Evening star., 1955-09-21
BY TOM BRADSHAW
Associated Press stan Writer


Of Stroudsburg and East Strouds
burg. The townsfolk of the tw
pocono Mountain communitie
weren't quite drawn up In battl
line on either bank-but the,
might as well have been.
A fash food that turned th
little Brodhead into q churninl
torrent the night OF last Angus
l8 deposited an appalling rim
Of destruction along its etende,
banks. But when the scum set
tied and the last boulder stoppe,
battering It's way down stream
there remained the seed of ,
new-found spirit that promise
TO bridge the Brodhead as neve
before.
The shopkeeper on Strouds
burg's Main street and the rib
bon weaver on East StroudS
burg's Lincoln avenue are talk
ing these days tot ''the Strouds'
burgs.f A growing number arr
thinking in terms of an abso.
lutte community merger.
Rivalry Recalled
Herb Stoner, q plant executive
who is acting as rehabilitation
co-ordinator for East Strouds
burg, had some previous ex
perience with the uneasy juxta
position Of towns.
I'm from Indiana" he said
SIT wasn't too pronounced wher
] was young. but my father tolc
me when he was counting my
mother in Lafayette, he literally
had to fight his way back across
the Wabash River to West La
1ayette.
There was the same sort Of
situation here. A couple Of towns
close together physically. but
that's all. The high schools al
ways were bitter rivals. The
school kids of the two towns had
the feeling ingrained in them
and the harshness remained
when they grew up."
There you have Stroudsburs
tpop. $500 and East Strouds-
burg (pop. 7,500) as Of August
18, 1955-twin boroughs in the
Eastern foothills of the Pocono
Mountains. a couple of resort
towns dependent primarily on
the vacation dollar.
That night. an intense, pro-
longed downpour filled the
streams in the upper reaches Of
the Poconos. spilling down the
mountain sides into outlets like
the Brodhead.
Today, the creek Is q scant SO
feet wide and easily waded where
the temporary bridge connects
the two Stroudsburgs. At the
height of the flood, the creek
was $50 yards wide and reached
Q peak level Of 80 feet.
40 Homes Hit
In q matter Of brief hours
47O homes were demolished O
damaged in East Stroudsburg
An additional 275 dwellings wer'
affected in various measure II
Etroudsburg. Scores of shop
and plants on both banks of tn
stream were hit hard.
Sixty-five persons lost thei
lives In the area-more thai
half Of them as the roaring
Broa dhead pounded through
Camp Davis. q private recreation
site i've miles north Of tn,
Etroudsburgs.
Thirty EIGHT highway and rail
road bridges were swept away
Narrowing scores on flood
created islands. Two train
were halted by track washouti
and their passengers had to b.
evacuated by helicopter.
Twenty-Five hundred men
women and children were lef
homeless In the Stroudsburl
area-far and away the wors
thing that ever happened there
That brings us to the key t,
what occurred since. The fioos
didn't hurt Stroudsburg alone
Or just East stroudsburg. I
was q Joint body blow that lef
both towns gasping for breath
with equal difficulty.
The two felt their common
bond quickly-when they awok,
to the realization the food.
waters had knocked down theil
most direct link, the big archee
steel bridge over Brodheae
creek.
Dependence Seen
Lacking the span. the people
Of Stroudsburg and East Strouds.
burg suddenly discovered nov
dependent on one another They
really were. The telephone center
was In Stroudsburg. The only
hospital was In East Strouds-
burg. The principal shoppine
center was on Stroudsburg I
Main street. A majority OF the
areas plants were across the
Brodhead in East Stroudsburg
In o second-floor Main street
office, an intense tousled- haired
young man had plenty to say
on the subject. AS secretary
Of the Pocono Mountain Cham
ber Of Commerce and also OF
the vacation bureau. Harold
Swenson has his finger on the
regions pulse.
"The Brodhead Greek is no
longer o boundary" he said
"Now IT'S a rallying point. Be-
cause OF the flood we are think
Ing big things. and doing big
things. We no longer are limited
by small-town vision. It has
been indelibly etched on our
minds that we are one commu-
nifty"
When the water had subsided
the first need was relief for those
most affected-flnding homes for
the homeless. food for tbs