggy McMahon was just shy of four years old at the time.

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“There were card tables in the living room, and ladies were sitting around them. They were there for a baby shower,” McMahon recalls. “My brother had to pass out the candy, and that's what we were doing. Suddenly, the chandelier was swinging and the lights went out. The ladies were screaming. So I grabbed Jim's hand, who was two years old, and we went and hid in the closet.”

The 6.2-magnitude quake lasted 12 seconds, according to USGS data. During that short period of time, hundreds of buildings were damaged. After several fires in Helena's early years, many buildings were built with unreinforced brick and other stone masonry.

“I remember standing at our door, and it was very dangerous. There were big cracks, and it was a brick house, and the bricks were falling out,” former Helena Mayor Steve Kim said.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG — Wes and Carol Sinise Collection

Nabisco factory in Helena's 6th District

“The entire fronts and sides of the buildings were completely gone, and the cars that had those walls collapsed into the street were covered in rubble,” said Sean Logan, a Helena city commissioner and former fire chief.

Montana Power Company realized an earthquake had occurred and cut off power to the city. The USGS concluded that this decision was likely the main factor in preventing the fires from breaking out.

People quickly took to the streets in search of safety away from the buildings they feared would collapse. As the hours passed, the shaking continued, but not as intense. Many were camping out that night in their yards and garages. Many others may leave the city altogether, believing this is the safest path.

“We went to Anaconda to stay with my grandparents,” McMahon said. “I remember my mom had to get permission from the doctor in Helena to leave to make sure the baby wasn't born in the hallway or something.”

HELENAHISTORY.ORG

Earthquake damage in Helena.

City Hall sustained extensive damage, forcing police to work from a single patrol car parked on a vacant lot. Helena Fire also moved out of the building, eventually setting up shop in the AA Garage. The National Guard was immediately activated, and first responders worked with the few resources they had to help those in need.

St. Peter's Hospital suffered relatively little damage, but St. John's Hospital was not so fortunate. Patients at St John's Hospital were evacuated by candlelight as walls collapsed around them. The hospital at Fort Harrison also had to be evacuated, and their patients had to be evacuated to Walla Walla, Washington.

Two people will die as a result of injuries sustained during the October 18 earthquake. David Hunter Harris was crushed after the front wall of a building on South Main Street collapsed into the street. He was buried in Helena at Forestville Cemetery.

The second person to die was Charles Siegelink. He was staying at a homeless shelter at the Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds. Siggelink attempted to flee the building and was struck by debris near the entrance. He was taken to St. Peter's Hospital and died of his injuries the next morning.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG

Helena High School was mostly destroyed by the 1935 earthquakes.

In the following days, smaller tremors continued to shake Helena. The residents who remained did their best to ignore the daily earthquakes and repair what they could. It was the Great Depression, which meant that many did not have the financial resources to leave even if they wanted to. Many residents whose homes were damaged set up tents, moved into their garages, or moved in with their families or friends in the area.

The Kim family was temporarily divided after the earthquake. His mother and sisters were received by Catholic nuns while he, his brothers and their father were in a tent behind their house.

“There were a lot of aftershocks, but we survived it,” Kim noted. “But my father didn't want us to live in that house, and he didn't have any money. We were just coming out of depression, even though he was a pharmacist.”

On October 31 at 11:37 a.m., the ground beneath Helena again shook violently with a magnitude 6.0 aftershock. Many buildings damaged by the October 18 earthquake collapsed under the weight of the new quake.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG

Earthquake damage at Kessler Brewing Co

Two construction workers from Salt Lake City, Bernard Vincent Kennedy and Edward O'Brien, were working at the top of the pile at the Kessler Brewing Company on the city's west side. The two men were thrown from the multi-storey building by a series of falling bricks. Both men died of their wounds.

The damage caused by the earthquakes was widespread, destroying hundreds of buildings. The worst damage occurred on what was then the city's east side, now considered central Helena, where the 6th District saw major losses, displacing about 500 people in the area. To make matters worse, winter had reared its head, with the temperature on October 31, 1935 reaching only 6 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 8 degrees below zero.

