100 Years ago, the tri state tornado left a path of destruction across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois and southern Indiana. The storm is on record as being the deadliest tornado to hit the United States.
The tornado killed 695 people along it’s path – the most in US History. Jackson County suffered the largest number of deaths with 300 people dying from the storm.
The Jackson County Historical Society is commemorating the event. Scott Johnson is the President of the historical society. They are holding 6 days of commemorative events. Johnson hopes people can gain an understanding of the community's strength in surviving the storm, "We just want them to take away what occurred 100 years ago - how amazing it is that Murphysboro is here today after something that devastating occurred."
The events begin on Friday March 14th with two documentaries featuring the stories of survivors and images of the destruction.
The National Weather Service is giving presentations on Saturday. Some of the topics they’ll cover are what they’ve learned about the storm and how weather preparedness has improved since then.
Over the final few days, there will be ceremonies honoring those who died with historical markers in Gorham, Murphysboro, and De Soto.
The historical society will also have an exhibit on the tornado in their museum in Murphysboro. Johnson says the exhibit will give a personal look at the tornado’s toll, "There are some child's shoes that are on display. One shoe was found in one city and the one was found in another."
The exhibit also features pictures and stories of people who survived the storm. One of the main pieces is a tree trunk with a plank embedded in it from the storm.
If you’d like to see a full list of the events, go to the Jackson County Historical Society’s website - https://www.jchsil.com/index.php/25-centennial.
On Friday at 8:44 am or 5:44 pm, WSIU will feature the story or two cousins from De Soto recount stories from their parents who survived the storm. You can find the story here: https://www.wsiu.org/2025-03-12/tri-state-tornado-100-year-anniversary
MORE LINKS
NWS Tri-state Tornado Event Page: https://www.weather.gov/pah/Tri-StateTornadoEvent
NWS 1925 Tri-state Tornado Information: https://www.weather.gov/pah/1925Tornado
NWS Story about the Tri-state Tornado: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/77b66b04bc214c669ec8ccad42f10005
