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The Portsmouth, Ohio, floodwall was the idea of J.L. Hudson, a City
Engineer. The idea was scoffed at when it was introduced. The theory
behind the floodwall was that it might be cheaper in the long run for
the city to build a wall to keep out floods than it would be to repair
the damage caused by the floods which occurred. In 1909, the city authorized
the building of a floodwall at a cost of $35,000. The floodwall began
at the foot of Chillicothe Street and ran west along the Ohio River
bank to the east bank of the Scioto River. The same design is still
in use today.
Within a few years of its completion, the floodwall saved the city
from floods in 1933 and 1936. Unfortunately, the 1937 flood (74.23 feet)
got over the wall and managed to do some damage to the city.
In the early- to mid-1990s, the city of Portsmouth, Ohio, commissioned
artists to paint murals on its floodwall. These murals, which depict
individuals, scenes, industries, and other items of interest from the
city's history, attract many visitors to the area and make the floodwall
a more attractive piece of the landscape. The above picture will give
you some idea of what the murals look like and how they appear on the
floodwall.
This web site is intended to provide you with a brief visual tour of
the floodwall murals and some information about the images found there.
If you like what you see here, I would encourage you to visit the area
and see it for yourself. Although I've tried to show you as much of
the detail as I can, you'll probably get a lot more from it by visiting
it in person. If walking is a problem for you, you'll be pleased to
know that you can view all of the murals from your car by driving along
Front Street.
This web site contains images of all of the floodwall murals, taken
in order from the Chillicothe Street end of the floodwall to the Scioto
end in July 2000.
The earliest known inhabitants of the Portsmouth area were the "mound
builder" Indians (Shawnee and Wyandot tribes). The mound building
activity came to an end in the area by approximately 1800. The Shawnee
Indians fought to keep the area for themselves, but were defeated by
European settlers.
A horseshoe-shaped mound is still visible today in the aptly-named
"Mound Park", located in the Hilltop area between 17th Street,
Grandview Avenue, Grant Street, and Hutchins Avenue.
This mural depicts the mounds in the area prior to the existence of
Portsmouth, and some of the relics from Indians of this era.
Shawnee Indians were among the first settlers of the Portsmouth area.
This mural depicts how a Shawnee village in the area might have looked
around the year 1730. This mural was painted by Robert Dafford.
In August 1749, the French Explorer Celeron de Bienville claimed the
land in the Portsmouth area for France. Celeron thought that the area
had strategic importance, and felt that the nation which held this point
could control the entire continent. This mural depicts his meeting with
the Shawnee Indians during which he claimed the area.
On June 3, 1799, Alexandria was established as a town in the Portsmouth
area. It was named after a city in Virginia.
This mural depicts how Alexandria would have looked around the early
1800s.
One of the reasons that the town of Alexandria no longer exists today
is that it was subject to frequent flooding, as this mural depicts.
This flooding became such a serious issue that by 1813/1814 most of
its residents moved to the newly-established city of Portsmouth.
This mural provides a sort of "optical illusion" that would
give viewers the impression that the floodwall has 3 arched openings
in it with a view of the river. As you can see in the photo, the coloring
in the mural is very close to the coloring of the actual terrain on
the other side of the river, making the illusion more real.
Henry Massie was a land speculator who purchased hundreds of acres
of land that would later become downtown Portsmouth. In the late 1700s
and early 1800s, Massie visited his land and found Captain Josiah Shackford
already living there. Shackford convinced Massie that he should found
a new town on the land, naming it "Portsmouth" after his hometown
in New Hampshire.
In 1803, Massie laid out the original platte of Portsmouth. The platte
does not represent the actual town at that time, but rather how Massie
thought the town should be laid out on the land. Much of his original
design came to pass, and exists today, albeit with some different street
names.
Massie did manage to dispose of some of his plots of land as residents
of nearby Alexandria became disenchanted with the constant flooding.
By 1807, Massie had disposed of all of his remaining plots of land and
left the area to pursue a love interest in another state.
