71st SWCS International Annual Conference July 24-27, 2016 Louisville, KY

1. Fellows Forum
“The Paducah Revival After the Thousand Year Flood of 1937”
Soil and Water Conservation Society
James Duane Bolin
24 July 2016

2. Paducah Floods
• Floods registering 53 feet or more in
Paducah’s History before the floodwall:
– 1832
– 1867
– 1884
– 1913
– 1937

3. Paducah’s April, 1913 Flood

4. The Gauge at 54.3 Feet on April 7,
1913 in Paducah, Kentucky

5. The 1937 Flood

6. The Thousand Year Flood

7. Martial Law Declared

8. The Paducah Hospital

9. Downtown Paducah Underwater

10. The River of Broadway

11. Cook’s Beer

12. An Iconic Photograph of the Paducah
Flood of 1937

13. The Aftermath

14. Paducah’s Population
• 1830 105
• 1850 2,428
• 1860 4,590
• 1870 6,866
• 1880 8,036
• 1890 12,797
• 1900 19,446
• 1910 22,760
• 1920 24,725
• 1930 33,541
• 1940 33,765

15. Paducah’s Population Continued
• 1950 32,828
• 1960 34,479
• 1970 31,627
• 1980 27,315
• 1990 27,256
• 2000 26,275
• 2010 25,024