Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. Taken January 23, 1937, this photograph shows the Incinerator Plant and Steubenville Plant of the Wheeling Steel Corp, looking south. The Wheeling Steel Corporation, founded in 1920, was located at 227 South Third and Bates Streets and was one of the largest plants of its kind in the Ohio Valley. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_008_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Wheeling Steel Corporation; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture of firemen putting out flames after the 1974 Xenia tornado in the area just west of the Greene County Courthouse. Adair’s furniture store opened up onto S. Detroit Street on Route 68. As of 2014, the building was occupied by several stores, including the Hospice of the Miami Valley and Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtors. On April 3, 1974, an F5 category tornado struck Xenia, Ohio. The tornado that struck Xenia was just one of at least 148 tornadoes that occurred in the South and Midwest in a twenty-four period. This was the worst outbreak of tornadoes recorded in the twentieth century. The tornado that struck Xenia had maximum winds of three hundred miles per hour. It destroyed more than one thousand homes and businesses. Hardly any buildings remained standing in Xenia's downtown. Thirty-three people died in the storm, with approximately another 1,150 people injured. President Richard Nixon visited Xenia a week following the tornado. He stated, "It's the worst disaster I've ever seen." Xenia rebuilt quickly. By April 3, 1975, eighty percent of the destroyed homes and forty percent of the businesses had been rebuilt. It would take until 1984 for all structures to be repaired or rebuilt, but as bumper stickers that appeared within days of the tornado stated, "Xenia Lives!" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07694
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Xenia (Ohio)--History
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a tractor trailer overturned after the 1974 tornado. On April 3, 1974, an F5 category tornado struck Xenia, Ohio. The tornado that struck Xenia was just one of at least 148 tornados that occurred in the South and Midwest in a twenty-four period. This was the worst outbreak of tornados recorded in the twentieth century. The tornado that struck Xenia had maximum winds of three hundred miles per hour. It destroyed more than one thousand homes and businesses. Hardly any buildings remained standing in Xenia's downtown. Thirty-three people died in the storm, with approximately another 1,150 people injured. President Richard Nixon visited Xenia a week following the tornado. He stated, "It's the worst disaster I've ever seen." Xenia rebuilt quickly. By April 3, 1975, eighty percent of the destroyed homes and forty percent of the businesses had been rebuilt. It would take until 1984 for all structures to be repaired or rebuilt, but as bumper stickers that appeared within days of the tornado stated, "Xenia Lives!" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07695
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Xenia (Ohio)--History
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph shows the Sohio gas station in Empire, Ohio, with the white mark on the door jam which marks the flood level. The mark is visible just right of center, between the farthest right window and the door of the building, near the top of the door frame. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_010_001
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Empire (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the National Guard clearing debris after the 1974 tornado. On April 3, 1974, an F5 category tornado struck Xenia, Ohio. The tornado that struck Xenia was just one of at least 148 tornados that occurred in the South and Midwest in a twenty-four hour period. This was the worst outbreak of tornados recorded in the twentieth century. The tornado that struck Xenia had maximum winds of three hundred miles per hour. It destroyed more than one thousand homes and businesses. Hardly any buildings remained standing in Xenia's downtown. Thirty-three people died in the storm, with approximately another 1,150 people injured. President Richard Nixon visited Xenia a week following the tornado. He stated, "It's the worst disaster I've ever seen." Xenia rebuilt quickly. By April 3, 1975, eighty percent of the destroyed homes and forty percent of the businesses had been rebuilt. It would take until 1984 for all structures to be repaired or rebuilt, but as bumper stickers that appeared within days of the tornado stated, "Xenia Lives!" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07696
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Xenia (Ohio)--History; National Guard
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial photograph of two homes destroyed after the 1974 tornado. On April 3, 1974, an F5 category tornado struck Xenia, Ohio. The tornado that struck Xenia was just one of at least 148 tornados that occurred in the South and Midwest in a twenty-four hour period. This was the worst outbreak of tornados recorded in the twentieth century. The tornado that struck Xenia had maximum winds of three hundred miles per hour. It destroyed more than one thousand homes and businesses. Hardly any buildings remained standing in Xenia's downtown. Thirty-three people died in the storm, with approximately another 1,150 people injured. President Richard Nixon visited Xenia a week following the tornado. He stated, "It's the worst disaster I've ever seen." Xenia rebuilt quickly. By April 3, 1975, eighty percent of the destroyed homes and forty percent of the businesses had been rebuilt. It would take until 1984 for all structures to be repaired or rebuilt, but as bumper stickers that appeared within days of the tornado stated, "Xenia Lives!" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07697
Subjects: Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Tornado damage; Natural disasters; Xenia (Ohio)--History
Places: Xenia (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, 28 feet over flood stage and nine feet above the 1884 record. As flood waters rose, gas tanks exploded and oil fires erupted on the river. Parts of Cincinnati remained under water for nineteen days, and electricity and fresh water were in short supply. More than 50,000 were homeless, 10% of the city was inundated, water supply was cut, and streetcar service curtailed. President Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph shows a Cincinnati neighborhood covered by flood water. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F09_004_1
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--History; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. Taken January 26, 1937, this photograph shows people standing under the Market Street Bridge on Water Street in front of the flooded Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad tracks in Steubenville, Ohio. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_011_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Central business districts; Storefronts--United States--Pictorial works; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. This photograph shows LaBelle Boulevard in Steubenville, Ohio, covered with flood water. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_015_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Ohio River; Floods; Natural disasters; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. This photograph is taken from the private bridge of the Wheeling Steel Corp. in Steubenville, Ohio, looking north. At the center are slag piles, and Fort Steuben Bridge is in the distance. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. In 1935, President Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_017_001
Subjects: Wheeling Steel Corporation; Suspension bridges--Ohio; Ohio River; Floods; Natural disasters; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph shows flood waters encroaching on the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge in Steubenville, Ohio, also referred to as the Steubenville Railroad Bridge or the Norfolk Southern Railway Bridge, and State Route 7 already submerged. In 1935, President Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F06_018_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio)--History--Pictorial works; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: In January and February of 1937, weeks of heavy rainfall caused the Ohio River to flood parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, causing $500 million in property damages, and displacing and killing hundreds. By the end of January, the Ohio River measured 80 feet deep in Cincinnati, one of the areas most affected. President Roosevelt dispatched thousands of relief workers from the Works Progress Administration to rescue flood victims and restore affected cities. This photograph shows the aftermath of the flood, with debris scattered across this residential street. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F05_026_001
Subjects: Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio