Millville Historical Society Third Friday - 1940 Flood
Schedule
Fri Sep 19 2025 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
200 E Main St, Millville, NJ | Millville, NJ
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September’s Third Friday Exhibit at the Millville Historical Society The Flood of 1940: Bridges Over Troubled Waters
As the nation reels in the aftermath of the catastrophic Texas floods, Millville’s thoughts continue to be with everyone struggling in the wake of this devastating disaster.
Over Labor Day weekend 85 years ago, the city of Millville faced the possibility of a disaster as turbulent flood waters threatened the aging Union Lake Dam. The Millville Historical Society’s upcoming Third Friday exhibit, Bridges Over Troubled Waters: The Flood of 1940, opening on September 19, 2025, revisits that stressful weekend when the city’s fate depended on a 73-year-old concrete and earthen structure.
This informational and visual exhibit will be on display at the Millville Historical Society ’s Genealogical & Historical Research Library (200 East Main Street, Millville, New Jersey) from 6:00 through 8:00 pm. Primary source materials, including newspaper articles from across the nation, personal accounts and photographs taken by Millville residents, images from the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, and aerial views from the Hagley Digital Archives, will provide an in-depth look at the 1940 flood.
Labor Day 1940, as residents of Millville, New Jersey, made plans for summer’s final fling, a powerful tropical storm dropped over 24 inches of rain in less than 12 hours on parts of South Jersey. Dams collapsed in neighboring communities upriver. Accounts of the flooding conditions state that Union Lake was six feet above normal, and 65 tons of water per minute rushed over the spillway. For two tense days, Millville residents wondered if the 73-year-old Union Lake Dam would burst. Many townspeople were evacuated from their homes, and volunteers representing all walks of life shoveled sand through the night and piled sandbags along the canal and river.
Headlines across the United States highlighted the unfolding crisis. The Sharp Street Bridge suffered heavy damage, and sections were swept downstream. Turbulent and swift-moving flood waters hammered away earthen supports and undermined the West Side Garage, pulling part of the structure into the river and threatening destruction of the Main Street Bridge. The "Gangway Bridge," a narrow, wooden footbridge that crossed the Maurice River from the end of Mulford Avenue over to the rear of Millville Manufacturing Company, was washed away by ravaging waters. The Millville Manufacturing Company, Millville Electric Plant and Millville Water Company all faced imminent destruction.
Ater high tide in the early morning of September 3rd, the surging waters finally began to recede. Remarkably, the damage was limited given the scale of the threat: Union Lake Dam had held, and Millville was spared from disaster. Bridges needed repair and buildings were damaged, but there were no casualties.
Labor Day weekend in 1940 had left its mark with a collective sigh of relief in the annals of the city’s history. Millville had escaped the devastating power of nature and emerged resilient.
Millville Bridge Scenes during the Flood of 1940, Millville Historical Society Collection
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Where is it happening?
200 E Main St, Millville, NJ, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
