The 1913 Iola, Wisconsin Flood

There is a small valley that runs through the south western part of the village of Iola, Wisconsin. This valley, about ten feet deep, is also a temporary river bed for the seasonal run off in the spring when all the snow melts. Highway 49 crosses that valley. In the early 1900’s the highway was improved by raising the road bed and (unexpectedly?) creating a dam which must have caused flooding problems every spring thereafter. On a cold early March day in 1913 a local young girl about 12 years old, thought she could walk across the ice and fell through. One report said she drowned before they could get to her while another said she was pulled out alive but died shortly thereafter. As far as I could find, local history books don’t mention the flood or the little girl’s death so imagine my surprise when I found this real photo postcard at a Wausau antique show. Best of all the postcard was used. It has a dated postmark and hand written message naming the drowned girl!