The Great Flood of 1869

The Great Flood of 1869
The Great Flood of 1869 took place on the morning of April 22, 1869. It began when the Forestport dam broke. The Forestport dam had been created to make a large reservoir for dry times, as well as to make up for the water diverted from Black River for the Black River Canal System. The flood damaged every mill from Forestport to Dexter, over 300 mills.

The usual Spring floods had started to subside on April 21st when the suddenly increased again, quite rapidly.

Disasters and Catastrophes