Early Years At The Edison Birthplace: Here Cometh The Flood Of ‘69

If there is anything as intertwined and integral to the history of Milan as Thomas Edison, it would be Mother Nature. More specifically, the floods that she has conjured up over the years. The Huron River has on many occasions crept beyond its banks and caused headaches in Milan. For example, two years before the National Weather Service was created by President Grant in 1870, a flood in 1868 effectively put the final nail in the coffin of the Milan Canal, which had once made the small village look more like Times Square. Many floods followed, including a doozy in 1909 and then yet another in 1913. While no one living will remember those events, no one living can ever forget the “encore” Mother Nature performed on July 4, 1969, a date that lives in infamy for guests who visit the Thomas A. Edison Birthplace.

Photo: July 4, 1969, is a day those alive will never forget in Milan and in all of Northern Ohio for its sheer destruction. This is an image of one of the hills in Milan leading to an incredibly high Huron River—source: Ohio Memory.

Throughout its 185-year history, the Thomas A. Edison Birthplace has probably never faced a stronger test than on that day 57 years ago. While the Blizzard of 1978 certainly deserves a place at the table for conversation, the “Ohio Fireworks Derecho” continues to be one of the largest storms on record ever to hit Milan. Although severe weather was a possibility for that day, tens of thousands flocked to Lake Erie to celebrate Independence Day anyway as folks had seen nothing but clear skies in the early afternoon. People in Southeast Michigan were beginning to see something more insidious. Around dinner time, a line of storms had bubbled up over Lake Michigan and Lake Erie and amalgamated into a single line. That single line became a derecho, or an extremely strong storm with life-threatening straight-line winds. Most severe storms in our area can bring gusts up to 50 and even 60 miles per hour. This storm was bringing winds of over 100 miles per hour.

Photo: Approximate location of the Ohio Fireworks Derecho on an hourly basis, along with storm motion and recorded wind gusts. Source: National Weather Service in Cleveland.

The worst part is that almost no one knew of the impending danger. As people were heading to get a spot for their fireworks display, the National Weather Service office in Cleveland was only beginning to learn that there were storms on the horizon. It did not help that the storm also struck on a holiday. At 7:30 PM, the NWS first became aware of the storms, and fifteen minutes later, they let local emergency broadcasting systems know that warnings were imminent. At 7:50 PM, many Cleveland area stations began to broadcast severe storm warnings, but they were brushed aside as everyone was outside enjoying the holiday. Ten minutes later, the storm bombed the Lake Erie shoreline, with a recorded wind gust of 104 miles per hour in Toledo and 100 miles per hour in Cleveland.

Photo: This was the storm as captured by radar from Akron, Ohio at 8:30 PM. This frame dates to just minutes after the storm raced through Milan. Source: National Weather Service in Cleveland. 

Winds of nearly 100 miles per hour likely whipped past the bricks of the Edison Birthplace. It was said that there was so much lightning that you could read a newspaper in the dark perfectly fine without lights or candles. To make matters worse, as the derecho came on shore, it brought with it torrential rain that persisted throughout the night. Nearly a foot of rain fell in downtown Milan overnight, and the Huron River just down the hill from the Birthplace recorded a record crest of 31.1 feet. For reference, “major flood stage” along the Huron River at that location is 22.5 feet, and the highest measurement ever taken to that point was 21.1 feet in May of 1956. Since then, no storm has matched that level, and the damage it caused in Milan has been among the saddest in the city's history.

Photo: This map shows the amount of rain that fell during the duration of the storm. Milan was bombarded with a foot of rain—source: U.S Geological Survey.

While the Birthplace was largely spared thanks to Samuel Edison’s decision to build the house high upon a hill back in the 1840s, it was not left unaffected. Electric and water services were cut to Milan residents. Trees across the village were downed and shredded, including two at the Birthplace, and one tree on Center Street not too far away from the Birthplace fell on a visitor’s car.  9 of the 12 bridges in nearby Berlin Township were washed away. One of the reservoirs in Norwalk was breached, causing more water to inundate the already soaked landscape. The Huron River had risen to the Route 250 overpass just outside of downtown Milan, and tragically, two buildings in Milan exploded as a result of the storm disrupting natural gas service. One explosion leveled a residential home on nearby Main Street and left a young couple and their child with burns, and another explosion leveled the home of the Milan Ledger.

