4/8/93
By: Martha Parsons
Courier-Post Staff Writer

Flooding being a fact of life in a river town, the Mississippi River has managed to create some harrowing experiences for Hannibalarea residents through the years.

No flood in recorded history was worse than the Great Flood of 1973. Cities and towns from Wisconsin to Mississippi were hit with record flooding that caused millions of dollars in damages to land, buildings and property.

The 1973 flood peaked April 25 at 28.59 feet, the highest river level ever recorded in Hannibal. Heavy snow up north and heavy spring rains rushed into the river and residents along both sides of the river waited about two months before the river fell back into its banks.

Main Street, which often is the victim of flooding, looked like Venice as rowboats replaced cars and the street looked more like a canal during peak flooding.

Another major flood in 1836 essentially destroyed one manšs dream of a city north of Hannibal. Marion City, a planned development located roughly where the current American Cyanamid plant stands, never recovered from high waters in that flood.

William Muldrow had big plans for Marion City a college, hotel, railroad, shipping port and even secured financial backing from investors in New York and Pennsylvania. He sold more than 500 lots, many of which were bought sight unseen.

But the area was prone to flooding, and a flood that spring covered the entire development. Mosquitos, mud and malaria forced most residents away, and Marion City died for good about 25 years later.

In 1965, Quincy, Ill.šs bad fortune turned out to be Hannibalšs good fortune when a levee broke. Water reached 24.59 feet in Hannibal, but could have gone much higher without the broken levee in Quincy.

Bear Creek has had its share of flood adventures. Flooding along the creek in 1957 helped city leaders decide to build the Bear Creek Dam (completed in November 1962).

However, that decision didnšt come soon enough for one man who in 1916 spent the night on the grandstand roof at Robal Field because of a Bear Creek flood. The creek rose to 10 feet deep and about a mile wide after heavy rain. Nightwatchman Thomas Rouse climbed to the roof to escape, and could not be rescued until daylight.

Information for this story was collected from
The Story of Hannibal
and
Hannibal, Too
by J. Hurley and Roberta Hagood.