This mural depicts the original platte of Portsmouth as designed by
Henry Massie.
This is one of the largest murals on the floodwall. It depicts a scene
from Portsmouth's early history. In the sky is the faint image of an
Indian. The building that juts out from the floodwall at this point
contains (I believe) some of the pumping equipment which is used with
the floodwall. The building itself is NOT made of stone, as you might
think from looking at the mural, but is instead just normal flat concrete.
The three-dimensional stone block appearance is part of the mural, as
is the cat that you see sitting in the doorway of the building. The
mural does a nice job of blending what could have otherwise been an
unsightly break in the mural into the image itself. Due to the size
of this mural, three photos are provided here to show all the detail.
This mural depicts a stagecoach and passengers, such as might have
been seen in the early days of Portsmouth's history.
The iron industry played a key role through much of Portsmouth's history.
This mural depicts the Hanging Rock Iron Works, a key industrial operation
in the city's history.
The Ohio and Erie Canal was completed in 1832, and was intended to
connect northern cities of Ohio with the Ohio River. The canal brought
a lot of industry into the Portsmouth area during the years it operated.
This mural depicts the canal and shows the route it took through Ohio.
The stone and brick industries were a key economic influence on Portsmouth
in its early years. This mural depicts the stone and brick works during
their high points.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Portsmouth was on the
border between the slave states and the free slave states. As a result,
many Portsmouth residents helped escaping slaves flee their owners.
Because of its location, Portsmouth was an important storage location,
boat construction area, and armor plate maker during the Civil War.
Portsmouth men were among some of the first to volunteer to fight in
the Civil War. First Ohio Company G saw battle in Vienna, Virginia,
at the first Battle of Bull Run. The 56th Regiment was almost entirely
composed of men from the area.
This mural depicts Portsmouth's involvement in the Civil War.
This mural honors the first Portsmouth Fire Department.
Farming has long been a significant part of the economy and industry
in the Portsmouth area. This mural pays tribute to that fact:
This mural depicts an early train station in Portsmouth. The first
railroad in the Porsmouth area was built by the Scioto and Hocking Valley
Railroad Company in 1853. The arrival of the railroads sounded a death
knell for the Ohio and Erie Canal.
In its heyday, Market Street was the main commercial center of Portsmouth.
The major businesses and shops were all on or near this street. This
mural depicts what Market Street once looked like:
On its 100th anniversary, the city of Portsmouth had grown from its
humble beginnings. This mural depicts what the city looked like from
the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.
Millbrook Park, in nearby New Boston, Ohio, was a popular leisure site
throughout the area's history. People would go there for picnics, theater
performances, dancing at its pavilion, riding on its merry-go-round,
taking a boat ride, playing baseball, or other activities.
This mural depicts Millbrook Park as it might have appeared at the
time.
The shoe industry in Portsmouth began around 1869 when R. Bell and
Company built a small factory above their store on Front Street. In
1871, the Bell company was sold to Rifenberick, Drew, and Gregg. In
1873 it was taken over by the Portsmouth Shoe Manufactory. In 1932,
Williams Manufacturing Company began turning out inexpensive women's
shoes. The shoe industry continued in Portsmouth until approximately
1977.
This mural depicts the importance of the shoe industry in Portsmouth
during its existence.
In 1873, the Portsmouth Street Railway began constructing the first
street railway in the area. This railway featured streetcars pulled
along tracks by horses. By 1891, the railway was gone. In November 1893,
the Portsmouth Street Railroad and Light Company begain operating electric
streetcars. There were only four cars, with a total capacity of 24 each,
but they were very popular. A common pastime was to get a group of friends,
get aboard the streetcar, and have a party until you arrived at a destination
(or not).
This mural depicts the electric streetcars of the 1890s.
This mural depicts Portsmouth's "Government Square".
Julia Marlowe, born in Caldbeck, England in 1865, lived in the Portsmouth
area during her youth. Ms. Marlowe later went on to become a famous
Shakespearean actress. Ms. Marlowe was said to have acted in more Shakespearean
drama performances than any other actress of the day.
