Portsmouth 1937 flood, WPA workers fill sandbags   Save
New Deal
Description: Photograph of Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers filling sandbags to be used for flood control purposes. The caption reads, "As busy as beavers were WPA workers who were hastily summoned from their other projects to strengthen the Portsmouth flood wall. This photo, taken a few hours before the flood was scheduled to pour over the walls Thursday afternoon, shows the workers filling sand bags to be placed along the levies." The photo is from the "Portsmouth, Ohio, flood of 1937", SC 381. This collection contains 37 photographic black and white prints, 21 x 26cm or smaller; and 4 postcards in black in white, 9 x 14 cm. Photographs document the flood damage in Portsmouth, including sandbagging, floodwall construction, and WPA rescue efforts. In 1937, southern Ohio faced one of the worst floods in its history, known today as the "Great Flood of 1937." The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February. In Cincinnati, the flood was particularly difficult for the city, where flood levels reached its crest of 79.99 feet on Tuesday, January 26, 1937. Communities along the Ohio River in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois also faced serious problems. Many people lost their homes as a result of the flood. The Ohio River Flood of 1937 caused more than twenty million dollars in damages. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: sc381_34_01
Subjects: Floods--Ohio River; Portsmouth (Ohio)--Flood, 1937
Places: Portsmouth (Ohio); Scioto County (Ohio)