Recalling one of the worst floods in Logan

By Dwight Williamson

Although it might be difficult to pinpoint any one particular year in Logan County history as most significant, the year of 1963 has to stand out as a very important time in the annals of local history.

A few things of paramount interest at the time include the worst flooding in the county’s history that left thousands homeless; the Logan Branch of Marshall University grand opening at Coal Branch; the purchasing of the then-burned-out corner of the property that today is Logan Bank and Trust, formerly the location of Johnson’s Men Shop, The Vogue and the Kopy Cat before the fire of 1962; the beginning plans for the development of the Justice Dam; the opening of the swimming pool at Chief Logan State Park; the acknowledgment of the Hatfield Cemetery at Sarah Ann by Logan officials; a special levy election which helped fund a new courthouse and to construct the largest school in the state to have air conditioning (Chauncey Grade School); the 75th birthday of The Logan Banner, which had 35,000 readers at the time; the city of Logan was getting ready to renovate the railroad depot for a new city hall and move from its location on Stratton Street; and James Alva Davidson broke the state high jump record, as well as lead Willie Akers’ Logan Wildcats to a state AAA basketball championship game.

Of all these events, it is likely that the older generation will recall the flooding more so than anything else. Even though people speak of the record waters that covered places like Morrison’s Drive-In at Stollings and destroyed many homes in and around the city of Logan, the fact is that Man and Chapmanville saw their towns severely flooded as well. There are few pictures of those inundated areas today because Logan Banner news people could not access either area for several days, and because most residents had more important matters to deal with than picture taking. There are, however, numerous photos that still exist of flooding in and around the county seat.

There have been several major floods in Logan County history, and several of their water levels were never recorded, including one in the 19th century that washed off part of the land that existed at Logan’s East End, before the village even had an Indian name and before hardly anyone lived in that part of the local area.

The flood that struck Logan County on January 30, 1957, was devastating, as the mighty Guyandotte River crested at 28.1 feet, the highest ever recorded. At the time, no one could imagine flood conditions ever being worse than that paralyzing deluge. So, it seems no one was readily prepared for the record breaking waters that swept through the valley March 11, 1963. High water, which saw the Guyandotte reach a level of 31.7 feet, sent some women of the East End of Logan to their roof tops for refuge. Logan Junior High School, formerly Logan Senior High, received massive damage, and thousands of dollars’ worth of books and other school materials were lost.

However, Logan County wasn’t the only place that was hit hard. The Logan Banner, despite nearly all of its employees dealing with their own loss of flooded properties, as well as employees of Logan radio stations WLOG and WVOW, managed to keep locals abreast of the dangerous conditions throughout the area. It was reported that devastating storms and deadly tornadoes throughout Appalachia took the lives of at least 17 people and left over 30,000 people homeless. Three people were known to die as a result of flooding in Logan.

Highway conditions in Logan were reported as “deplorable” and several areas were without both water and gas. Some homes which caught fire simply burned as helpless residents and firefighters could not reach the blazes. It was indeed a time in which all of Logan County was crippled, as the Guyandotte rose four feet per hour.

President John F. Kennedy, who had personally seen the economic plight of Logan County and other parts of the southern coal fields while on the campaign trail here just a few years earlier, declared parts of southeastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia as disaster areas. A total of six people died in West Virginia and five persons were reported missing.

Property damages mounted in the millions of dollars in just Logan County, and massive cleanup operations added to the cost. Mud-coated homes, businesses and roads also became isolated by mudslides that blocked streets.

As thousands of residents who were caught helpless in the face of the Monday night disaster – many fleeing their homes – were the following day searching the rubble for personal belongings, Red Cross crews were arriving to help families by offering shelter, food and water. As of the day after the flooding, it was reported that no direct contact had been made with anyone in the Man area, it being unreachable from Logan.

Chapmanville, although hit hard and still waiting for the water to recede, was said to be in better shape than any other local area, although the water supply there was unusable. Residents of that area reportedly still had gas heat.

The raging waters of the Guyandotte and its tributaries began to subside quickly the morning after the deluge, but the grim scars of destruction were ever more apparent, as Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jennings Randolph, as well as Congressman Ken Heckler, viewed the area. The devastation these officials encountered would lead to the construction of the badly needed Justice Dam.

Logan Mayor H.H. Cudden said his telephone started ringing at about 12:30 in the morning with people “sounding the alarm” that the water was coming up. “I never saw the river rise as fast as it did this time,” said the mayor.

“We got up and got busy. I went to the city hall and started getting my men – Fire Chief Fred Thompson, Police Chief Roy Platt and men who had worked in flood disasters before,” Cudden explained. “There wasn’t much flooding in Logan yet, but families already were being driven from their homes in smaller surrounding communities, mostly coal mining towns.

“We got the firemen, policemen and the city workers busy. We sent them to help people move their household belongings from the first floors to the second floors,” Cudden told Banner editor Charlie Hylton.

In neighboring Williamson, the Big Sandy and Tug Fork rivers stood at 40.1 feet at 9 a.m. March 12, far above the 29-foot flood stage. A crest of 41 feet was forecast for Williamson at 11 a.m. that day and the Weather Bureau accurately predicted that flooding would exceed the 1957 levels the Mingo County town saw.

Although the National Guard would help put up flood gates in Williamson, water reached four-feet deep at Williamson City Hall, while the boulevard in Logan was completely covered. In both Logan and Mingo counties, homes were washed off their foundations, slamming them against other homes or against bridges.

For the first time since its development back in the early 1920s, Logan’s exclusive residential section, Midelburg Addition, was isolated. The bridge leading to Midelburg was reported to be covered with several feet of water and it was feared that the river might wash the span away.

There was no way in or out of Logan except by railway and several business establishments in the city were flooded, according to the newspaper account. Most telephone service had been knocked out and a house floating down the river knocked out phone service in that area.

Homes in Mitchell Heights, Justice Addition and Henlawson were flooded and the “White Tower Inn” located along Route 10 road was washed away, finally crashing into the Henlawson Bridge, was the report in the Logan Banner.

Even though there was no school in Logan County and only one or two coal mines operating in the entire area, the Logan Wildcats basketball team managed to practice for its Region Four basketball tournament in Charleston. Logan’s hope of capturing the Class AAA championship was about the only bright spot said to be remaining for Logan Countians.

“We’ve missed only one day of practice and I don’t think that will hurt us at all,” Coach Willie Akers said.

Although it can never be known exactly how many Loganites made it, flood-ridden and forlorned fans, disgusted over their personal losses, packed the Charleston Civic Center as an overflowing crowd of 5,000-plus saw James Davidson and Robert Watson lead the ‘Cats to a 69-63 victory. Logan would go on to defeat St. Albans 74-66 and became the first Logan team to reach the event since the 1949 squad that lost in semi-final play.

Armed with a 15-game winning streak and a 21-5 won-lost record, the Wildcats lost a 67-50 decision in the championship game to Weirton to close out a highly successful season.

“There’s not much to say. Everything we did was wrong,” said a youthful coach Akers during a postgame interview.

The irony is that the Wildcats basketball team, like all of Logan and Mingo countians, suffered some in the basketball year of 1963. But, just like the Logan Wildcats of the following year, when Logan defeated Weirton in a rematch of the tile game, the long suffering people fought through the mud, the muck and the misery to help overcome nature’s wrath.

Plus, it’s nice to know that there has been a few other championships won in Logan and Mingo Counties since the glory days of yesteryear – 1963.

Dwight Williamson is a former staff writer and sports editor for the Logan Banner. He is now a Magistrate for Logan County.

*Published with the author’s permission.

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