Drought of 1822

Persons, who had lived near a century, had witnessed nothing like the great drought of 1822. There was no rain of any consequence from February 21, the time of the flood, until some time in September, a period of about six months. Fountains which had been considered perennial were dried up. Grinding of wheat into flour was done at only one mill out of ten; and where grinding was done, the demand for flour could not be supplied. Many farmers went twenty miles to mill, and then were obliged to return with a quantity of flour not sufficient to satisfy immediate wants. An account of the drought written August 13^th, says “the summer crops have almost totally failed; some fields will yield not a grain of corn, and the best fields not more than a few bushels to the acre.: Shortly after this there were two showers, which relieved the country; the one fell on the 23^rd, and the other on August 24^th. The showers, however, did not extend to the northwestern part of the county, where the distress was excessive. On September 13, 1822, there was not a drop of water to be seen in the channel of the big Conewago, at the place where the bridge is thrown across it on the Carlisle Road. At low water the stream there is generally from 90 to 120 feet wide. Turnips were raised in the bed of the stream that summer.