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: This photograph of a street in Portsmouth, Ohio, during the 1937 flood, depicts residents navigating the streets of the town with rowboats. The Ohio River Flood of 1937 caused more than twenty million dollars in damages, and was especially destructive in Cincinnati, where flood levels reached almost eighty feet and parts of town remained under water for nineteen days, with electricity and fresh water in short supply. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06897
Subjects: Floods; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Natural disasters--United States; Streets--Ohio
Places: Portsmouth (Ohio); Scioto 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 Standard Oil Co. Storage in Steubenville, Ohio, looking across the Ohio River and Harmon Creek. President 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 component of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project for which each state had a number of writers hired by the federal government. One of the primary goals of the Federal Writers’ Project was to complete the American 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_019_001
Subjects: Steubenville (Ohio); Storefronts--United States--Pictorial works; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial view of damage caused to the town of Xenia, Ohio, after a tornado struck on April 4, 1974. The Xenia tornado was part of a tornado super-outbreak that occurred across the country from April 3-4. The Xenia tornado killed 32 people, and destroyed half the buildings in the city and 300 homes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03878
Subjects: Tornado damage; Natural disasters--United States; Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Aerial views
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial view of damage caused to the town of Xenia, Ohio, after a tornado struck on April 4, 1974. The Xenia tornado was part of a tornado super-outbreak that occurred across the country from April 3-4. The Xenia tornado killed 32 people, and destroyed half the buildings in the city and 300 homes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03879
Subjects: Tornado damage; Natural disasters--United States; Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Aerial views
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial view of damage caused to the town of Xenia, Ohio, after a tornado struck on April 4, 1974. The Xenia tornado was part of a tornado super-outbreak that occurred across the country from April 3-4. The Xenia tornado killed 32 people, and destroyed half the buildings in the city and 300 homes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03880
Subjects: Tornado damage; Natural disasters--United States; Tornadoes--Ohio--Xenia; Aerial views
Places: Xenia (Ohio); Greene County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photographic postcard depicting fallen power lines, damaged after a storm that struck Cleveland and northeastern Ohio in November 1913. The heavy snowfall was part of an early winter storm that was called the "Great Lakes Hurricane," "the Ultimate Storm" and "the Big Blow." 18 to 25 inches of snow fell in two days across northeastern Ohio, covering telephone, telegraph and electrical wires. In the photograph, the visible street sign reads "Stevenson Rd NE" and appears to be in Cleveland, most likely at the intersection of that street with St. Clair Avenue. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03881
Subjects: Natural disasters--United States; Blizzards; Winter; Snow
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio); Northeastern Ohio
 

Description: Photographic postcard depicting power line damage with men shoveling snow after a storm that struck Cleveland and northeastern Ohio in November 1913. The heavy snowfall was part of an early winter storm that was called "the Great Lakes Hurricane," "the Ultimate Storm" and "the Big Blow." 18 to 25 inches of snow fell in two days across northeastern Ohio, covering telephone, telegraph and electrical wires. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03882
Subjects: Natural disasters--United States; Blizzards; Winter; Snow
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio); Northeastern Ohio
 

Description: Photograph of the cabin in Point Pleasant, Ohio, in which Civil War general and United States President Ulysses S. Grant was born in 1822. This view shows the cabin submerged in water up to its eaves during a flood in 1937. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06099
Subjects: Presidents--Dwellings--Ohio; Ohio History--Presidents and Politics; Natural disasters--United States; Floods; Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Places: Point Pleasant (Ohio); Clermont County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of employees of the C. W. Bryant Company constructing a temporary bridge across the Scioto River on Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio, after the 1913 flood. The temporary bridge was used until October 1921. Building this bridge was one of the first major construction jobs undertaken by the C. W. Bryant Company in Columbus. Charles William Bryant Jr. was born in Dayton in 1882, and from his start as a farmhand with a 3rd grade education would go on to become a prominent African American businessman, self-taught engineer, and owner of one of Columbus’ largest construction firms. The C. W. Bryant Rigging & Moving Co. was involved in major projects throughout Columbus, including the construction of a temporary Broad Street bridge following the 1913 flood, the removal of lighting arcs from High Street, and dismantling Hanford Village in 1962 for the construction of I-71. Bryant faced racial discrimination in his personal and professional life, including the refusal of local steelworkers’ unions to admit Bryant’s black employees, which forced Bryant Co. out of steel construction in the 1950s. He nonetheless expanded into other areas, including ownership of Bryco gas stations, a coal and oil company, the Litchford and Macon hotels, and the Ohio Malt Beverage Co.-the first African American distributor in Columbus. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04473
Subjects: African Americans--Ohio; Bryant, Charles William, Jr. (1882-1964); Business and Labor; Construction industry--Ohio; Floods--Ohio--Columbus; Natural disasters--United States
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an aerial photograph of the aftermath of the Xenia, Ohio, tornado, 1974. It is what is known as a Super Outbreak of tornadoes. It remains one of the most destructive weather episodes on record in the United States. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03679
Subjects: Xenia (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Natural disasters--United States; Aerial views; Tornado damage
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. This photograph shows a flooded commercial street in Ironton, Ohio, a city of 20,000 inhabitants. Pictured here is the intersection of 3rd and Center Streets, with S.S. Kresge Co. five and dime, Peoples' Credit Clothing, and Gallager Drugs on the left. Ironton was the home of lucrative iron and cement plants, as well as lumber and mining interests. President 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 component of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project for which each state had a number of writers hired by the federal government. One of the primary goals of the Federal Writers’ Project was to complete the American 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_B08F11_001_1
Subjects: Storefronts--United States--Pictorial works; Floods; Natural disasters; Ohio River; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ironton (Ohio); Lawrence County (Ohio)