Memory Of The Week: The Great Flood Of 1961

Editor’s Note: As part of an ongoing partnership with our friends at Historic Tuscaloosa, Patch will be bringing you a quick piece of local history per week provided by those working hard to preserve the memories of our community.

As a non-profit, 501 (c)3, Historic Tuscaloosa operates on a daily basis from membership dues and is always looking for new members. Everyone is welcome to join and those interested are asked to visit historictuscaloosa.org or call (205) 758-2238.

NORTHPORT, AL — This installment of Historic Tuscaloosa’s Memory of the Week takes us back to a destructive weather event some of you might have experienced firsthand.

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Historic Tuscaloosa’s Event & Digital Media Coordinator Sarah-Katherine Helms dug deep in the archives on this one and told Patch that the “Big River” years in the area were 1949, 1951, and 1961. Northport caught the worst of those years, too, with photos going back through the decades showing Main Avenue under several feet of water on multiple occasions.

However, in February 1961, the 1900 high-water mark had been the standard by which those in the Tuscaloosa area gauged flood waters.

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Then the rains came.

In anticipation of what was to come, store owners in Northport began piling sandbags in front of their shops and moving merchandise to higher points in their stores.

Indeed, flood waters inundated downtown Northport as far inland as 5th Street and the Tuscaloosa News reported on Feb. 21, 1961, that the Black Warrior River reached near-record levels, prompting operations to be halted at Gulf States Paper Co., Central Foundry and Reichold Chemical Corp.

The newspaper said the river level was measured at 61.8 feet at noon that day and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicted that it would rise to 65 feet by that night.

In places like Birmingham, for instance, the overnight deluge reportedly dumped a stunning 5.15 inches of rain on the Magic City and into swollen rivers across the state. And over in Bibb County, one newspaper reporter said a moonshiner saw their business sorely impacted when a whiskey still was spotted floating down the Cahaba River at the Centreville Bridge.

Over in Northport, residents and businesses were warned before daylight on the morning of Feb. 21 by the Northport Police Department that “the river is coming up.”

Throughout the day, the rain never let up and one report said by the afternoon, river levels were rising by a foot an hour. And when the officials were finally able to get an understanding of the damage, Northport Mayor Hiram Darden estimated that around 100 homes were under water.

Helms said motorboats were used to evacuate residents from homes in the flooded areas of Northport and all available pumps were in use as the water continued to rise in the city’s business district.

Ironically, there was also a surge of speed boats launched in the high water for sport but the waves from the boats caused tremendous damage to homes along Main Avenue, prompting the police to address the issue. As one news report stated, the Tuscaloosa area received 13.45 inches of rain in less than week leading up to flood’s destructive climax. In 24 hours alone, the city reported receiving 6.67 inches of rain.

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1961, the Black Warrior River rose nearly eight feet overnight to 66.7 feet at the Oliver Dam — a shocking 19.7 feet above flood stage.

Well before the Hugh Thomas Bridge was opened in 1974, there was no direct transportation between Northport and Tuscaloosa during the flood, apart from the GM&O train serving as a shuttle between the two cities.

Even out in the county, cattlemen with pastures along the banks of the river were forced to move their stock to higher ground.

While the aforementioned heavy manufacturers were mostly unscathed, other businesses such as Sentell Oil Co. and Barnes & Norris Gin were not so lucky, with the gin office reporting roughly 18 inches of water despite the building being elevated.

Buhl also took a beating in the storm, with about half of the floor of its new post office caving into the basement.

Postmaster F. E. Duckworth told the Tuscaloosa News he believed that lightning struck the corner of the building during the overnight hours. Fortunately, the roof of the post office remained intact and prevented the building from flooding.

At present, west Alabama has made leaps and bounds in improving its floodwater safety and its been a long time since floodwaters inundated downtown Northport.

Still, as Patch previously reported, Northport was faced with a generational flooding event in June 2021 that saw 96 homes impacted in some way, with officials estimating over $3 million in damage, mostly in the area of Hunter Creek Road and along Two Mile Creek.

As with floods in the past for downtown Northport, the most recent flood event prompted serious conversations and studies concerning the city’s stormwater infrastructure.


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