Many of the operatives at the Pontiac Mill & Bleachery were sure that the end was near.

This plague had been warned of in the Bible when the Lord ordered the Egyptians to free the Israelites: “Let my people go so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.”

A rain shower had pattered down on the roofs of the mill buildings that morning of June 30, 1897. Later that afternoon, one of the employees stepped into the yard behind the bleachery and couldn’t believe what he saw. Great masses of tiny, live toads covered the ground. Other employees gathered to share in the awe and fear and one man went to locate the superintendent, 39-year-old Walter Summersby.

Summersby did not judge the event to be a warning from God, but a wonderful experience concerning

the subject of nature. He sent word to the teachers of the local public schools, encouraging them to

temporarily stop classes and bring the students to the bleachery yard to view this amazing event.

The teachers paraded their students to the mill area, between Knight Street and the Pawtuxet River, where the toads had begun to spread out en masse. Behind the mill, the bridge across the river was now covered with thousands of creatures hopping across the structure. Others were gathered by the thousands in the front and back yard of the bleachery and soon began to infiltrate the mill’s storeroom through the open doorway. The population of toads became so thick inside the room that employees had to utilize brooms to sweep them out.

Where the toads came from was a mystery; the answer to which scientists still do not agree on. “Frog Rain” is a phenomenon which has been occurring for centuries. In July of 1893, millions of frogs were said to come down from the sky during a rain shower which followed a heavy hailstorm in Maine. The jumping masses covered about a mile and a half of roadway. The following June, hundreds of toads were recorded as coming down with a shower of rain in Mass. In 1936, the miniature hoppers covered a large span of property in Conn. after a heavy rainfall.

While there are literally hundreds of reports of “Frog Rain” across the word, over the years, some scientists claim that the frogs do not fall down from the sky but simply come out of their hidden natural habitats on the ground after severe weather. Other scientific theorists have what they deem to be a perfectly valid explanation for how the frogs do indeed rain down from the heavens; when strong winds or tornadic waterspouts churn up energy as they travel over land, they are capable of sucking up insects, small animals and debris from any bodies of water they travel over. As the suction ability eventually becomes depleted due to air pressure, objects of similar weight are released at the same time. The heavier objects, such as frogs, would be released to fall to the ground, while lightweight insects and sand would be deposited somewhere else at a later time as the winds moved along.

While several employees of the Pontiac Mill & Bleachery probably dropped to their knees in prayer that summer evening of 1897, certain that the end of the world was upon them, the school children and the more science-minded operatives were thrilled to have witnessed such an exciting performance by Mother Nature.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.