The Great Flood of 1913
100 Years Later

Community Profiles:  Greenfield, Indiana

Timeline

Greenfield is located in the headwaters of the East Fork White River.  The following is a short local account of the March 1913 flood in the Greenfield area.  In March of 1913, Greenfield was a small agricultural community and not considered a suburb of Indianapolis.

The Greenfield flood of March 1913 resulted from a steady 48 hour rain. Brandywine Creek flowed over Main Street like a large river. It carried away every bridge in town.  The flood began March 24 and reached a high point on Tuesday, March 25 when it flowed over the National Road. Many residents east of town stayed up all night to watch. On Monday night, March 25, the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge across Brandywine Creek gave out, and the last train crossed at 11 p.m. CST. Pott's Ditch overflowed the bridge at Fifth Street. The Fourth Street Bridge floated downstream. The new East South Street Bridge, built in 1912, was the only bridge in the city to survive. The bridges south of Greenfield and one north of Greenfield were destroyed. Cars on the interurban line were stranded. Mail was not delivered. The steady rain stopped on Tuesday March 25, 1913 at 5:30 p.m. CST. At 6:30 p.m. CST, Brandywine Creek crested. Below is the daily observed weather data for March 23-27, 1913:

Thanks to Joe Skvarenina, Hancock County Historian, and Susan Bodkin, Hancock County Surveyor.

Flood Protection Measures

There are no Corps of Engineers flood control reservoirs in the local area.  Flooding as bad or even worse than March 1913 is possible today.

To add information about the March 1913 at Attica e-mail Al Shipe at al.shipe@noaa.gov.

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