Tornado Outbreak of 1880

A series of tornadoes caused widespread damage in several Arkansas counties and killed at least seven people on the evening of April 18, 1880.

A “fearful cyclone” following a 100-yard-wide track moving to the northeast struck Washington County at about 9:00 p.m. on April 18, 1880. The destruction began about one mile from Fayetteville (Washington County) when the three-story house of J. H. Kelton “was swept to the ground.” The tornado slammed into Fayetteville and caused widespread damage in the downtown area, where “every building on the south side of the public square was totally demolished” except for two.

The twister leveled many houses and smashed the Tremont House hotel, killing the owner’s wife. The “magnificent brick store of Baum & Bros. on the east side of the square, is down to the level floor,” and as many as ten wood-frame houses on a hill east of town “were lifted from their foundations and crushed all to atoms.” The small frame houses of Black families in east Fayetteville were hit hard, and the residents “were crippled and bruised up—one child killed.”

“The wildest excitement prevailed after the storm,” a newspaper correspondent wrote, as “our citizens turned out and worked manfully in the drenching rain for hours.” In addition, “the cyclone struck Goshen, a little village in the northeastern portion of the county, and almost demolished the place.” A local newspaper estimated that as many as thirty houses, two churches, and at least seven commercial buildings were damaged or destroyed in Washington County. That storm continued into southwestern Missouri, and at Marshfield “the havoc was terrible. Scores of lives were lost and whole town leveled to the ground.”

Another tornado hit El Paso (White County) between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., and “several houses were blown to atoms.” A man, a woman, and three children were killed in El Paso, and up to eight other people were injured by the storm.

In Johnson County, “the wind began to blow very strong from the south” and was followed by rain and hail, with “some of the pieces weighing five or six ounces.” Two houses were “blown away,” with the family in one “badly hurt.” In addition, “fruit trees are turned out by the roots, roads blocked up, and a vast amount of timber was blown down in the fields.”

In Eureka Springs (Carroll County), “eighteen houses were blown down and a child reported killed,” while another twister “inflicted serious damage in the southern part of Sebastian County.”

For additional information:
“Additional Local.” Arkansas Gazette, April 22, 1880, p. 5.

“Arkansas State News.” Arkansas Democrat, April 26, 1880, p. 3.

“The Cyclone.” Arkansas Democrat, April 23, 1880, p. 3.

“The Fayetteville Tornado of 1880.” Flashback 3 (October 1953).

“The Great Storm.” Arkansas Democrat, April 21, 1880, p. 4.

Russellville Democrat, April 22, 1880, p. 3, col. 3.

Van Hoose, J. H. “In Ruins.” Arkansas Democrat, April 21, 1880, p. 4.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock, Arkansas