By Sara Mattes
“Did you know…?” that Lincoln had the first bomb shelter in New England and possibly the first in the United States?
The Storrows’ bomb shelter was so newsworthy in 1940 that the Wide World photo service circulated this photo nationally. It even appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The bomb shelter under construction in 1940 on the Lincoln estate of James and Helen Storrow (now the Carroll School). The entrance in the foreground is still visible from Baker Bridge Road.
The puzzle is: Why did the Storrows think they needed a bomb shelter? Granted, Europe had been at war for over a year, and the United States had started drafting young men into the military. But the U.S. was not yet at war, and the attack on Pearl Harbor was more than a year away. Did Helen and James Storrow really think that Hitler would send bombers across the Atlantic just to attack their home in Lincoln? Tell us what you know about the Storrows’ bomb shelter and help us fill out the story.
Are you curious about other people or places in Lincoln’s history? Tell us your question, and we will try to respond with another “Did You Know…?” Send your suggestions to president@lincolnhistoricalsociety.org.
“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.