In the book "Julia Marlowe: Her Life and Art" by Charles
Edward Russell (D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1926), Ms. Marlow
was quoted as having said, "Say what you will, the basis of all
art is beauty. I cannot have any great enthusiasm for anything that
is not fundamentally beautiful."
This mural depicts the actress and pays tribute to her career.
The Portsmouth Spartans were a professional football team in the 1920s
and 1930s. In the 1929/1930 timeframe, they joined the National Football
League (NFL). Portsmouth was billed at the time as the smallest city
to receive an NFL franchise (though in reality there was a smaller city
which had one). Fans and businesses in the Portsmouth area gathered
the money necessary to get their team in the NFL. The Portsmouth Spartans
were the first NFL team to play all of the other league teams and the
first to play a night game (against the Brooklyn Dodgers). During their
4 season career in the NFL, the Spartans finished 7th (in 1930), 2nd
(in 1931), 3rd (in 1932), and 2nd in the Western Division (during their
final Portsmouth year of 1933).
In 1934, the Spartan franchise was sold to Detroit and became the Detroit
Lions.
This mural depicts the history of the Spartans and that of Jim Thorpe,
a famous football player who once played for the "Portsmouth Shoe-Steels"
in the early 1900s before going on to a successful professional career
outside the area.
In the late 1930's the Greyhound bus depot pictured on this mural was
an example of the Art Deco style of architecture popular at the time.
This mural depicts the bus depot as well as some common clothing styles
of the late 1930s.
Born Leonard Franklin Slye in 1911, Roy Rogers spent much of his life
in the Portsmouth area. He grew up on a riverboat and in the hills near
Portsmouth, on Duck Run. His father worked in a shoe factory in Portsmouth.
Roy Rogers starred in at least 81 westerns for the movie theater, about
100 television films, and made hundreds of music recordings.
There is an area of downtown Portsmouth known as the "Roy Rogers
Esplanade" in his honor.
This mural depicts Rogers in a typical cowboy costume from one of his
many movies.
Branch Rickey was a "local" who did much for the sport of
baseball. He brought the "Red Birds" team to town in the 1937
season. He went on to become the Vice President and General Manager
of the St. Louis Cardinals. At his insistence, Portsmouth became a Cardinal
farm club, replacing the farm club in Huntington, West Virginia. Rickey
also wrote the book "The American Diamond" about his baseball
experiences and knowledge. This mural depicts his contributions to baseball
and Portsmouth.
This mural depicts Chillicothe Street, one of the main commercial streets
in the Portsmouth Area.
The steel industry was an important part of the Portsmouth economy
until the 1980s, when it had declined significantly. Although steel
work continues to be done in the town, the size of the industry has
decreased dramatically from its earlier years. This mural depicts the
contribution of the steel industry to the Portsmouth area.
This somewhat surreal mural depicts the local artist Clarence Holbrook
Carter.
This mural depicts the progress of education in the Portsmouth area.
From early schoolhouses through the introduction of public schools and
the Shawnee State University, education has been an important part of
Portsmouth's heritage. This mural depicts that heritage and honors Ohio
House of Representatives Speaker Vern Riffe, whose efforts during his
career helped improve the state of education in the Portsmouth area.
This mural depicts some of the more modern industries in the Portsmouth
area: Gray Iron Casting, Uranium Enrichment, and Shoe Lace Manufacturing.
The US Atomic Energy Commission built a large factory in the Portsmouth
area in 1952 to produce Uranium 235. This factory was completed in 1955
and is still in use today.
This mural depicts the history of the Portsmouth Motorcycle Club and
some popular motorcycles.
This mural depicts Portsmouth's sister cities in England, Mexico, and
Germany.
This mural depicts what the Portsmouth skyline looks like at night
from the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.
The following artwork at one end of the floodwall isn't easily identified
as depicting any particular item. Rather, it's just some additional
work done to give the floodwall (which is basically completely flat)
the illusion of depth and three dimensions.
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