Offered is a Knowlton Brothers stereoview depicting
the ruins of George P Warner’s Button Factory in Leeds Massachusetts. The Mill
River Flood of 1874. On May 16, 1874 a reservoir (Williamsburg Dam) supplying
the villages of Williamsburg, Leeds and Haydenville swept down the hills and through
the villages completely destroying them. Whole houses and factories were swept
away. It was reported that 51 people perished from that factory alone and only
the chimney remained standing. It is reported that the Knowlton Brothers took
19 different images of this incident. This is #79. Soiling to the top edge of
the images. The mount is rough and corners badly rounded. See scans.