Betty Ann Smiddy - Cincinnatis Great Disasters

Front Street was located behind Water Street, the first street north of the river. Running east and west on Front Street, the gasworks was located west of Seventh Street near Rose Street and the waterworks was located parallel to Mount Adams. Near the waterworks was the Lexington and Nashville Railroad (L&N) depot. This area was crisscrossed with railroad tracks. The cheap tenements of Rat Row and Sausage Row had mostly been torn down in this area, replaced by the railroads and coal yards by the January 1907 flood.

This is lower Walnut Street in 1907, a day before the Ohio River crested. To the left is a wholesale grocery warehouse. One of the largest warehouses in this area was the Charles McCullough Company, which sold seeds. Carried to the upper floors were 9,000 sacks of seeds, and five wagonloads were moved to another location. Overloading the upper stories sometimes caused these older buildings, undermined by floodwaters, to collapse. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

Front Street, with the Suspension Bridge in the background, is seen here flooded. Rain continued from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati for days, and Chicago experienced sleet, rain, and snow. The Shinkle, Wilson and Krels Company, wholesale grocers at Front and Vine Streets, had its basement and first floor underwater, although much of the stock had been moved to upper floors.

The canal brought high waters into business and residential neighborhoods that might have otherwise remained dry. The City Relief Corps, Salvation Army, and United Charities distributed food and clothing. Soup kitchens were set up. Muth bakery donated 1,000 loaves of bread and an unlimited supply at 2 a loaf. Ration packages were distributed containing bread, canned beef, sugar, coffee, and coal. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

The main tracks of the railroad in 1907 were six feet underwater at the entrance to the Central Union depot on Second Street. Interruption of train service was more than an inconvenience to passengers. Supplies of coal and food were cut off, adding additional misery to citizens. Way stations in outlying areas were used as temporary terminals as the main depots were abandoned. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

At the foot of Mount Adams, the L&N depot is underwater. On the far left are the chimneys that belong to the waterworks. Leaf tobacco warehouses fronted the river, and they quickly cancelled all their auctions. It was estimated that the January 1907 flood caused a property loss of $2 million and a $7 million loss to businesses. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

In those areas prone to frequent flooding, small boats were stored in attics. The narrow johnboats passed through a window, and the residents could paddle away to find shelter and food. Others, trapped in upper stories, ran out of food and fuel or did not have a place to burn the fuel. Johnboats were frequently rented at exorbitant costs, and during this flood police officers seized all boats for relief purposes. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

Cincinnatis Municipal Relief Committee considered requests that the city help to repair damaged houses. Mayor Edward Dempsey said that the city could no more restore a house from a flood than from a fire; its duty stopped with immediate relief for refugees. The mayor urged the building of a stone or concrete flood wall along the riverfront rather than a proposed raising of the streets to a grade of 65 feet in areas prone to flooding. (Courtesy of Don Prout.)

The Mill Creek flooded Spring Grove Avenue in January 1907 from the stockyards to Spring Grove Cemetery. Streetcars were stopped by the floods at the Mill Creek bridge and at the Colerain Avenue bridge. For the first time, elevated high-water streetcars were used. Crowds gathered along the bridges to watch trees, furniture, sheds, barrels, and small houses float away. In places, the Mill Creek spilled four miles out of its banks.

The water from the Mill Creek rose so swiftly that people were caught unaware. Neighbors helped each other carry possessions to higher locations. Household goods were pulled outside in the rain awaiting relatives or friends to come to the rescue. As long as the water did not cover the wheels, carts were piled high and moved families to other locations. Chase and Garfield schools were turned into emergency shelters.