After the Great Flood of 1937, the Army Corp of Engineers instituted a major program building locks, dams, and floodwalls throughout the Ohio River Valley that lasted for over three decades. For forty some years while the locks and dams were constantly being repaired and updated, the floodwalls bleak monolithic concrete surfaces stood as silent reminders of the horror and havoc that Mother Nature wreaked on these small river towns.
Around the early 1990's a few of these towns started seeking out muralists and other artists to try and transform these drab grey slabs into something they, their townspeople, and others can enjoy and take pride in.
These pictures are of the floodwall in Catlettsburg,Ky. This section is about 1/2 mile long and makes up about 1/3 of the exposed surface on the downriver end of the town.
I think they came up with a pretty good plan !
A pictoral history of Catlettsburg,Ky
Log Jam at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers
River Boat Landing
The equipment building was made part of the painting !
The old Thomas R. Brown High School - long gone
Kentucky's Favorite Son Billy C. Clark
Labor Day Celebration 1949
The Old Mill Service Station and it's long history with Ashland Oil
Cornerstone Building at the Center of Town. Still stands
The Race Track at Clyffside Park 1907
Kilgore and Collier Funeral Home. Still here but much larger
Depiction of the Great Flood of 1937
City Hall 1920
Mural Painters
Barges on the Ohio banks
Stretch pretty much as far as you can see up and down the river
It never stops. The freight is no longer food, household goods, or building materials. King Coal and chemicals stream out of these hills and mountains and flow up and down the mighty Ohio to our great country, and on to the rest of the world.
God Bless America
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