Published Monday, March 24, 2003
By Kristen Garrett
Herald Staff Writer
Ninety years ago today, the rains began that led to the greatest flood the Shenango Valley has ever seen.
The disaster started March 24, 1913 -- the day after Easter. The flood led to destruction in Sharon, Farrell, Wheatland, Sharpsville, West Middlesex and other vicinities.
Jim Davis of Walton Hills, Ohio, has photographs taken by his father, Harry Davis, during the flood. Harry Davis and his friend, Pickle Heintz, owned a photography studio in Sharon, Jim Davis said.
Jim Davis' grandfather, Tom Davis, was the assistant fire chief at the time of the flood. Jim Davis said his father never talked about the flood, but after he died in 1970, Jim found the photographs his father had taken during the flood.
"I didn't have the heart to throw them away. I knew what they were," Davis said.
The flood waters rose very quickly and left unprepared people stranded in their homes. One report shows that a mother and her infant daughter had to be rescued from the second floor of their home where the flood waters were close to engulfing them. Police, firefighters, city officials and all able-bodied men in Sharon spent four sleepless days rescuing people from the waters.
On March 24 the flood waters were 9.20 feet high. The waters were 16.48 feet high on the 25th, 18.6 feet on the 26th, 16.87 feet on the 27th, 14.4 feet on the 28th, 11.4 feet on the 29th, 8.65 feet on the 30th and 6.8 feet on the 31st.
People on the west and east sides of Sharon were divided. Eventually, boats were used to navigate the city. Water flooded the power house of the Shenango Valley Electric Light Co. on Silver Street, causing a complete power outage in the city.
In the midst of the flood and power outage, a fire broke out in the four-story brick warehouse of A. Wishart & Sons Co. on Silver Street when the waters came in contact with a large amount of lime that was stored in the building.
There were dozens of businesses near the building and one of the most dangerous places in town to have a fire. There were only five paid firefighters in town; the rest were volunteers. The pumping station of the water company was disabled, residents were using water from a reservoir and there was no way to pump more water into the reservoir, so the supply was nearly depleted when the firefighters started battling the fire at Wishart.
Residents were panic stricken when they learned of the fire. High winds threatened to blow flames over the entire business district and everyone thought the city was doomed.
What saved the city was a new Robinson automobile combination fire truck with pumps the city had purchased two weeks earlier. The water supply gave out, but quick-thinking Fire Chief Fred Vanderholt came up with the idea to back the new pumper into the flood waters, drop the intake hose into the water and bring the fire under control.
The flood waters were so strong that it caused The Sharon Herald, located at River, Pitt and Shenango streets, to crash into the Shenango River. Parts of the printing press were found far down the river for many days after the flood.
Just after the collapse of the newspaper building, a wing of the famous steel "V" bridge fell into the flood waters. The bridge cost $100,000 to build in 1905 and was considered one of the most remarkable structures of its kind.
The State Street bridge was twisted by flood waters.
There was fear of looting, possible assault and bloodshed in the chaos, so state troops were called in to protect the residents and Sharon was put under martial law.
The real damage wasn't revealed until the flood waters receded.
Besides the tremendous damage to homes, streets and buildings, there were dead dogs, chicken and fish on almost every block.
Mrs. Logan Wilding of Vine Avenue in Sharon died in the flood. She was hysterical in a rescue boat, stood up and fell out. Her body was found after the waters had receded, but an autopsy showed that she died of heart disease brought on by acute fright. There was no water in her lungs.
There was one other account of a flood-related death, written in the style of the time:
"In Wheatland, Mrs. Jerry Hickey, believed to have been the largest woman in that section of Pennsylvania, lay ill on the first floor of her home. She weighed 450 pounds and it was necessary to carry her to the second floor as the waters began to swirl about her bed. She suffered so from the shock that she died on April 5."
The mills in Farrell also sustained damage because they were located along the river. The mills were forced to shut down for a week.
Relief efforts to clean up the towns began as soon as the waters receded. The total property damage was estimated at $2 million.
The information in this story was taken from a limited edition book called "Official Souvenir History of the Shenango Valley Flood" published by C.B. Lartz and Z.O. Hazen after the flood. The photos were supplied to The Herald by Jim Davis.