The Great Flood

As the nation looked south toward the war; on March 17th 1865, in eastern New York state there was great flood in the making.

The combination of a heavy accumulation of ice on the rivers and a sudden Spring thaw caused one of the worst floods in the history of Rochester,NY. Ninety percent of the streets were underwater, with about 54,000 cubic feet of water flowing every second into the city. Abandoned horse drawn streetcars were swept off the Main Street Bridge, and went over the falls horses and all, a New York Central Railroad Bridge was also sweep away. Below Albany,New York the water in the Hudson was running eight to ten feet high, submerging docks and piers. Damages in the state in towns along the Genesee River, Hudson River and Mohawk River were in excess of one million dollars. The flooding even delayed the opening that year in navigation on the Eire Canal.