Madeleine Edison Sloane wrote about this particular explosion in her annual report at the end of 1969, writing:

“In the town itself, two houses were completely demolished by explosions caused indirectly by the storm. The printing shop next to the Milan Inn was one casualty, and though the Inn was saved by a fire wall, the building was so weakened that it had to be closed. Incidentally, unless it is open again this summer, it may be disastrous as the Inn is quite well known and about one third of their customers also visit the Birthplace.”

Photo: The remains of the old Milan Ledger, a casualty of the Ohio Fireworks Derecho. It is now the Village Station, and the Milan Inn, now the Milan Inn-tiques, still stands—source: Ohio Memory.

Besides the loss of two trees, as aforementioned, the Thomas A. Edison Birthplace, by some sort of miracle, escaped the carnage exacted on Milan and Northern Ohio. The final numbers from the Ohio Fireworks Derecho on July 4, 1969, were stomach-churning. 700 boats of those who were simply out celebrating the Fourth of July on Lake Erie were either capsized or sunk. In addition to the car damaged on Center Street here in Milan, 7,000 more cars were damaged by the storm. In total, 10,000 homes were damaged, 559 people were injured, and tragically, at least 46 people lost their lives on what was supposed to be a joyous holiday. The damages totaled nearly $450 million when adjusted for inflation today.

Photo: Along with the Milan Ledger, this home on Main Street was ripped to shreds by an explosion caused by the Ohio Fireworks Derecho on July 4, 1969—source: Ohio Memory.

As with all of Thomas Edison’s disasters, there was something to learn from that infamous Independence Day. Improvements in technology such as more advanced radar and state-of-the-art forecasting models have allowed meteorologists to identify potentially dangerous storms and weather events not minutes in advance, but days and even weeks in advance. These new radars and models allow for increased lead time on warnings that those who lived through July 4, 1969 did not have, and the proliferation of technology allows warnings to be passed along to all living within a warned area via radio, television, and cellular phones the moment they are issued. Forecasting the weather is still not a perfect science, but then again, when did Edison ever make a perfect machine? Thanks to scientists never being complacent, the next time a storm swings through Milan, you can bet that the Edison Birthplace will be ready.

Photo: This is a snapshot of Huron River from State Route 250, only a stone’s throw from the Edison Birthplace. I can’t blame the folks for watching the Huron River, as normally the river is well over two stories below the overpass—source: Ohio Memory.

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Sources Used and Encouraged for Further Reading

• Mayo, Ronald I., Earl E. Webber, and Davis W. Ellis. 1971. “Floods of July 4-8, 1969, in north-central Ohio.” USGS Publications Warehouse. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr72252
  

• National Weather Service. 2026. “Huron River at Milan.” Ohio River Forecast Center. https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/MILO1#v=official
  

• Sloane, Madeleine E. 1969. Annual Report To Edison Birthplace Association, Inc. Board of Trustees, Minutes. Milan, Ohio: Edison Birthplace Association, Inc.

  Vickers, Chris. 2026. “Ohio fireworks derecho: 57 years later, one of Ohio's deadliest storms.” WTOL. https://www.wtol.com/article/weather/ohio-fireworks-derecho-57-years-later-deadly-storm-ohio-history/512-36f5899a-48b3-4104-9e5b-85b5e2209b6c
  

• Vickers, Chris. 2026. “Northwest Ohio was hammered by historic rainfall of biblical proportions. Here's the data.” WTOL 11. https://www.wtol.com/article/weather/historic-rainfall-hit-northwest-ohio-kelleys-island-data/512-78cea2b0-04a1-4c81-afa4-e6aaee59e6b2?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WTOL_11
  

• The Voice for Milan, Berlin Heights & Surrounding Areas. 1969. “Fourth of July 1969 will be remembered in area.” The Voice for Milan, Berlin Heights & Surrounding Areas (Milan), July 9, 1969. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll103/id/2050/rec/175
  

• Weinstein, Steven, Michael Garberoglio, Dallas McKinney, Raelene Campbell, and Zach Sefcovic. 2019. “July 4, 1969 Ohio Fireworks Derecho and Flooding Event.” National Weather Service. https://www.weather.gov/cle/event_1969_0704_FireworksDerecho_Flooding

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Dillon Liskai, a native of Clyde, Ohio, is a junior at Bowling Green State University. He is pursuing a degree in Adolescent to Young Adult (AYA) Integrated Social Studies Education, specializing in History. Dillon has been a Thomas A. Edison Birthplace Museum tour guide for several years. When not at school or the museum, he enjoys cheering on the Bowling Green Falcons, spending time with friends and family, and exploring local history.

Have a question for Dillon? Reach out via email at dliskai@tomedison.org!