KHS Collection - 1995ph2.13AAFRA5.2 . Washington Street, looking north, during the 1937 flood.
Okay, just walking around Frankfort makes me feel a little water logged. After driving over the Capital Bridge every day on my way to work and watching the water go up, up up, then down, I can’t help but think about this-week-in-flood in the context of 20 years from now.
One of the first things I learned working with historians in Kentucky, there was a huge flood in 1937, eventually I heard about a flood in the 70s and again in the 90s here in Frankfort, at least. Like the ice storm of 2008, people are going to be impacted, and remembering, this for years to come. Some day some historian is going to move to Kentucky and learn about the flood of 2010….what will we have to remember the incident by? Pictures? Oral Histories? Video? Newspaper accounts? Radio pieces?
We have pictures of Frankfort from the 1937 flood. Lots of South Frankfort, where I live, but also pictures of the 1978 flood, and also the 1883 flood (I learned something new with this one – my 20th century focus and all).
We can look at these pictures, and listen to people’s stories and see the impact things like flood walls make – South Frankfort isn’t as flooded in the 2010 flood, but there are plenty of places that still
Last week, I went to a local hangout with a deck extending over the Kentucky River just to watch what floats by and get a feel for folks’ stories so far. People were showing around cell phones with pictures and swapping stories. To me, it is like people know this event will still be something they will be talking about in Frankfort, and in the state, 70 years from now, like the 1937 flood. How high did the water get? What about that dock that broke from the bank with 3 boats still attached? Whose house was waterlogged? How many cleanup kits did the Red Cross give out (by the way, donations are appreciated for this cause).
Here is Mr. Sanders of Frankfort talking about the 1937 flood in the Craw
What is YOUR story? Willing to share it? Got pictures that are going to help tell the story for those in the future? Let’s talk about it. You know where we are, 2 blocks parallel to that massive brown churning river in downtown Frankfort, KY.
Images: upper right, KHS Collection. John Wilson Townsend Collections. The Craw during the 1883 flood, Frankfort, Ky. View from the Old State Capitol roof, looking toward Belle Point. Part of the public square if visible.
upper right, KHS Collection. 1995ph2.28AAFRA5.1 .Lower end of Second Street during the 1978 flood, Frankfort, Ky.
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