Troy and the Great Flood of 1913

By Troy Historical Society

The rain began to fall on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1913. In Troy, 15 people lost their lives during the flood due to drowning, and in the weeks and months that followed an unknown number died from flood-related diseases. The story of what happened in Troy has often been overlooked, but in 1976 the Troy Historical Society Oral History Committee interviewed Troy flood survivors as a project for the bicentennial of the United States. These interviews, preserved on audiotapes, provide researchers firsthand accounts of what happened in the town. The late Mrs. Lois Shilling Davies, a past president of the Troy Historical Society who lived in Troy during the flood, deserves much of the credit for this invaluable resource, for it is she who conducted many of the interviews. Images of America: Troy and the Great Flood of 1913 relates how residents endured without having any instruction or experience in emergency preparedness. This is a celebration of human bravery, kindness, and ingenuity--of people who triumphed over tragedy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Dec 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439641989

Troy Historical Society

The Troy Historical Society members who compiled this book include Judy Deeter, president and local history writer; Rick Jackson, trustee-at-large, antique dealer, photographer, and photograph collector; and Patrick Kennedy, archivist for the Troy-Miami County Public Library and columnist for the Troy Daily News.

Book preview

Society.

INTRODUCTION

Looking back 100 years to 1913 from our modern perspective and the relative safety of the flood control system of the Miami Conservancy District, it would be easy to think that the 1913 flood was devastating because the people of the day did not know now to respond or deal with floods, because that particular flood was the only serious one in Troy’s history, or that there was not a large federal relief program available at the time. We would be incorrect to arrive at such conclusions.

We do not often hear of other floods in Troy, but rest assured, few events in history happen without precedent, and the Great Flood of 1913 is not an exception because there have been floods since 1913, e.g., the 1937 flood was a catastrophe, and there were floods prior to 1913 that were also destructive. The purpose of this brief introduction is to lay groundwork for understanding and context in order to better comprehend the devastating nature of the 1913 flood in the Miami Valley and, specifically, Troy.

Weather statistics indicate that the Miami Valley receives, on average, approximately 38 to 40 inches of precipitation every year, and this has been fairly constant for most of the last 200 years. According to former Miami Conservancy engineer Arthur E. Morgan, in The Miami Conservancy District, throughout the valley’s recorded history, the too wet years and the too dry years seem to balance each other nicely; i.e., we do not have an inordinate amount of wet years over dry years, or vice versa. But, from time to time, we do see a year or two in which one extreme or the other seems to reign.

During the five days in late March 1913 just prior to and during the flood, the Miami Valley, including Troy, received about 10 inches of rain, or close to 25 percent or the average rainfall for the year. An additional problem was the fact the valley was just entering its thawing season and the ground was partially frozen but already saturated; therefore, there was no place for the excess water to go except directly into the rivers and streams, which quickly swelled, overran their banks, and caused the devastating flooding along the rivers and in the lowlands. The man-made river and stream of the day, known as the Miami-Erie Canal and its race, also were quickly inundated with water and became conduits of destruction.

As one researches the facts and history of the flood, it is clear that it was not so much that the people had not seen a flood prior to this; rather, it was the immensity and the speed with which the deluge came that caused so much damage, loss of life, and heartache.

Previous to 1913, there were 10 floods in the region that are greatly considered to have been very destructive floods. There were other years in which local areas experienced flooding, but the following 10 are considered to be comparable floods that were felt throughout the valley: March 1805 (according to Arthur Morgan, this flood was probably not exceeded in size until 1913); 1814; January 1828; February 1832; January 1847; September 1866; September 1866 (considered the greatest flood in the valley up to the time, excepting the one in 1805); February 1883 (three days and almost as high as 1866); 1884 (almost as high as 1883); March 1897; and March 1898 (along with 1897, one of the highest water levels excluding 1805 and 1866). According to the Miami Conservancy District’s data, the worst floods in the Miami Valley, in order of size and volume, took place in 1805, 1866, 1897, 1898, and 1883. All of these were dwarfed by the Great Flood of 1913.

As one can see, about every 10–15 years there was substantial flooding in the Miami Valley; and the 1913 deluge, following 1898, was just about on time. Therefore, it should be understood that the people were familiar with the regularity of flooding in the valley. Other factors also contributed to the cataclysm.

The Lake Erie–Ohio River watershed, which is the geographical dividing line of the flow of waters north or south in the Miami Valley, runs along the north side of Grand Lake St. Mary’s; then, at the eastern edge of the lake in Auglaize County, the watershed follows a direct southern line to a point just west of Minster, at which point it turns east on a line north of the town, roughly along State Route 119, and enters Shelby County. From this point, it follows SR 119 until it intersects at the northeastern edge of Lake Loramie and then commences in a northeasterly direction following Loramie Creek on its north bank until it leaves Shelby County.

All precipitation north of this divide flows northward into streams and rivers of that area and ultimately into Lake Erie. Conversely, everything south of the watershed flows into the streams and rivers in a southerly flow until it reaches the Ohio River. Therefore, all the rains that fell in March 1913 not only fell on the land but, as mentioned above, ran off into the streams and rivers and then south, gaining more volume as the water flowed south. The southern reaches not only contended with their own rain but also with the rain and runoff from the area to the north.

In examining the Great Flood of 1913 and analyzing the data, Morgan, in The Miami Valley and the 1913 Flood: Technical Reports, Part I, makes an astounding statement, which helps us to grasp the immense power of that particular flood: Simply by the condensing of the 9.7 inches of rain which fell during 5 days on the comparatively small area of 3670 square miles of the Miami River watershed above Hamilton, enough energy was released to supply 2,500,000 horsepower 24 hours a day continuously for a hundred years.

Quite frankly, given the size and power of the 1913 flood, there was not much that could have been done, besides complete evacuation, which would have lessened the