The new high school, currently Helena Middle School, was mostly destroyed, as was Bryant Elementary. While most of the students at Bryant could be accommodated at other elementary schools in Helena, the larger number of high school students needed an alternative solution. A section of East Lyndale Street—which was dirty at the time—was closed and train tracks were laid to accommodate train cars donated by the major Northern and Pacific railroad companies. The buses were used as classrooms from December 1935 to June 1937. The rebuilt Helena High School opened in the fall of 1937.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG – Richard Smith

The train cars that housed Helena High School for two years after the earthquake.

The Montana Deaconess School Children's Home – now known as Intermountain – also saw significant devastation. The boarding school focused on providing quality education to rural boys and girls whose parents were unable to care for their children, such as illness, poverty, or death. None of the children were hurt during the earthquakes, and they were evacuated to the adjacent dance hall called “The Shanty.” The remains of the building still stand off Serra Road, having been vacant for 90 years.

St. Joseph's Orphanage saw extensive damage. The orphans spent the night of October 18 in one of the barns. They then took refuge in coaches owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. That Sunday, the Montana Highway Patrol took them to a Boulder Hot Springs hotel. The property at the time was owned by U.S. Senator James Murray, Democrat of Montana, who allowed them to remain there until the orphanage was repaired.

Montana Historical Society

St. Joseph's Orphanage receives shelter after the earthquake.

Most Helena churches were relatively untouched by the event. The First Lutheran Church suffered damage that needed major repair, and St. Helena Cathedral saw damage to its chancel and south tower. The cathedral was declared safe enough in December to hold a funeral service for Montana Gov. Frank Cooney, who died of a heart attack. St. Paul's Methodist Church saw the most damage of any of the places of worship, with the building declared unsafe after the first major shock. The group met at the Rio Theater until a new location was established.

The county courthouse saw thousands of dollars in damage. Most notably, the clock tower was removed due to damage and fear of it falling. The prison, which is now the Myrna Loy Centre, also saw damage. The initial large quake saw some bricks fall from parts of the building, but the building saw much greater damage from the October 31 shock. The prison was closed due to the damage, and the prisoners were released. All the prisoners were serving time for minor crimes, according to a 1935 report from the Independent Record.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG

Lewis and Clark County Courthouse damaged by earthquakes

The Allergia Shriners Temple, now the Helena Civic Center, saw relatively little damage, especially to the west wall. Local folklore says that the earthquake caused one of the minarets to fall. In fact, the building had only one minaret, as supported by historical photographs taken before the event.

Intermountain Union College's three-building campus initially saw significant damage from the Oct. 1 earthquake, forcing it to temporarily close. Thanks to help from the community and their students, the college was able to make the necessary repairs and reopen on October 29. Two days later, the campus experienced more extensive damage from the subsequent earthquake, forcing the school to move to Great Falls. The college never returned to Helena, eventually merging with Billings Polytechnic Institute to create Rocky Mountain College.

Following major earthquakes, tremors continued for several months. Residents were on edge, fearing more major shocks. Many who left the city in search of safety never returned, but most eventually did.

HELENAHISTORY.ORG

Businesses were damaged but still open after the earthquakes.

Helena's Fire Tower was unscathed, just like the city it guarded. City officials at the time considered demolishing it in 1935 for safety, but were convinced otherwise. The structure was repaired, and survived this disaster as it has with many others over the years. Ninety years later, the Guardian of the Gulch remains vigilant, a symbol of Helena's resilience and ability to recover.

It's important to reflect on the past and learn from these people's stories, says Pam Attardo, conservation officer for Helena, Lewis and Clark County.

“You don't have that institutional memory of what happened at that time, which is why it's so important — these personal accounts that we have, it's so important for people to read them and know what they are — they're terrifying,” Attardo said.

MTN wants to extend special thanks to the Montana Historical Society, the Lewis and Clark County Historic Preservation Office, and HelenaHistory.org. Through their preservation efforts, we are able to share past images from the 1935 Helena Earthquake.

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