Page 18 - LDC FlipBook demo

Above, left to right: The 1937 Flood damaged over 900 homes and hundreds of townspeople found only piles of rubble. Widespread devastation brought curious sightseers, national reporters and financial assistance from across the country.
In downtown Lawrenceburg, water completely submerged many buildings and crawled past the second floors of many more. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated from the Court House as the water reached within inches of the second floor.
A small plaque near the front door of the Court House marks the high water level.
The half completed new Lawrenceburg High School was under water. And at the old high school on Short Street all of the books were destroyed.
The Lawrenceburg Roller Mills on High Street, the largest flour mill in Indiana, suspended operations and moved its office to temporary quarters at Old Quaker.
When the water finally went down, an empty barrel was found on top of one of the wings of their office, built in 1820 as a home for Lawrenceburg’s founder, Samuel E. Vance.
By February 4, the first Big Four Railroad work train reached the city, and several hundred men had been assigned to make temporary repairs to their tracks.
The water remained in Lawrenceburg for 15 days. It left an almost unbelievable wasteland of splintered houses, debris, upended outhouses and ruined roadways.
On February 18, the Red Cross presented their assessment of the situation. Out of 900 houses damaged or lost, 375 had been completely washed away, and another 300 were so badly damaged they could not be saved.
That same day the drinking water supply was declared safe, with no boiling necessary, but it was February 25 before the first telephone service was restored, on an extremely limited basis.
As residents began anxiously making their way toward their old homes, they found scenes of almost indescribable chaos.
Hundreds found only piles of rubble in place of their houses, and there were countless cars buried in slime and mud, never to run again.
Permeating the air was a stench that was almost overwhelming, the result of rotting food and furniture as well as small animals and pets that had been left behind and lost their lives in the flood.