Boston, Ma - Old North Church

My name is JoAnne Fajardo. I now live in New Jersey. I have a very interesting story to tell you about Hurriance Carol. My maiden name is JoAnne Spallino and I lived in New York City back in 1954 when I was 6 years old.

My mother's family (DiGuilio) came from the North End of Boston and every summer we would visit the North End. We were visiting the North End when Hurricane Carol hit in August 1954. My Papa Joe's apartment was on Prince Street and Salem right over Bova's bakery shop. It's the 2nd floor windows over the bakery in the picture that I have attached.

From Papa Joe's living room window you can see up Salem Street right to the Old North Church. We were all sitting in the living room of Papa Joe's apartment while the Hurricane hit. My father was looking out the window and saw the steeple swaying. He asked the family if he was seeing things. They also looked and saw the steeple swaying.

My father supposedly ran to the corner drug store on Price and Salem street and bought a roll of film. He then went to the roof top (where Papa Joe had his wine barrels) above Bova's bakery shop and snapped a picture of the Old North Church steeple just as it came down. The picture made front page news in many papers. Being that he was an amateur photographer he sold the picture to the first person who offered him any kind of money.I think it was the Associated Press or some news group. Later he regretted that because if he would have kept it he would have made much more money to release the picture.

My father's name was Joseph Spallino and I had an album made for him with all the newspaper articles and pictures that he took of the Old North Church after the steeple fell. My brother took the album to California with him when my father passed away.

I just visited the North End last week and have a picture of the building that my father stood on the roof to take a picture of the steeple falling. (See above.)

Also in this article (which I found on the web) is the picture that my father took of the Old North Church steeple falling.

Every time I go to the North End I visit the Old North Church. I feel like part of it's history but there are no longer any of the pictures of the steeple falling in any books or articles that are on sale at the Old North Church.

JoAnne (Spallino) Fajardo

Editor's note: In "Carol at 50: Remembering Her Fury," author Charles Talcott Prloff includes thi sstory, noting "justa fter 12 pm , a violent gust raced across Boston and the best knwn spire inthe country came crashing dwn. Joe clicked the shutter and took one of the most remarkable pictures of the hurricane." The Weather Bureau in East Boston recorded several gust up to 100 mph around noon!