Sunday, March 29, 2015

The 1937 Flood Revisited

A few years ago, I wrote about the impact of the 1937 flood on my Dad and his family who were living at 2424 Eastern Ave. (now Riverside Drive). It included family pictures that had been passed down to us. Three years later, I acquired additional pictures from the Cincinnati History and Archives Library at the Museum Center. They are in possession of a scrapbook of flood pictures that were collected from a variety of individual collections. One of the pictures was one I recognized from the collection of Mary Pharo Meldon, who loaned it to me for inclusion in the Blue Room Belch.

The search led to additional pictures that featured my Dad's house. John Thomas Jones was 16-years old at the time of the flood. I remember him telling stories about the house being accessible only through an attic window by boat.

This is my Dad's house on the left. We do not know the identities of the men in the boat.

From this view, you can see that the water level got up just below the attic. The house is still standing in 2015. 

This view is from the railroad tracks above the house. I have no idea why there is a car on the tracks.
Dad's house is the small one on the left. Note all of the furniture stacked next to the tracks.

Finally, Mary Pharo Meldon's collection included this great picture of people from the East End trying to acquire drinking water after the Cincinnati Water Works pumping equipment failed.


From the Collection of Mary Pharo Meldon

4 comments:

  1. Very interesting. The guys are really enjoying themselves with that ruined piano! And I can't imagine having to clean out that submerged house :(

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  2. I love this! Thank you for giving further life to my Aunt Mary's photos. My Grandma (her sister (Eleanor Pharo Guntzelman) also had many of these pictures but you have some that she didn't have. Greatly appreciate you posting here.

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  3. Michael,
    I tried to email you but the email address on your google profile doesn't work. I want you to check out another blog that is filled with Mary's information. I'd love to talk to you about it. http://blueroombelch.blogspot.com My email address is: khreed@cinci.rr.com

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