On Monday, June 1, 1903, a catastrophic tornado struck the city of Gainesville, Georgia, killing at least 98 people and injuring 180 or more.
[4][nb 1] The tornado, which was of very brief duration relative to its intensity, lasted approximately two minutes, and struck a trail roughly 4 mi (6.4 km) long.
The power of the tornado ripped an iron cupola from an approximately 40-foot-wide (12 m) standpipe, crushing a number of people when it fell down.
[11] The tornado also damaged the Gainesville Iron Works and track, signals and freight cars of the Southern Railway Company, before destroying approximately 70 of the 120 workers' cottages at the Pacolet Mills in New Holland, where young children and elderly were located at the time.
The number of people harmed was reduced due to many workers attending picnics away from the site when the tornado struck.