April showers bring May flowers, and what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims! April showers bring something else as well: seasonal flooding in and around southwestern Pennsylvania. I think all us residents of Greene County have dealt with the consequences of flooding in one way or another, whether it’s damaged property, closed roads, mudslides, or school closures. It’s become a part of the annual cycle here.
As someone who grew up and still lives along Dunkard Creek in Brave, we knew every year when we were all school children, we’d get free days off from school due to the flooding in Brave. The buses were unable to make it in or out of town, and so we got to stay home and play hooky – and not have to worry about making up the missed days at the end of the year.
Not everyone has fond memories of flooding in Greene County. Over the years many of the businesses along Ten Mile in the area around McDonalds have suffered great damage due to floods, and many private homes have fallen prey to floodwaters and the associated mudslides.
Back in 1888, however, some of the worst flooding to hit Greene County occurred, but it wasn’t in the springtime. These were summer floods. On July 8, 1888, it began raining heavily, and the rains did not stop, or even wain, in their ferocity for 36 hours. As a result, the Mon River was measured to have risen 32 feet in Greensboro after just 24 hours of rain. There was no loss of life associated with the flood but nearly inestimable damage. In Rices Landing, the Kline and Waltons Drugstore was demolished, and the bridge at Millsboro that crossed Ten Mile Creek was destroyed. The press estimated total damage throughout the county to have exceeded $2.5 million – which would be more than $81 million in today’s money.
Later in August, heavy flooding would strike again. The area, having barely recovered from the July floods, was hit by rain on August 20; again, it didn’t stop. The streams throughout the county surged to unprecedented heights and a number of bridges were destroyed. Every farm suffered damage in some form and over 15,000 households were without fuel, light or drinking water. No one was safe from the results of the rains in late August of 1888.
Thankfully, floods of that magnitude are not the norm in Greene County and, as damaging as they can be, haven’t reached such a serious level in over a century.