The 1939 Tornado

living through destruction

The tornado that struck Anoka in 1939 left a lasting impression. Although the damage has long since been cleaned up, repaired, or covered, the storm's effects continue in ways we might be less familiar with today.

On June 18, 1939, two Anoka citizens had a close encounter with the tornado: Ralph B. and Verna Heineman were outside when the storm struck and took shelter under a tree. Verna held on to a tree, but the whole tree was pulled up by the twister, taking her with it; she survived the encounter but had to spend some time in the hospital afterward. At that time, Ralph Heineman was the principal of Anoka High School, and while she was recovering, Verna suggested to her husband that “Tornado” might be a good mascot for the school since it was so powerful.

Anoka High School teams used the mascot officially starting in 1940, although the “Maroon and Grey” (and later “Maroon and White” as the colors changed) stayed in use until the 1950s. Today, all of Anoka High’s athletic teams use the Tornadoes mascot.

Other stories about the tornado drive home the genuine loss that followed in the storm's wake. Numbers (nine dead and over 200 wounded), tell part of the story, but in at least a few cases we know the names and faces of the victims, digging deeper than statistics.

These photographs show the Harrington family and the wreckage of their home after the tornado had passed. One image is Harvey Harrington kneeling next to his younger son Warren and examining a bicycle, possibly Warren’s, destroyed by the storm along with their house. Another image shows Harvey’s wife, Opal, with their daughter, Bessie Lou, perhaps testing whether or not their sewing machine still worked. A third photograph shows where their house used to be, at 636 Johnson St., just west of Seventh Avenue.

Dr. Henry Kline (son of Dr. James Kline) reopened the family’s local hospital, the Kline Sanitarium, as a temporary shelter for victims of the tornado. Harvey and Opal took advantage of the shelter to ensure their children, Warren, Bessie Lou, and their older brother Phillip, had a roof over their heads until the family had a home again. Although the number of people killed in Anoka by the 1939 tornado was fortunately low, it was still a devastating storm for the many people whose homes could not withstand the ferocious winds.