fitchburg-hometown
(This segment finishes this little book.  Too bad.  I enjoyed it.)

On July 16, 1879, the first tornado ever to hit Fitchburg damaged a small
portion of the city.  The darkness which preceded the storm was so great
that the gas lights had to be illuminated at 3:30 in the afternoon.
According to the next day's Sentinel, "'Goodnight', cried a parrot to its
mistress, yesterday afternoon when it grew dark so suddenly."  Five minutes
later, from out of the western sky, came a tornado which accompanied a
violent thunderstorm.  It first touched down near the Upper Common, toppling
over the steeple of the Universalist Church.  City Hall was the most severly
damaged structure, as the eastern wall of the new addition was blown away,
carrying with it bricks and flooring for many feet through the air.  The
tornado then hopped and skipped its way towards Depot Square, soon lifting
back into the turbulent clouds from which it came.

Fitchburg's only remaining octagon house is located at 167 High St. near the
intersection with Johnson St.  (Is it still there? Ken)

(Oh, Oh, I see that I skipped pages 38 and 39 when I Xeroxed the Library's
copy of Guide to Fitchburg and Environs.  See ya later....)

(to be continued)