Floods
Since its founding, Lawrence has dealt with a multitude of floods. The 1903 flood is one of the more noteable floods due to the amount of damage it caused, but the flood in 1908 is also worth noting as indicated by the amout of postcards depicting it.
The year of thIS flood is uncertain, but it is clear that several areas of Lawrence were severely flooded by the Kaw.
No stranger to the damage the Kaw could cause, Bowersock Mills was prepared for the 1908 flood after rebuilding from the damage done in 1903.
Damage to the railroad tracks around Lawrence apears to have been common place.
As damaging as the floods were, the raging Kaw was still a sight that attracted many citizens of Lawrence.
During the worst of the flood, the bridge was closed off. The original passanger bridge that connected the two parts of Lawrence was destroyed in the 1903 flood.
The brick plant and water pump station were halfway under water at the peak of the 1908 flood.
In some parts of North Lawrence, it was far easier and safer to travel by boat rather than foot.
Another example of the damage the residents of North Lawrence recieved from the 1908 flood.
Sandbags were put down in an attempt to keep some of the water back.
A young boy wades through the flooded street.
The sandbags on Bridge Street, now North 2nd Street, could not prevent the businesses from being flooded.
A view from the National Bank roof gives the viewer a better idea of just how big the flood was in 1908.
One of the more interesting postcards in the Fitzpatrick-Postma Collection, this postcard immortalizes Karl Curz. The background behind the photograph of a young man standing proudly in his swimsuit printed next a photograph of a flooded Kaw created much speculation among library staff. The note on the back of the postcard states that the young man swam up the Kaw and past the dam without even stopping. A curious story, we thought it ended with the postcard until a staff member found a Lawrence Journal-World article from June 15, 1908 about Carl Kurz, a young man who swam up the raging Kaw.
The article informs us that at the time of the event Kurz was twenty years old and a native of Colorado Springs. A traveling plumber, the young man had just finished working in Panama. The article described the event as one of the most "remarkable" feats to ever be seen in Lawrence. The crowd that Kurz had drawn prompted him to advertise that he would gladly swim up the dam again, but this time for $10.
The majority of the floods in Lawrence have been due to heavy rain fall. In January of 1910, the areas of Lawrence next to the Kaw were flooded because of a massive ice gorge preventing any water to flow away from Lawrence.
The buildup of the ice created a natural dam that caused the Kaw to flood into Lawrence. One of the first feel the blow was Bowersock Mills.
In the photograph on the postcard, one can see that sheets of ice have reached the top of the bridge is certain areas.
The city attempted to break up the ice gorge by using explosives. Unfortunantly, this method did not work.
A positive aspect of the ice gorge was that it provided a great photo oppertunity. The young man in this photograph sent this postcard to a friend in Oklahoma to show off how bad the ice had gotten.
Ice sheets were so thick that three adults could easily stand on them.
The waterline reached all the way to the Santa Fe tracks. Trains were still able to chug through the water, but there were some areas of the track that were extremely damaged.
The erosion of the bank due to flooding caused the tracks to sink into the river.
In the photograph on this postcard one can see a wall of ice that has reached the top of the bridge.