Devastating flood waters struck Concord Township on September 13, 1971. The rain began on Sept 11 but was much harder on Sept 13th & water rose quickly. The Chester Creek and its branches & tributaries were flooded when a stationary front stalled over the local area. The destruction started in the western areas of Delaware County, including Concord, and continued downstream to Chester leaving a path of destruction. 450 Delaware County residents were left homeless, mostly in Chester where there was major flooding. This was very localized flooding. Other areas of Delaware County and the Philadelphia region were not affected.
In Concord, three people lost their lives. David Lindsay drove into water on Concord Rd near Station Rd where his car stalled on the railroad tracks. His passengers, daughter, Jean Espey, and 2 year old grandson, survived. The child was rescued early on by Steven Sheppard, a 19 year old neighbor & his friend. The daughter made it to the railroad signal box and climbed to her safety. Mr. Lindsay and Steve Sheppard clung to nearby fence posts. As the fence washed away, Mr. Lindsay was carried downstream where his body was found when the water receded. Sheppard was left clinging to a fence post. Sheppard and Espey were rescued by Ralph Clark, an Australian with rough water rescue experience, after the firemen were unable to do so. William & Muriel Mitchell drowned when their car was washed away further down Concord Rd. where a branch of Chester Creek passes under the road near what is now Riviera at Concord.
The flood waters washed away the Ward, PA Post Office. The small frame post office building was located in the middle of the parking lot behind what is now Il Granaio. The building washed downstream and was demolished when it hit the nearby railroad trestle on the Newlin Grist Mill property. Mail service was never restored at Ward.
The Cheyney Rd. bridge over the Chester Creek was ripped away from its footings and the bridge dropped in to the creek. The Newlin Grist Mill suffered extensive flooding & damage. The Penn Central Railroad Octoraro line, which ran from Wawa through Concord to Oxford, was extensively damaged. The worst damage was a section of about 400 ft of the track along Polecat Road that was washed about 25 ft out in to the Chester Creek. The damage was so extensive that it has never been rebuilt.
