Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
This view of Portsmouth's flooded Chillicothe Street looks north. The occupants of a lone
rowboat slowly survey the watery scene. The flooded stores shown include, at far left, Brag-
don's Dry Goods, a popular department store at the time. On the other side of the street is
the Artwil Dress Shop. At top right can be glimpsed the bottom portion of the National Bank
of Portsmouth's sign.
Founded in 1803, Portsmouth grew quickly because of traffic on the busy Ohio and Scioto
Rivers. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was a prosperous river port and steel-making
town. But the Depression years of the 1930s took a heavy toll on the once-booming town.
And the 1937 flood added to that distress, flooding homes and factories. Even so, when the
water receded, the hardworking people of Portsmouth set about rebuilding their town.
