How much greater was the '37 flood than its predecessors?  Lots.

Austinburg	West Riverside

 

Aerial View of the 1937 Flood	Another Aerial of Covington, 1937	On Madison	On Madison

 

15th & Wheeler in Covington	Believed to be at 3rd and Philadelphia	West Covington, looking East 1937

 

South at 7th & Scott From a Facebook post by Chris Brooks	1937 Flood at 24th Street From a Facebook post by Dale Ashcraft

 

Looking west at Holman & 19th	Garrard at 21st, from St. E.

 

The Foot of Madison  Avenue	Pike Street, south of Main	Scott Street, between 4th and 5th Streets

 

Seventh & Scott	At the entrance to the Suspension Bridge	Roughly from Madison Avenue looking north

 

On Madison	Definitely Covington, likely 1937	On Madison

 

Looking south from the Suspension Bridge	Foot of Garrard Street	Looking East on 3rd, from Madison	Madison, looking north from Fifth

 

January 23rd- it still hasn't crested.

 

The Kentucky Post notes that while there were “literally hundreds” of heroes in the 1937 flood, they chose to name John T. Kingsley, as the most heroic of all. Our image is from the Kenton County Library's Faces and Places Collection. They identify Kingsley as the man on the far left.

 

Madison, looking north from 3rd	Maryland, looking north, from St. E	East End Residences, 1937	Covington in the 1937 Flood

 

Aerial view of Covington, 1937	Looking northeast over Austinburg.  This picture is 7 days before the crest of the flood, i.e. it's coming up 7 more feet.

 

30th & DeCoursey	Winding Way	30th & Rogers
From a Facebook post by Sharon Fightmaster Cross

 

L&N Cars Anchoring Bridge	7th & Scott	James Ave. looking north
From a Facebook post by Sharon Fightmaster Cross

 

30th E. from DeCoursey	Water Main Bridge, Latonia	Fries & Son, 2nd and Madison
From a Facebook post by Sharon Fightmaster Cross		From a Facebook post by Laura Hartman Roland

 

January 25, 1937 The L&N RR Bridge, across the Licking, converted for auto traffic. Read the story here.

 

8th & Philadelphia, looking East	from the 9th St end of Crescent, looking East	from Western Avenue, looking northeast	9th and Philadelphia, looking North	Goebel Park, looking northwest
These five are all from Facebook posts by Alina Lag

A water level view of the flooded Ohio.
From a Facebook post by Dale Ashcraft, taken by his grandmother.

 

Wow. Today, that's Goebel Park and I-75; then, a flooded Willow Run Creek. from a Facebook post by Arlina Lag	From the 15th Street railroad bridge, in the 1937 Flood. from a Facebook post by Cindy Alexander
14th (Pleasant) & Greenup, in the 1937 Flood from a Facebook post by Cindy Alexander	East of Johnson Street
Looking down, and south, at the Covington Suspension Bridge entrance	From 24th Street in the 1937 Flood from a Facebook post by Dale Ashcraft
Aerial of 1937 Flood	Philadelphia at 9th. That's Willow Creek. You know it better as I-75.

1937 flood scenes from Covington and Newport

Somewhere in Covington, 1937	Liberty Cherry, from a Facebook post by Jim Deaton

  

Suspension Bridge, 1937	Suspension Bridge, 1937		Troops Marching to Suspension Bridge

 

The extent of the 1937 Flood waters in Kenton County.

 

“Covington, Kentucky, on the Ohio opposite Cincinnati, under fifteen feet of water - over one-third its area” 1937	“West Covington, Kentucky, across the Ohio from Cincinnati, under 15 feet of water.” 1937

Yes, the Suspension Bridge was the only bridge open between Cairo and Pittsburg.  No, it wasn't effortless.
Keep in mind the flood was in January, so the water these men are working in is ice cold.

 

Covington end of the Suspension Bridge,1937

Pontoon Bridge at 5th & Scott	Both, 6th and Main, 1937		Twelfth Street Bridge, 1937

 

Philadelphia at 8th	9th and Crescent	Philadelphia at 9th	Mouth of Willow Run
from a Facebook post by Arlina Lag

 

Philadelphia Street sinks 15 feet as 1937 flood recedes, here.
from a Facebook post by Arlina Lag

Flood aftermath: you can get to Cincinnati an Covington, but you're advised not to.

Art and Ralph Pranger lived thru the 1937 flood, and their memories of it are recounted at this site.

 

7th & Scott, 1937	7th & Scott, 1937	On the left of this pic is the Dixie Sign Company, at 117 Park Place in Covington	Depenbrock's Grocery  at 640 Scott

 

from St. Benedict's on 17th Street, 1937	St. Elizabeth in the 1937 Flood	This is a steam shovel, brought in to provide steam to St. Elizabeth, since the boilers in St. E's basement were flooded, and inoperable.

 

Larry Stulz sends us this image of his Mother, cleaning up after the 1945 Flood. In heels.
It's March 6, 1945, and you can make out St. John's School, on Pike, in the upper right.
I-75 would literally run overhead of this scene today. 1945 was the 4th worst flood ever in Northern Kentucky.

 

Ground breaking for the Covington floodwall	An AP wire photo from March 10, 1967. The water's covering Riverside Drive.

 

Kentucky Post, February 4, 1937