Flood adventures in 1964
Trending
Spring often means high water in our river town. There was major flooding in March of 1964. My future wife Suzanne and I launched a canoe near Fourth and Wooster Streets in Marietta. The river level was that high; water covered the downtown. The canoe was an old birchbark canoe - it could have belonged to Rufus Putnam – probably not fit for flood water exploration. But we were young and decided to suspend the use of common sense for this outing.
The first stop was the Memorial to the Start Westward in Muskingum Park, camera in hand. The quest was to capture the monument, which included a boat, as if it were afloat. Steady the canoe, aim, click, click. Done. Next we cruised down Front Street. Water lapped at the Post Office steps. It was exciting on the open water drifting past flooded buildings, blinking traffic lights, and abandoned vehicles. It was eerily quiet; only an impromptu party on campus broke the silence.
The river had crested and was starting to fall. We discovered the hydrological effect of this when we passed Butler Street. A strong current of receding water pushed us alarmingly to the right toward the buildings. Quick! – Row hard, real hard! Past the intersection, the current subsided.
We reached Greene Street and hit more strong currents. In a panic, we realized (blinding flash of the obvious) that we were near the open water of the Ohio River with no immediate shelter from the current. The canoe lurched to the right as we tried to turn the corner to head east on Greene Street. Adrenaline surged – how can we escape this angry river. A long unscheduled trip to the Gulf of Mexico seemed quite likely. But at just the right time I was able to latch on to a parking meter and swing the canoe around and out of the current. The rest of the trip was boring by comparison.
The flood was the highest in some time. It flooded our family's jewelry store on Putnam Street, Baker & Baker Jewelers. I saw firsthand the elaborate system which many downtown businesses had for coping with periodic "high water." Dad had designed the store building for flood events. Display cases, inventory, and shelving could be removed and wheeled out. The walls and floor were smooth concrete for ease of clean up. There was no dank basement to contend with – it had been filled in. An electric lift transported items up to the third floor out of harm's way.
Dad hired a couple of strong (that left me out) high school kids for the heavy lifting. Family and friends also helped - or goofed off.
Prior to flood control reservoir systems, implemented the mid-20th century, serious flooding was a frequent occurrence. Floods created havoc even in Marietta's early days. Thomas Walcutt records a flood episode in his journal on February 17, 1790: He observed that "the rivers continue to rise exceedingly fast." The next day he recorded matter-of-factly that "...before we could get our breakfast done, the water rose so fast that the floor was afloat and we stood in water up to our buckles…"
Life is definitely disrupted by floods, but people recover and move on – stiff upper lip and all that. Such is life on our beautiful rivers.
David B. Baker is author of local history blog earlymarietta.