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  1806 Solar EclipseThe Meteorite of 1807  
THE first great flood in New England during this century occurred in February, 1807. It was occasioned by heavy rains, which melted the snow and swelled the rivers until they overflowed, carrying away bridges and mills, entering warehouses and stores, and doing great damage. 

It carried away several bridges at the eastward of Portsmouth, N. H., and one over Little river in Haverhill, Mass. The principal bridge at Lawrence,1 and others farther up the Merrimac river were destroyed. The Watertown bridge and the Milford bridge were also carried away. At Pawtucket, R. I., the bridge was destroyed, and the cotton factory that was then flourishing there, and four or five other buildings floated off. 

In Connecticut, the stone bridge over Swallow-tail brook at East Chelsea, that had been built in 1795, was destroyed. It was reconstructed, and is now beneath the street. The Willimantic and Mount Hope rivers began to break up on the night of Saturday, February 7, and the sound of the cracking of the vast cakes of ice was like the crashing of thunder. The Shetucket river rose from eighteen to twenty feet, and at Norwich the stream could not contain the water that came down. Lord's and Lathrop's bridges were swept away, and Lovett's was considerably damaged, Lathrop's bridge was rebuilt. The abutments of Geometry bridge had to be replaced, and Wharf, Courthouse and Quarter bridges were somewhat injured. The river overflowed its banks here, and the water ran into the cellars and buildings along the shores of the stream. The water rose in the houses until it reached the first stories, and compelled the inmates to go into their chambers to escape the flood, which had come upon them so suddenly that they found themselves imprisoned. The water continued to rise higher and higher until it was within a few inches of the chamber floors, when it was considered unsafe for people to remain in the houses longer, and they were taken away in boats, into which they stepped from their chamber windows. Captain Rockwell's and other families were removed in this way. The flood extended from East Main to Franklin streets, and from hill to hill, the topography of the city then being somewhat different from what it is now, some portions of the streets having been filled in. That the flood should spread no further, the people erected with great expedition a temporary embankment out of timber, spars, rails and wood, securing it in place with heavy stones. It was filled in with hay, straw, canvas, and everything that would resist leakage. It extended from the site of the Wauregan hotel to the opposite side of the valley where the streets cross each other. The effect of the erection was satisfactory. The water trickled slightly over this breastwork, but the embankment was effectual in keeping back the great body of water until the river subsided in the course of a few hours.

1This bridge then connected Andover and Methuen, but by the incorporation of the city of Lawrence and change to town lines, it is now wholly within the bounds of Lawrence.

Source: Historic Storms of New England by Sidney Perley, 1891
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