The
White River as seen from Panorama Point near Monte Ne, circa 1920.
W.B. Grabill Collection (S-86-210-4)
Residents
watch the flooding of the
West Fork of the White River, near Brentwood, April 15, 1927.
Bertha Cartmell Reid & George Cartmell Collection
(S-89-105-241)
The White River starts near Fayetteville and flows north into Missouri before returning to Arkansas. In 1926 and 1927 heavy rains throughout the Midwest and South dumped an enormous amount of water into the White and other rivers that flow into the Mississippi River. The Great Flood of 1927 began on April 16 when a levee broke in Illinois. As the water flowed downstream, more levees broke.
The floodwaters devastated the South. Over 27,000 square miles of land were flooded in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Nearly 1,000 people lost their lives, one million people were displaced, and 130,000 homes were destroyed.
It was because of this flood that the Federal government began looking into ways to manage the nation’s rivers. In 1929 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a $61,000 flood-control study of the White River Basin, concluding that a series of dams was needed.
Amount
of Arkansas underwater during 1927 flood: 6,600 square miles |
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