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Banking in Boone County:
The May 7, 1961 Flood |
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From Boone County Historian,
Vol. V No. II (1982)
By Delores Lafferty (1980)
The flood which covered most of downtown Harrison on May 7, 1961 inundated two financial institutions and narrowly missed a third.
Security Bank and Harrison Federal Savings and Loan were both in the area which had about ten feet of water from the swollen Crooked Creek pour into the buildings. Equipment was ruined, documents were water-soaked, and had it not been for both institutions having most important papers in their vaults, many valuable documents would have been swept away by the water. |
| After the flood, abstracts and other documents had to be hung out to dry and an inventory taken of what was present and what was missing. The documents which weathered the flood all contain a brownish-red "watermark" of clay mud which continues to mark these documents to the present. |
| One of the most interesting of the stories which came out of the flood is that of Harrison Federal Savings and Loan Association, which appeared in the National League Journal in 1963. It tells the story of the rescue of some neighboring business people and describes the sudden force of the flood. |
The fire chief had called a number of businessmen early in the morning of May 7 and told them that the Creek was going to overflow and that they had better hurry to move stock and equipment up off the floor. While several of them were busy at this task, the creek came up much more and much sooner than expected, and a number of people were trapped.
Frank Coffman, Jr. of Harrison Federal Savings and Loan was at his place of business when the flood waters started to rise. Suddenly he was faced with water seven feet deep barring his access to the door. He dived under the water, opened the door, and then pushed through and swam to the surface. He then climbed on top of a nearby parked auto, which soon began to be carried along by the flood water. He rode atop the car through the plate glass window of a nearby building, and managed to make his way to a second story room and safety. Upon looking around, he noticed some friends, the Milburns, huddled together in a window of a building across the alley. Mr. Coffman found a ladder and rope, and with the help of David Holder who lived in the building, rescued the Milburns from their precarious perch. They all remained in the safety of their upper-story room until the waters receded. |
| The damage to the town in this disaster can hardly be measured. Most of the businesses in the town were hard-hit. Many stores were completely cleaned out. Merchandise was swept for miles down the creek. Homes were smashed against the bridges across the creek, and four people were killed. |
| Out of the ruins of this experience, a better and more prosperous community has arisen. But years were needed to overcome its disastrous effects. |
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