The three color pictures were sent by Bob and Amy
    Burns. They were taken by Amy's uncle, Doug Taylor.

                                                     Flood at Spindleville - 1955

    The thing I remember most about the flood is that the little store that went down the river used to belong to
    my mom and dad. My father and Bill Francis built it before the end of World War II. I was very young and
    would be with my mother while she ran the store, because my father worked in Drapers. A very nice man
    who worked for Rosenfeld Concrete would stop in the store and take me with him on his runs to deliver
    concrete. I felt like a giant riding in that cement mixer.

    We sold the store to Mr. and Mrs. Hatt. Mrs. Hatt had a collection of salt and pepper shakers; some say
    she had over 400 pair. My brother John helped her husband save as many as they could before the
    building slipped into the river.

    My brother added that it was the water wheel that gave the mill its power that caused the water to wash the
    store down the river. The water wheel came off its stand and lodged crooked and would not let the water
    pass through, causing the Mill River to find another route. The store was in an area a little lower than the
    spindle mill. That is where the Mill Street kids waited for the school bus. David Atkinson, February 2008.

                                                     Flood at Drapers - 1955           More About the Flood        

                                         Doug Taylor's photos of the 1955 flood in Mendon          HOME   

    The photos below were taken by Doug Taylor
    and scanned and sent by Paul Doucette.