The Great Flood of 1937

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Thanks to Eleanor Williams for this wonderful article & photos

The rains of January 1937 were constant. Day after day, they fell. The earth was filled with warm rain; the streams were swollen with excessive drainage; yet the clouds covered the sky and the grey mistiness only changed when heavy rains limited the visibility. The sun was powerless to penetrate the mist.   As the days of January passed there was mounting concern. An earlier flood of December 1927 had been considered beyond having equal. On January 1, 1928, Cumberland River had reached a crest of 59.9 feet.   On Monday, 18 January 1937, after continued rainfall for nearly three weeks the city became even more alarmed. The LEAF CHRONICLE reported that Cumberland River was rising some four inches an hour and might reach the record mark. Families had evacuated their homes in the lowlands. Port Royal was already isolated; Guthrie Pike was flooded and the employees of Dunbar Cave, forced by rising underground waters, were using boats to reach the mushroom beds.   As the waters of the Cumberland reached the 55 foot mark on Tuesday the 19th, more distressed families had been removed from submerged or damaged homes. The problem of housing was now acute. G. W. Scarborough, Red Cross Chairman, sought permission to use cavalry troops' army tents as temporary shelter despite the cold weather and constant rains. Records of the greatest flood in 1882 showed 60 feet, 2.7 inches. Tobacco firms along the river were removing stored supplies. The waters crept uphill through all low hollows.   Fortunately the Citizens Conservation Corps camp was located at Clarksville. More than 100 of these men, with commanding officer, Captain D. V. Holliday, helped in moving people and their belongings. Without their help in days to come loss of life might have occurred and the loss of supplies would have mounted. At Palmyra, the L&N Railroad tracks were awash; sandbagging was inadequate. The water soaked fill collapsed and ten or twelve freight cars left the tracks. Mail and passenger service was disrupted for days; repair crews fought a losing battle against the rising waters; at one time the water was five feet deep in the Palmyra tunnel. Army tents were inappropriate shelter for refugees. Housing was available at the old post office building at Commerce and Second Streets and at the Baptist Tabernacle on Lee Street_ A soup kitchen was established in the Legion Club Hall where the Red Cross provided meals for increasing numbers. With shelter and food assured, there was a call for clothing and bedding. Many displaced persons had escaped with only the clothing on their backs. Citizens on high ground responded to the needs carrying water from filled swimming pools. This water had to be boiled twenty minutes before being used. Barrels of chlorinated water were placed at 20 strategic locations in the city. These were for public use for cooking and drinking. Howell Water Co. of Nashville offered 75 bottles of distilled water daily. There was no laundry service and no cars were washed. Nashville sent three tank trucks of drinking water, limiting the daily amount to one gallon per family. People with glass jugs waited in line for the precious fluid.   While the city schools were closed, the local college, Austin Peay Normal, remained open. Prof. John B. Bond distilled water for the use of the faculty and student body. A sudden change in the weather Friday night brought sleet which crippled the community. There were faucets in the houses but no water. There were electric fixtures but no lights; splendid highways but they were inundated; telephone poles but they were broken and flooded; there were telegraph lines but they were made useless; trains but the rails were inundated. Despite the suffering to many and the inconvenience to all Clarksville took the calamity with fortitude and sportsmanship.   The river was still rising; water soaked banks on the old furnace road collapsed breaking electric transmission lines from Bowling Green. Without power, without lights, without communications, normal activities were hampered. The local power plant was  placed in operation to generate some electricity, yet broken power lines were menacing. Candles and oil lamps glowed in many homes where food was prepared over coal grate fires or heating stoves. Communication lines were downed in sleet. Shortwave radio messages were transmitted toward Nashville for broadcast back to the community. Battery Students in the city schools were ending their examinations and were expected to return on Friday, the 22nd, for report cards. The rising waters would close the schools for days thereafter.   A town without a water supply was unbelievable but the dire prediction of a 62 foot crest on Thursday, the 21st of January, was alarming. People were asked to keep containers filled with water for emergency. A desperate effort was made to prevent flooding of the waterworks, then located on the banks of the Cumberland River downstream from the L&N Railroad bridge. Four electric pumps were installed to keep the waterworks from flooding. Dikes were built and sandbags used to protect the waterworks building. If the plant was submerged there would be no water available in the city's water lines. Such water as was in the standpipe would be reserved for fire protection. People filled containers of all descriptions. Bath tubs and swimming pools were filled. Fortunately the hospital swimming pool held a reserve for its use.   By the 22nd of January the town was almost isolated. Most highways were blocked, only Hwy 112 (41A) was open and that would be under two feet of water by the following day. Boats were placed at bridges leading to New Providence, to St.  Bethlehem and to the south side of the Cumberland River. These were only for emergency use in the treacherous backwaters of the Red and Cumberland Rivers. As the river reached 62.9 feet on Friday afternoon, there were heavy rains upstream and the crest of 65 feet was anticipated. On Monday, this was surpassed; the level was 65.5.   Water was everywhere except in the incoming pipes. An effort to fill the water mains was made by installation of a five-inch pipe from Porter's Bluff Spring to the Clarksville Ice & Coal Co. plant. It would not be sanitary; just for emergency use. This proved to be impractical. Water trucks drove through the city.   The danger of fire was ever present. A fire engine and five firemen from Nashville arrived at the first of the week; two other men were stationed here temporarily. Troop F of the 109th Cavalry, Tennessee National Guard with Lt W. W. Barksdale in command, was housed in the post office building at Commerce and Second Streets. The refugees there were removed to the balcony of the building. These men were on patrol duty protecting against vandalism and fire.   The crest at 65.5 feet topped all time records. the slow recession of water revealed mud coated homes and business establishments. Houses had been swept from foundations; others had collapsed. Photographs made by local photographers indicated the breadth of the waters even up Gallows Hollow and across S. Second Street. On the 23rd of January a plane from Nashville attempted to bring photographers to the scene but the plane was forced down at Ashland City with some damage. WPA workers cleaned mud from houses deemed habitable. The clean-up continued for weeks. State Public Works Administration officials estimated the total loss to be $1,000,000.00.   Much work remained to be done at the waterworks. It was February second before the water plant was restored to its normal purity and clarity. The river was back in its banks by Feb. 7th and on Feb. 9th with the waters at 34.9 feet the flood was ended. The rainfall between Jan. 1 and Jan. 26 had been 21.24 inches. Communications were restored. The trains were again operating; schools reopened; business resumed and concern for the less fortunate was demonstrated. The LEAF CHRONICLE stated, "We are literally making history... that will be read with interest by our descendants generations later."